The Dark Knight

I know all of you saw this a long time ago, so I’m not even going to discuss the plot. I’ll just mention a few things I liked and didn’t like.

To get the quibbles out of the way first, too many of the action sequences in this movie are dark and choppily-edited, so that it’s difficult to follow what’s going on. That’s a common complaint of mine, but I think it’s still valid. The previous movie in this series, BATMAN BEGINS, was really guilty of this. It isn’t as prevalent in THE DARK KNIGHT but still there enough to be annoying at times. Also, a few things were just a little too much of a stretch for me to believe, like the super-duper, whiz-bang machine that allowed Batman to hear every conversation and see everything that was going on in Gotham City at the same time.

But there was a lot more that I liked. Yes, Heath Ledger was very good as the Joker, but not any better than Christian Bale as Batman, who probably looks more like Bruce Wayne is supposed to than any of the other actors who have played the part. Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon has sort of grown on me, too. The script doesn’t do anything that blatantly violates the comic book continuity (like the X-Men movies increasingly did) or totally invalidates the original character (like the first Hulk movie did). The length of this movie and the complex plot give it a truly epic feel, and adding to that is the fact that everything is played totally straight. Because of that, even the more over-the-top and melodramatic moments really work. Jim Gordon’s final speech that ends the movie is great.

I wouldn’t rate THE DARK KNIGHT quite as highly as most people did, but I do think it’s a very good movie, one of the best I’ve seen recently. And when the next one comes along, as it inevitably will, I’ll certainly watch it.