Movie Review: It Was a Dark and Stormy (and Overrated) Knight
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I might not be the most popular guy in the room after this statement, but given the insane amount of hype surrounding The Dark Knight I feel compelled to speak my mind. No matter how many people seem to share the conviction that the new Batman sequel is “THE BEST MOVIE EVERRRR,” I would have to argue that the film — honestly, plain and simple — just ain’t that good.
I mean, it’s good, but it’s not that good. It’s an above average summer blockbuster — and even, arguably, a superior effort in general — but the level of hyperbole surrounding it is approaching the absurd. The Dark Knight is not the best film of all time (something that the users over at the Internet Movie Database might do well to note, since they saw fit to award it that mantle after two friggin’ days in theaters); it isn’t the best superhero movie of all time either (I’d still say that title belongs to X2, but that’s just me); hell, it isn’t even the best Batman film (Batman Begins and the Tim Burton directed Batman Returns were both better). To be honest, with everyone jumping on the bandwagon and heaping praise at the movie left and right, I find myself having to work extra hard just to not hate the damn thing. But I can try to be fair.
The story is probably familiar to anyone who’s hasn’t been living in a cave for the past couple of months: Batman — a.k.a. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) — with the help of Gotham City Police’s Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), is beginning to succeed in ridding Gotham of crime. Their backs against the wall, the city’s criminal organizations jointly decide to turn to a dangerous and enigmatic criminal mastermind named the Joker (Heath Ledger, in his final complete performance). As the body count rises, Batman is forced to face the decisions he’s made and reevaluate his crime-fighting philosophy in the face of the Joker’s anarchic savagery. Dent likewise undergoes a radical metamorphosis, albeit one much more tragic and gruesome.
There’s no denying the movie’s many merits. Director Christopher Nolan has managed to create a beautifully realized world in Gotham City, and the level of attention to detail is very impressive; the action sequences (while they are at times confusing) are taut and explosive; Bale, Eckhart and Oldman all do solid work and Heath Ledger has given, without a doubt, one of the decade’s best performances in his portrayal of the Joker.
But, at the same time, The Dark Knight is riddled with problems, mostly in the screenwriting department. On more than one occasion the story seems to move forward thanks only to plot contrivances, logical loopholes and plain old discontinuities that require the audience to suspend their disbelief. In one scene about halfway through the movie, we see Batman dropping a gangster off a building from several stories above the street, breaking the man’s legs (we even hear the bone snap); not much later, however, when the character reappears at a critical moment, he looks perfectly fine and shows none of the discernable signs that his legs had just recently, you know, snapped in half — no casts, no crutches, nothing. Likewise, a scene at the beginning of the film in which a Mafioso pulls a gun on Harvey Dent in a courtroom — and on the witness stand, no less — seems wholly improbable. And, more to the point, how the hell is it that the Joker consistently manages to stuff so many explosives into such large places (and in so little time) with only the minimal assistance of Gotham’s gangsters and mentally deranged?
None of those problems would’ve been hugely problematic for me though. This was obviously a comic book movie, and even though the series has — in its current iteration — prided itself on hyper-realism, I could’ve dealt with some plot holes.
I do have a fairly substantial complaint against this movie though: It’s simply just too long (weighing in at a bloated two-and-a-half hours), and again, the issue seems to be with the writing. The way the final 40 minutes of The Dark Knight play out, it seems like Christopher Nolan and brother Jonathan (who co-wrote the screenplay) just didn’t know when to call it quits and end it.
***Spoiler warning***
A number of critics have already pointed out the most obvious place to end the film: after the birth of Two-Face. At that point, the movie has completed its major dramatic arc and everything thereafter could have been fleshed out in a third film. As it stands however, characters’ natural progressions were rushed and stunted by the pressure of squeezing everything into a narrative already bursting at the seams.
***End of spoiler***
In spite of the minor flaws in continuity and logical consistency, it is this major misstep that kept The Dark Knight from being special. It could have been one-half of a genuine pop-masterpiece, but instead it is every bit of a decent, but over-rated and underdeveloped disappointment.
