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— Darren Seeley on July 19th, 2008 02:07:47 am

The Dark Knight (2008) In Batman Begins, the restart of the new and improved Batman franchise, the audience was treated to the beginnings of Bruce Wayne’s journey into the Caped Crusader. There was also a small teaser of things to come in the form of a joker playing card. Now here we are, three years later, and the masses are treated to the that famous Batman foe, and his rise to power in the criminal underworld, among other surprises and storylines. There has been much advance word on how well done the film is, and it was clearly helped by one of the strongest viral marketing efforts I ever seen in regards to a single film. The Dark Knight becomes massive in scale and story, near epic proportions. The biggest strength the film has is that there’s a lot of pizzazz non-stop. The movie goes on…and on…and on…and sadly, that is also the film’s major fault.

The Dark Knight (2008) Without giving away too much of the farm, let’s just say there’s a suspected additional Batman foe that appears late in the picture. That character is set up well, so well that it is anti-climatic to shoe him in, when the character would have been just fine for a setup of the third film in the franchise. It’s kind of like Venom in last year’s “Spider-Man 3″: lots of hype and anticipation around the character- and when the bad guy actually shows up, the film is just about over. I’m not saying it’s not effective. I am saying (and I understand I’m not alone on this) I wanted more from the character. However, the film is so long and good that maybe a third film may be next to impossible to follow up both films. It will be even more tough, considering The Joker, a character, who, about twenty years ago, was played by Jack Nicholson, and for many it was hard to even fathom any other actor in the role. Now, it’s more or less the same deal in my opinion. It’s going to be really tough to follow up on Heath Ledger, but not because of his performance, which was pretty good (and far better than Jack), but because the actor suddenly passed away earlier this year. There was one particular scene that should have been re-shot with a double for the late actor , because to me it was on near equal footing with that of 1994’s The Crow where the late Brandon Lee played his role with wit and savvy but posthumously had a double unintentional effect on the film and the character with issues of death and resurrection.

Do not get me wrong; that scene I refer to sets up Joker’s true menace later on; give this killer clown a sharp blade and he’ll use it. The great score intensifies the situation, as it builds and builds. Not to mention it is easy to see why Ledger is getting so many raves, he buries himself in the part so much that with the exception of a brief glimpse in a crowd, you forget who IS playing The Joker. Is it worthy of Oscar buzz? Maybe? Okay. I’m sold.

The Dark Knight (2008) However, if I thought if there was really a possible nomination for acting in the film, it really should go to Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent…or for that matter…well, being one of the apparent few who actually didn’t mind Katie Holmes in the previous picture, I have to confess that after seeing Maggie Gyllenhaal, I’d also confess to say “Katie Who?” Maggie Gyllenhaal is playing a more fleshed out character, and her presence is much more warmer than Katie Who. Christian Bale might get a nomination too, although with all the work he did last year - Harsh Times, Rescue Dawn and 3:10 To Yuma - he should get something. If I were WB, I would hold off on a DVD/Blu Ray release for awhile and see where this sort of talk winds up. This is not the sort of film to wait four to six months for if one can help it.

The complex plot of The Dark Knight has a good share of surprises, and at one point in the film, the filmmakers put in a shock that you can’t really believe that they would have the guts to do it. There have been, after all, some trailers which misdirect audiences. Some of the trailers for The Dark Knight are some misdirection, as a small handful of Joker’s lines, (”Why So Serious”? “Let’s Put A Smile On That Face!” and my personal favorite, “I can make this pencil disappear”) come in unexpected places. So, when a character is killed off, the more other characters talk about it, the more convincing it is that yes, the character died from his wounds heroically while attempting to save another from harm. Yes, you can feel the more urgency of the main characters. There are are few more surprises, and the back and forth, to and fro are marvels to behold. Cameos aplenty aid the film, from Cillian Murphy briefly reappearing as Scarecrow, to Tiny Lister and the surprising useless casting of Anthony Michael Hall as a mildly nosy news reporter.

The Dark Knight (2008) Without a doubt one of the best films of 2008, and with Begins and Knight putting the Burton/Schumacher films in the dust once and for all, maybe, just maybe, now is the time to get out on the high note. But alas, I’m sure the fans on the ‘net will buzz about a Knight joke about a cat, (*wink*wink*) or one of Gordon’s kids, (the second one is seen real briefly, *wink*wink*) or the mere simple fact that, yes, we want another one Mr. Nolan.

*******

The Dark Knight

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Eric Roberts.

rating: 9

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Darren Seeley (140 posts)
Fave directors include David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Michael Mann, Anique Faqua, Walter Hill, John Carpenter, John Woo and James Cameron. An aspiring screenwriter, I wrote several spec scripts (platform: Final Draft) that I occasionally submit to contests, Inktip, and workshop through peer review sites like Triggerstreet and Zoetrope. I have attended The Austin Film Festival and Heart Of Screenwriters Conference in 2001 and 2002. CoP marks my third go around as an internet film reviewer of sorts. My previous film hub haunts were 'Dark Universe' and, most notably, 'The Projector Booth'. Location: MI,USA.

15 Comments

Greatest comic book movie ever made! Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are like the first two Godfather movies–there should not be a third.

rating: 10

Comment by Jose — Tue July 22, 2008 @ 4:28

This movie is a victim of its own hype. With all the over the top raves, I was actually disappointed. There are a couple of gaping holes in the plot line that largely go overlooked by by the pizazz of the amazing stunts and special effects.

