Film: The Dark Knight
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenwriter: Johnathan & Christopher Nolan
Primary Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

Review Summary: Don’t believe the hype! Well, ok… believe it a little bit.

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but whatever it was, The Dark Knight certainly wasn’t it. That’s a good thing, though, it really is. You see, when it comes to films, my expectations tend to be inversely proportional to the nature and vehemence of the hype created by the studio and media. So when I saw Christopher Nolan compared to Hitchcock and Heath Ledger to Brando, you can almost imagine the little hairs on the back of my neck beginning to stand up. Add in the dubious fact that this is summer blockbuster season and I was already bolstering my check-brain-at-door tolerance levels. Mix in that this was a comic book adaptation, or, more precisely, yet another comic book adaptation, and I was fully prepared to change my mind at the last minute and rent it on DVD in 4 months.

I’m glad I didn’t. Oh, I don’t think that The Dark Knight is a brilliant piece of cinematography by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn’t what I was prepared for, either. It is atypical of summer fare in that, first and foremost, this film simply demands to be taken seriously. Nolan addresses some heady issues beneath the Batman legend, and has attempted to put together a film that not only entertains, but also questions public morality and political policy and procedure. While the film generally succeeds on the entertainment standpoint, the presentation of overriding social, moral, and political dilemmas leads to the story becoming mired in it’s own seriousness. In short, Nolan simply bit off more than he could chew by trying to address so many big issues in a single film. The biggest setback he encounters is not with the questions themselves, but rather with the frenetic pace he maintains throughout the entire film.

At over two and a half hours, the Dark Knight is unjustifiably long. The pacing Nolan utilizes to fill up the 152 minutes never gives the audience a chance to really take in the inflammatory situations that have been presented to them. The questions he asks are timely and pertinent… Is torture of a terror suspect acceptable? Are some lives worth more than other lives? Does the end truly justify the means? All questions that echo headlines of US news outlets over the past five years. But the scenes come and go, one after another, with explosions and chases and the great gusto of brilliant special effects, never allowing the audience to sit back and really take in what is being presented. There is just too much of the summer blockbuster getting in the way of Nolan’s story, so all that depth is lost. And though it may demand to be taken seriously, there is little that remains beneath the surface beyond the typical summer blockbuster. While this film is wonderful summer movie fare, it is nowhere near the deep, intellectual cinema that Hitchcock so brilliantly created.

“Batman movies are never about Batman. They’re always about the bad guy.”

A friend of mine said that not long before we walked into the theatre. At first I was a bit taken aback, but I think now that she may have been on to something. Think about the Batman films of the last two decades or so. It’s the villains you think about, isn’t it? Batman is there, and he will save the day in the end. It’s what superheros do. They confront the bad guy, get in trouble, get out of trouble, and then kick the bad guy’s ass. The only variable is, really, the bad guy, and it doesn’t matter how dramatic or comic booky you make the film. Whether you are talking about Burton’s Batman or Nolan’s, that generic template is followed, and the bulk of the film is going to rest squarely on the shoulders of whoever is playing the villain.

I have liked Heath Ledger in everything I have ever seen him in. I can’t think of a single film where he has turned in even a mediocre performance. His redition of The Joker is absolutely no exception to this. The character he created is devastatingly pathetic, eerily pitiful, and charmingly evil. I get the feeling, however, that his performance was held in check by Nolan. While I simply loved watching each and every scene he was in, I never got the feeling that he was going anywhere. He was introduced to the audience at a specific level, and he stayed at that level for the entire film. So while I sat in complete awe of the character Ledger created, I never saw him get the chance to really sink his teeth into The Joker and go on a journey with him, allow his character to change or grow with the film. Instead, I found him to be static, and, ultimately, predictably comic-book-like in his one-note presentation of character. For a film that so desperately strives to transcend the comic book adaptation tag, I found this particularly annoying. I want to reiterate, however, that my issues are not with Ledger’s performance. Granted, I don’t think he has earned the comparisons to Brando, but he did, for lack of a better phrase, blow me away with his character work in this film. I simply wanted more than Nolan was prepared to let Ledger give me.

The weakest element of The Dark Knight is the sub plot that revolves around Harvey Dent (Eckhart) and Rachel Dawes (Gyllenhaal). Simply put, not enough time is devoted to furthering this particular storyline and it falls flat. Dent, in particular, is difficult to believe in his nearly over-the-top change in character. This storyline is, I think, the primary reason the last 30-40 minutes of the film drags so terribly.

Overall, The Dark Knight hits the mark from the very first scene. It isn’t nearly as deep and thought provoking as it has been made out to be (or could have been, for that matter), and even though I think he’ll get at least an Oscar nomination, this isn’t Ledger’s best film by any means. His best character creation, perhaps, but not his best film. In the end, The Dark Knight is a good movie, and an unexpected treat during the typically lackluster summer film months.