The Dark Knight Review

I admit more than a little excitement about going to see the new Batman move called The Dark Knight on Monday. Batman is, after all, my absolute favourite super hero. The last movie Batman Begins was very good so I was hopeful that this one would continue the trend of more realistic and reality based super hero fare.

I went into the movie trying to ignore all the hype surrounding it about Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker and the high ratings people were giving it. I wanted to experience the movie as if I knew nothing which is impossible, but I tried. So, on to the review.

Almost perfect.

Yep, I loved it. I loved the length which made the movie feel like a story rather than a quick collection of action scenes intersped with plot exposition. Christian Bale was letter perfect as Bruce Wayne in a way that previous actors completely failed to encompass. Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon captured the good cop in a bad place vibe., and Aaron Eckhart portrayed Harvey Dent's descent into the madness of Two-Face with scenery chewing enthusiam that still did not feel out of place.

And yes, Heath Ledger as the Joker was amazingly believable. He emanated malevolence like nothing I have seen in a long time. It was believable that 1) this guy was crazy, 2) people would follow him willingly or not, and 3) he could run rings around the police and Batman with his schemes, not with his physical prowress (side note: the latest Batman series protrays the Joker as a brawler and not as much as a schemer; needless to say I don't approve).

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Things I really liked:
- Rachel Dawes dies! AWESOME. It not only lends a motivional credence to Harvey Dent's fall from grace, it breaks the super-hero-gets-the-girl mold that is som cliche in modern movies. Loved it.
- The prisioners and civilians on the booby trapped ferries don't blow each other up despite the urge to in order to save their own lives.
- Batman's fighting abilities were realistic and conventional (for a movie).
- Joker was captured, not killed.

Things I didn't like so much:
- The super-cell-phone-sonar device? Totally over the top, and was used to find the Joker at the end where I felt Batman's Detective skills should have come into play. Didn't like it.
- Harvey Dent appears to have died. So sad.
- The Bat Bike erupts from the damaged Batmobile? Pu-leeze!
- They never showed Barbara Gordon's face (the daughter, not the mother). Obviously they wanted to leave it open to a future entry in the franchise about Batgirl without casting the part in such a bit role so soon. While not bad per say, it was distracting for me.

Overall I loved this movie and will be buying it on DVD (Bluray?) when it comes out. 5 out of 5 Bill Thumbs Up.