The Dark Knight Movie Review (2008)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
Story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer
Created by Bob Kane
Major Cast
Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman
Heath Ledger as The Joker
Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent / Two-Face
Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth
Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes
Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon
Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox
Before I get to The Dark Knight, I have a couple of things I’d like to clear up:
1. Whoever billed the animated collection, “Batman: Gotham Knight” as a vehicle to “bridge the gap” between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight deserves to be set on fire and put out with a pitchfork.
I don’t appreciate being lied to… especially when there is no need to lie in the first place. I’ve been a Batman fan all my life, jerks. You don’t have to lie to me in order to get me to watch a new Batman project. You could have titled it, Batman: Watch this Cartoon Crap, and I would’ve gleefully popped the DVD in and tortured my wife with it for the next two hours.
This reprehensible deception has cost your animated potpourri to drop a full letter grade. I hope you’re proud of yourselves.
2. I’m appalled at the sheer volume of glaringly obvious, festering dung-heaps of celluloid abominations that hitched their mottled stars to the trailers preceding The Dark Knight. That was approximately 30 minutes of my life wasted on films I wouldn’t see even if The Joker strapped plastic explosives to my abdomen wired to a cell phone detonator.
And resting on that festering pile of horse manure was yet another trailer about that blasted mummy film.
You can take my entire family hostage, but no matter how many times you force-feed me those insufferable teasers, trailers, and endless commercials, I will never, ever spend another dime on an action film with Brandon Frasier in the leading role. I know how this works, and no matter how cool Jet Li is, there’s no chance in hell that the writers were progressive enough to apply my vision of having Jet Li’s character behead Frasier’s character five minutes into the film, therefore, I will not view the third mummy film. You can quit cramming it down my throat now because it ain’t happenin, bub.
Now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s examine The Dark Knight.
First I’ll cover the good points, and they are numerous. Of all the Batman films, The Dark Knight is by far, the darkest. It’s also the closest approximation to the spirit of the original comic book character, and a graphic departure from the campy television show and the Saturday morning cartoon, Superfriends and Scooby-Doo mystery guest star. In fact, most of this film felt less like a superhero movie and more like a suspense thriller. I’m not ashamed to say it, but my sphincter was clenched for about 75 percent of the film.
The Joker is still rather funny, but infinitely more terrifying, unredeemable, and ruthless. Heath Ledger gives such an incredibly chilling new spin on The Joker that when I’m reminded that he’s no longer with us, I selfishly lament that the next Batman cash cow will have a huge void to fill without him.
I was equally awed by Aaron Eckhart’s performance as Gotham’s “incorruptible” District Attorney, Harvey Dent, or Harvey “Two-Face”. I was surprised that the film was not driven by Batman’s relationship with The Joker, but by The Dark Knight’s relationship with Gotham’s White Knight, or Bruce Wayne’s rivalry with Harvey that resulted in Harvey earning Bruce’s complete respect and support. Of course, that was before The Joker turned everything on its ear. Through Aaron Eckhart’s performance, Harvey’s pain and anguish as he falls from grace was palpable and poignant.
Oh, and the ass-kicking fight scenes and explosions were both potent and numerous, making this film worthy of the titles “action film” and “superhero blockbuster”.
Now let’s cover the bad points, which unfortunately, are also numerous. Of course, by numerous, I mean there is far too much going on with this film. We all love sugar, but too much sugar can put us into a diabetic coma. Chocolate is awesome, but too much chocolate is… eh… let’s just say… messy. There is a reason why parents punish children caught smoking cigarettes by making them smoke several cartons within five minutes (Don’t act like I was the only one who had this happen to them!)
The film’s nearly fatal flaw is similar to Spiderman 3’s; the writers tried to do too much with too many, too soon, and in too confined a space. This film is two and a half hours long, and no matter how entertaining a Thing is, rarely is there a Thing I enjoy doing for longer than two hours (with the exception of the rare 70-hour RPG, adventure, or war simulator video game). This is supposed to be an action film, not an epic! Near the end, when The Joker threatened to blow up two ferries full of civilians and criminals, I half expected Moses to appear to part the sea and block the Egyptians path with a pillar of fire. My wife shifted uncomfortably in her seat and said, “This movie just won’t end!” Not exactly a glowing review to be added to the film’s tagline.