Movies that try to do too much rarely, if ever, aren’t complete train wrecks. In that regard, The Dark Knight might be considered an unmitigated success, because while it has its flaws (and big ones at that) it is, admittedly, a very well made action film. If the worst we had to worry about this summer were a smart, dark blockbuster that gets a little too ambitious and a little too long for its own good, then I’d say we were in pretty decent shape.
But let’s not go around pretending it’s The Godfather, OK?
I flat out have to disagree
I flat out have to disagree with every point you made. I'm not trying to jump on the batman bandwagon... it's cinematography, acting, dialogue, and plot speak for themselves. This entire movie was masterfully directed, and it easily takes the trophy in the super hero genre. Of course the movie could have ended after the birth of two-face, but like all great movies, it refused to do what everyone expected it to do. Rather, it took the plot one step further, adding a far greater depth and character to the film. As for X2, that was a commendable super hero movie... but it doesn't even hold a candle to the Dark Knight. When people exit the theaters of the dark knight, they feel a far greater feeling than "super hero"... It's as respectable as any film, the acting and filming as masterful as multiple best pictures. So while the Dark Knight may not be "THE BEST MOVIE EVERRRR" it certainly stands on a well deserved pedestal.
hey
I share your sentiment but feel you could have picked better absurdities to target:
Maroni (sp?) did show effects of his fall; just before he enters his car, wherein Two-Face confronts him, he is clearly seen with a cane.
That Gotham is fraught with corruption, including at the highest places (Police Department, DA's office) makes the gangsters possession of a gun in court all the more probable. To infer that someone in the Police Department surreptitiously slipped him a weapon on orders from Maroni is all we have to do, and it certainly isn't a stretch to imagine this.
I share your incredulity on the Joker's ability to cause the chaos he did. I would specifically point to the following:
After he throws Rachel out the window, where does he go? All we see is Batman saving Rachel and we cut to the next scene. What happens to the Joker? He still, along with his henchmen, is at the party. Do they just casually walk out? Do they take anyone hostage? Do they kill anyone? I found that incredibly odd. Maybe they sat down and had a couple drinks with the guests.
I could scrutinize the likelihood of a cell phone receiving a call while in someone's stomach but that would be too easy. How in the hell did Joker envision himself incarcerated with the same thug? Moreover, who survived the bomb and who didn't? All we see is Joker standing amidst the rubble but we see no one else. This is difficult to believe because he was standing in the same room with at least 4-5 people just before the bomb detonated. So, are we supposed to believe he is the sole survivor?
Everytime a great movie
Everytime a great movie comes out, so called "critics" will line up to say why they are the only ones who don't like it. So just keep watching those reruns of X2 on FX and let the rest of us enjoy Dark Knight. Cheers!
Hmm
OK so not the greatest movie ever... but X2 is your fav.. cmon......Spiderman - 2 and Iron man were far superior...of course it becomes much better when compared to X3.. yeesh
I know your type. You're the
I know your type. You're the guy that wants to be "anti-" just for the sake of being "anti-". You see the masses like something, so you purposely make an effort to "go against the grain". You act so pretentious, with your skinny jeans and "urban" t-shirt listening to some indie band that only plays at dive bars but you think is "the greatest band in the world." You're a cliche, a stereotype in a movie, and by the way, a terrible critic. Hell, you go to Cornell. You're like a real life Andy Bernard, only lamer and not funny.
Half-way through your review
Half-way through your review you write: "not much later, however, when the character reappears at a critical moment, he looks perfectly fine and shows none of the discernable signs that his legs had just recently, you know, snapped in half — no casts, no crutches, nothing." Perhaps you weren't watching carefully enough, but he did indeed have crutches and walk with a limp during the remainder of the film. Wow, your article just lost all credibility after that one.
Don't make the concession
Don't make the concession that it's a comic book movie and then dismiss it because of the very things that make it a comic book movie. Criticizing a film, especially one in which the main character jumps of skyscrapers dressed as a bat, for asking the audience to suspend disbelief is almost tautological.
And I wonder why they couldn't make a third movie . . . hmmm. Could it be because the actor who gave an inimitable rendering of The Joker is DEAD? Nah. That would be too simple. The movie may be a little too ambitious for its own good, but this review tries to hard to find flaws for its own good. Condescension is not always cool.
P.S. If you want to see plot holes and continuity problems, take a closer look at the Godfather, OK? Yet it's no less a great film.