Yes, Heath Ledger officially takes the crown for best portrayal ever of an over the top psychotic character, and I know, it’s a comic book script so I should be more forgiving about the many obvious inconsistencies and weaknesses in it. I guess I was just having one of those days where my brain wouldn’t shut off.

Comment by denise — Sat July 26, 2008 @ 14:58

yeah. I love the movie, but when people on IMDB are voting it as the greatest movie of all time after a week of being released, you know people are going overboard.

Comment by Jose — Sun July 27, 2008 @ 14:48

Jose, they were overboard months ago, when “the Pollsters” were giving it high marks a full week before the film opened, some of “the pollsters” voted twice, and you suspect, as well as I do, that a good chunk of them have yet to see “The Godfather”, among others, or so it would seem.

Comment by Darren Seeley — Sun July 27, 2008 @ 21:40

I couldn’t agree more with the previous two comments. I certainly enjoyed the film a great deal, but the best movie ever? No way.

Comment by The Critical Critic — Fri August 8, 2008 @ 12:50

Liked this film a lot and must say that I did think Ledger’s performance worthy of an oscar nomination (if not actually an oscar). Considering the hype surrounding his performance I was sceptical when I went in (I suspected a “don’t speak ill of the dead”-thing), but now I’m thinking: Jack who?

But I must say that my favorite Bat-film is still Batman Returns. Although Batman Returns is an apple compared to the orange that is the hyper-realism of The Dark Knight, I still love the themes of Batman Returns the best: the outsider looking for a way in, the nerd transforming herself into a femme fatale (literally!), big corporations are evil. Not to mention the amazing Tim Burton atmosphere which I think suits a comicbook tale better than the hightech-reality Christopher Nolan serves up.

And although The Dark Knight in some ways has the same underlying subject matter (the Joker here is not so much a cartoon character as a severely damaged human being, and Batman is strugling to be both hero and man), the set pieces undermine rather than underscore the theme. Plus there were indeed to many annoying plotholes. My guess is the film was cut for time and as a result the story suffered.

I also agree about the late introduction of a second baddie. That character, the actor portraying the character, and the storyline itself, deserved an entire movie.

Comment by Mariken — Fri August 8, 2008 @ 21:01

Heath ledger gave an amazing performance, BUT Christian Bale i have to say gave a lifeless performance of batman and if anybody to do with the film had any sence they would agree t have him scratched out as batman and have him as an extra or something, his voice was that annoying it nearly ruined the entire movie for me, i wasnt too mad about harvey dent character and i cant put my fingure on it as to why BUT!!! i have to admit i was relieved when i heard he wont be in the next installment of the batman franchise. overall i give this film 8 out of ten because of the fact such a great director actualy filmed batman and let christine bale carry on throughout the film thinking he was robocop… or mabye the director did notice and is why he gave the joker the limelight in the film.. hmmmm mabye the director is more clever than i tough for his wise move…. but i still am pissed at him for not telling christine bale to go to his dressing room, gather his shit and go play with the terminator franchise …..

Comment by Robert — Mon August 18, 2008 @ 1:02

I had no idea what was going on for the first half of the film. Was that just me or the Long Island Ice Tea I’d consumed just prior?

I really enjoyed the second half.

Thought Heath Ledger was indeed superb as The Joker (although I have to admit to preferring Jack Nicholson in the role).

Overall: pretty good but didn’t live up to its hype.

Comment by PiP — Mon August 18, 2008 @ 2:42

I agree with a lot of the above: it didn’t live up to the hype, it wasn’t the best Batman, Ledger was epic but his character was flat (we do not get an insight in his psyche other than the stories he tells about his youth - he basically is a force of nature), the second character was too much and his motivation not very believable, Bale was kinda flacid and YES his voice was very annoying and distracting.

Did I leave something out?
Yes, I agree with Pip that Nicholson is still my favorite Joker as he seemed to embody more the prankster side of the Joker and not just the violent madness. And yes, Tim Burton’s world was more colourful.

As far as I’m concerned the Batman franchise could do with another turn.

Comment by Paco — Mon August 18, 2008 @ 21:56

I have to say, I give this movie 2 thumbs up! I don’t think I agree with most of the above ratings though. Most of the things people are complaining about I don’t really get. This has to be one of the movies that you either love it or you don’t get it at all. I have heard and read both sides of the story and I can see why they say certain things.

Most of the of the complaints I hear have reasons behind them. Take batman’s voice, annoying at some points, and hearing it over and over can distract some people but you have to understand why he does that. Think of it this way, would you rather have him talk really low or high or just plain odd and him sounding stupid or have him sound raspy and get why he does that.

It might be that I have saw this movie 3 times and understood more of it seeing it over and over again, or it might just be how I understand things. But besides that, I think The Dark Knight was crafted magnificently and is one of my favorite movies so far!

9.999

Comment by Lemons — Mon September 1, 2008 @ 21:10

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that I thought that Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker was phenomenal! He stole the whole movie and was a great pick for the part!

Comment by Lemons — Mon September 1, 2008 @ 21:12

I thought I loved this film. Then I went to watch it on the IMAX and realised I really loved it. Works so well on a huge screen

Comment by TokyoSoundLounge — Thu September 4, 2008 @ 20:10

the joker was amazing and sexy if your in to that kinda stuff i woulden mind him holdin me an al up on mmMmMmMmMMMMmmmmmm he was jusyt bam hav my babiesi loved th tounge thing wow

Comment by cat — Sat September 6, 2008 @ 23:19