There was another thing that bothered me. On the surface, it seemed like a minor thing, but this tiny, seemingly insignificant quirk was like an unsightly bit of string that if pulled, could potentially unravel the tapestry of the whole movie experience.
Obviously, I’m referring to Christian Bale’s “Batman” voice.
Five minutes into the film, we have our first Batman sighting, and he is just kicking ass with all kinds of awesomeness. But then he spoke… and I had a hard time taking him seriously after that. I know Christian Bale studied and trained hard for this role, and that makes his decision to speak as Batman in that forced, harsh, growling whisper-voice that much more perplexing and unintentionally hilarious. It was like he was channeling McGruff the Crime Dog (“Take a bite outta crime!”)
I leaned over and asked Bookie, “He’s not going to talk like that for the whole movie, is he?”
She quipped, “God, I hope not!”
That led to numerous jokes about using the Batman/McGruff voice in everyday tasks like asking for a Slurpee at 7/11 or requesting sexual favors. “If you don’t expose your breasts to me, right here, right now, The Joker wins! Don’t let The Joker win, baby! Take your top off for Gotham!” That’s right. We’re that couple you hate sitting next to in theatres.
Oh, and watching Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent compete for the love of the “lovely” Rachel Dawes was like watching two well-trained fighters battle to the death for the right to ride the Disneyland teacups first. In other words, this was completely implausible.
Examining this a bit further, that’s not to say that the actress playing Rachel is hideous or anything. Maggie Gyllenhaal is decent-looking and does a fair job in her role. Aesthetically, I’d say she is about a high-seven, so let’s call her a “shaky eight”.
Now ask any number of women to rate Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart and I’m certain they’ll both average in the high nines, or solid tens.
So the writers and casting director are expecting me to believe that a solid-ten billionaire who helicopters into parties on the arms of three supermodels, and another solid-ten “White Knight,” Gotham’s most popular and respected civil servant and crime fighter, are both engaging in a pecker-fight for some unknown, “shaky eight” assistant D.A. I don’t care if she has a platinum personality and craps diamond-sprinkled chocolate ice-cream, there’s no way that this pecker-fight should ever take place.
But then again, I believe in a story about a billionaire whose hobbies include dressing as a bat, stockpiling an arsenal of high-tech weaponry and gadgets, and fighting crime. The lesson: always consider the source of the opinion.
The good news is that The Dark Knight was well-worth the price of admission. The bad news is that I almost felt as if I had to pay again to leave. Yes, it’s worth the obscene movie price, but you’ll need to bring a blanket and some extra lumbar support.
The Grades
Story: I loved the dualistic nature of the Batman, Harvey Dent relationship. I’m grateful that The Joker’s rise to Gotham prominence was depicted instead of The Joker’s origin (No one needs to know where the bogeyman comes from. Knowing he exists is bad enough.) But I wasn’t sold on the love triangle between two extraordinary men and an average chick, and too many ideas were attempted at once, turning an action film into an epic. Grade: B-
Acting: Heath Ledger was as exceptional as advertized. Aaron Eckhart was a surprising scene-stealer. Christian Bale gave a decent performance, but his McGruff voice nearly sabotaged the whole film for me. Grade: B-
Visuals: The action sequences were outstanding, with a few sphincter-gripping sequences thrown in for good measure. Grade: A
Originality/Innovation: This film is original in that it is not. That is; it returned to the foundation of the original story, which is the dark, brooding Batman battling menacing villains instead of dancing, one-line quipping caricatures. Grade: A
Enjoyability Grade: Though it ran long, I enjoyed it. Grade: B+
Date Material: On the upside, there’s plenty of time to make-out, but you won’t want to, with all the ass-kicking unfolding on-screen. Grade: B
Contemporary Element (Will it be watchable two decades from now?): Even with all of its flaws, this is the best Batman film ever made, and yes, that includes the Michael Keaton films. Grade: A
Redeeming Quality: See “Contemporary Element” Grade: A
Overall Grade: B+
***
Blind Eye Turning: Poems, Prose, and other Scribbles, by Barry Dawson
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