I completely agree with you
I completely agree with you (except about the gangster with broken legs- he did have a cane...)
I was a little confused with the two villans at once at the end, honestly. They totally could have made a third for Two-Face...
But the movie is worth seeing, just to see Heath Ledger. However, people should be warned that his acting was so good that the rest of the actors look like shmucks
DK
You just want to stand out! Disagree and receive all the shock value! It was NOT long enough! I want my money's worth at the theatre.I will not even go if a movie is under 2hrs. The ganster had a cane and was limping, you blind? Its a fictional movie! You want everything real and wrapped up in a pretty little pkg? Then stay home! Two face is not dead, they never said he was. He will be in a coma and brought back. Rachel is not really dead either, the commissioner's little boy is obviously Robin. All the storylines were needed to build on for the third.Tim Burtons movies were good for their times.I watched them a few days ago and they are so cheesy and stupid.Watch Sweeney Todd instead!
Couple things
So this possibly makes me a comic book dork. But Robin comes from the Flying Grayson's and is not related to the Commish. His daughter, however, eventually becomes Oracle. I think it's the Joker who paralyzes her (he says with a question mark?). Anyway, thought the movie was awesome. Also, I like girls and sports.
Comics are cool, Batman bashing is not
Good call, I too enjoy sports, girls, and monster trucks.
The Joker paralyzes Barbara Gordon in "The Killing Joke", but so many different origins for sidekicks have been written that at this point it's crazy to keep things together. "The Dark Knight" was far better than "Batman Begins" simply because Batman Begins was just a big screen incarnation of Frank Miller's "Year One".
With regards to the article, this movie addressed relevant fears and concerns many Americans hold in 2008. In the end, the people of Gotham won more so than Batman.
The more villians the better! One villian is not enough, but too many makes the movie into a farce (see Batman Forever/Spiderman 3).
By admitting Nolan created, "a beautifully realized world in Gotham City," as well as admiring the acting, your article loses much of its credibility. I agree the movie was hyped up beyond proportion, but no serious film critics hail it as being the best film of all time.
Clearly this is not, "THE BEST MOVIE EVERRRR" but honestly, the IMDB top 250 is NOT a credible ratings index. That ratings system is comparable to the Nickelodeon Awards, we all know why Robin Williams never showed up to get his blimp...
Seriously, "Wall-E" trumps "North By Northwest" and "Citizen Kane"? Doubtful.
Your article raised some interesting points with regards to plot continuity, but from my standpoint these errors retracted little from the film as a whole.
1. how come The Joker left
1. how come The Joker left the prison IN THAT WAY? Do you really leave one cop INSIDE the jail with the criminal???? With open doors??? Oh… maybe The Joker is able to unlock doors with his knife while holding the guy… pretty strong…kkkkkk. This is cheese! They should have created another way of The Joker leave the prison! Point being: He would not have left the jail in THAT situation in the REAL world!
2. how come Harvey Dent is left ALONE in a hospital room, being him THAT important, without even a cop outside the door? How come NOBODY thought that The Joker would go for him? And How come everybody was taken from the Hospital, but Harvey, the man THAT IMPORTANT, was left there alone and THE LAST ONE. Don’t come with the “he was waiting to be evacuated” because it is crap. In the REAL world, important and/or rich people are never the last one to be evacuated (remember Titanic? Katrina?). This is cheese!! They should have left at least one cop outside his door, even if it was for The Joker to kill him!! How about The Joker go for Harvey in an ambulance or something???? It would be much more credible! Point being: I'm not a writer, but I could come up with something explainable.... better then them... ehehehehe...
I think that if you want to do a REALISTIC movie, you have to be realistic. This two plot compromises the rest of the movie. Did the people who wrote and direct the movie have ever watched a policy movie, tv show… or whatever? They should have seen Vantage Point… that was a really spectacular police script!
reply to your #1: Maybe they
reply to your #1: Maybe they wanted to leave a police officer in there to make sure that the Joker would not do irreparable damage to himself, since they wanted to keep him alive in case they had to question him some more. Actions in movies don't have to be like actions in the "real world." Point being: there would be no freaking batman in the real world! If you would argue that this segment of the movie is not realistic and then you must also do so for the entire movie because the concept of Batman is in no way realistic.
reply to your number 2: The police don't know where Dent is. Nobody even knows if Dent is alive at that point and time of the movie.
reply to "I think that if you want to do a REALISTIC movie, you have to be realistic. This two plot compromises the rest of the movie. Did the people who wrote and direct the movie have ever watched a policy movie, tv show… or whatever? They should have seen Vantage Point… that was a really spectacular police script!":
If you want realistic, you shouldn't watch Batman in the first place.
All of you seem to be criticizing weaknesses of the movie that detract from the movie on such a minuscule scale that it almost seems to work against your argument that Dark Knight is not that great of a movie. You are showing that you cannot find any major flaws in the movie and you have to resort to criticizing the smallest things in the movie in order to show that it is bad. This in itself shows that there are no major flaws in the movie- if you all found any, you would have criticized those instead of criticizing petty things and saying things such as "I want a realistic movie... I expect Superhero movies to be realistic." For Christ's sake, people, the man is dressed as a bat and swings from building to building. You expect realistic from this?
Agree! Finally someone has it right...
As you pointed out, this film disappoints in several ways. It is bizarre that people would think this is the best film ever. Not even close.
Obviously Ledger was great, but I could not enjoy him as much since his rival and supposed match was the weakest character of the film. Bale was painful to watch, which was shocking since I love him in the first one and almost everything else he is in. I felt completely disconnected from his character and his motivations. Not only were his lines unmemorable, but he raspingly shouted every word while in the Bat suit. I literally cringed every time "Batman" spoke.
And did everyone forget that the Rachel Dawes character is just plain horrible? Her presence actually detracted from the film. I thought Gyllenhaal would bring her to life, but sadly she could not. Also, whoever was in charge of her makeup and hair should have been fired. She looked greasy and unattractive, and I think she is normally very pretty. And you think Bruce Wayne would have been a bit more upset that the love of his life was murdered. But no, there was barely any remorse or sadness shown by Bale. Perhaps it was the time crunch, but whatever the reason, Nolan missed an opportunity to show some real emotional range in the character.
Oldman and Ledger gave great performances, as did Eckhart. Although the transition into the raging and murderous Two-Face was ridiculously fast. Even worse, the special effects job on Two-Face was completely laughable.
Despite all this, I generally liked the film, but the above mentioned flaws have kept me from seeing it again.
Agreed. The fact that Dark
Agreed. The fact that Dark Knight is already voted the #1 movie of all time at IMDB is the beginning of its downfall.
I still don't even know what
I still don't even know what to think about Dark Knighht. Like most of you probably were, I had been waiting for this movie for forever and everytime I thought about it I could'nt help but get extremely pumped. In my eyes, this was Dark Knight's greatest flaw. The level of expectation. The movie itself was what it was. While I do agree that the movie was overhyped, I only feel this way because there is not a movie in the world that could have lived up to the hype that was received for Dark Knight. It is difficult to watch a movie that from the very first second, you are comparing it to every great movie you have ever seen. The best way for me to rate DK is by comparing it to my summer favorite, Iron Man. While I was extremely excited to see Iron Man, I knew that this was not probably becuase it would be a great movie, but because of my interest in the character and and his story. From start to finish, I savoured every moment of Iron Man and left the theatre amazed and already thinking about the sequel (thanks to the brilliant cameo with Nick Fury). What separated the two in my eyes was the difference in expectations. While I love batman as well, I was prepared for a great MOVIE, not just an incredible plot. I found myself scrutinizng every line and every shot in Dark Knight. Instead of just sitting back and enjoying a great story about one of my favorite super heroes like a fan, I found that for those 2 and a half hours I became a movie critic. I am not saying that everyone shares my opinion. When watching a superhero movie, there are people who go for different reasons: to see one of their beloved heroes on the big screen, or to see a good movie. I feel that many of the first group of movie-goers crossed over into the other group when it came to Dark Knight. The first group normally focuses on the plot, while the second group will pay closer attention to the cinematic quality. When someone watching a superhero movie is focusing on both of these aspects, it is tough to be completely satisfied.
Dark Knight suffers from
Dark Knight suffers from some serious Jimi Hendrix effect.