I saw the Dark Knight a whopping three times in the theaters, which ties it with The Lion King for films I've seen the most times on the big screen. I saw it once more on DVD and during finals I would sporadically watch clips of it on Youtube. I was convinced it was the greatest movie of all time after my first viewing. Now that it's been a few months and "Dark Knight" mania is over, I've had some time to reflect and think a bit more critically. Without further ado (adue?), my thoughts.
Background: I was one of those weird little kids who rooted for the bad guys. Obviously this made me a huge Joker fan. In fact, my pillow case right now is a green-haired, red-lipped, maniacal Joker laughing his ass off with word HA! littered across the pillow. Growing up, I remember being less than impressed by the Cesar Romero Joker in the ridiculous yet comical 1960's Batman television series. I wasn't crazy about Jack Nicholson's Joker either. He didn't look like the Joker; he was too fat. In 2005, Batman Begins came out, and I thought it was very good, but not great. I was a little disappointed after learning that Heath Ledger was going to be playing the Joker, but this was obviously unfounded.
What Worked:The acting performances are top-notch. The characters work off each other perfectly and their interactions never feel forced. The minute exchanges between them, like when Alfred talks briefly to Dent, or Bruce's unrequited love for Rachel that's present throughout the film but rarely mentioned, are a big reason why this movie is successful from a dramatic standpoint.
The cinematography is amazing, especially in IMAX. The scenes in Hong Kong are the most visually stunning I've ever seen. The gritty style of the fight scenes was a nice contrast to a lot of the heavily stylized action films of late(Matrix, 300, V for Vendetta, etc.). In TDK, it's hard to tell who's beating up who.
In a movie this "big", it was the subtle things that pushed it from being a good action movie to being a legitimately great film. The best example for me came in the opening robbery scene. Check it out around 5:51.
On his way out of the bank, the Joker grabs the bank manager's (William Fichtner) shotgun, which he uses later when he crashes Dent's party. That about sums up his character right there.
What Didn't Work: I would have liked to see some of the scenes flushed out a little more, instead of ending with cutaways. For instance, the scene where the Joker pushes Rachel out the window simply ends with Batman and Rachel lying on a car. Did the Joker and his men just leave after that? Did Batman try to chase after them? Another example, the Joker/Dent scene in the hospital. Did Two Face just walk away? How did he get out of the hospital? The most glaring problem, though, was the scene on the ferry. You mean to tell me that no one thought to inspect the boats for dynamite when a psychopathic killer just blew up a hospital?
Best Scene(s): The opening bank heist was the best scene in the movie. It's one of my favorite scenes in a movie, ever. The interrogation scene was brilliant as well and so was the Joker/Dent hospital chat, which gives the viewer more insight into the Joker's character and motivations (or lack thereof). It's also a brilliant depiction of how the Joker can get inside someones head. Harvey is permanently scarred and his potential wife is dead, yet the Joker still manages to turn Harvey's fury onto the corrupt cops and Batman. A scene that flew a bit under the radar was the one immediately following the bank heist, with Scarecrow and the fake Batmen. Juxtaposed with the heist, it smacks you right in the face and sets the tone for the rest of the film.
If I had to rank them, I'd go 1)bank heist 2)interrogation 3)Dent/Joker in the hospital 4)Scarecrow/fake Batmen
The closing dialogue from Gordon is great too. It ends this film, but makes it clear that the story is not over, a lot like the ending of Batman Begins. I'm interested to see where they could go from here, though, especially with Ledger's death.
Worst Scene(s): Tough question. If I could take out one scene/plot line it would probably be the whole Hong Kong adventure, although if that would eliminate the unbelievable background scenery. They could have at least cut this scene up a little bit, and given more time to other, more important sequences. Also, the scene in the jail where the whole place explodes, but the Joker somehow is the only one still standing. How would all the people around him get knocked out, but not him? Finally, the car chase scene (with Gordon driving the armored car with Dent in it) was a little over the top. The scene as a whole was exciting as hell, but the Batmobile jumping in front of the Joker’s rocket was ridiculous. How the hell would Batman know the Joker was firing at that exact moment? I’m picking at nits here, but that was too over the top. Thankfully, that was the only time the action scenes crossed into Live Free or Die Hard territory.Best Line(s): The Joker's "Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established social order, and everything becomes chaos" was my favorite line. Also thought that Alfred's musings about the bandit in Burma, "Some men aren't interested in anything logical...some men just want to watch the world burn" was awesome.
I liked the nod to the first film here too. Wayne tells Alfred that "criminals aren't complicated" which is exactly what Ra's al Ghoul (Liam Neeson's character in the first film) told him during his training. Nice touch.
Worst Line(s): During the bank robbery "Where'd you learn to count?" seemed kind of trite. "I good with calculation" was pretty lame too, although Dent's retort "How long do you calculate you'd last in there" was funny. Dent's "The night is darkest just before the dawn" line was good, but is that even true?
Unsung Hero: Gary Oldman. Gordon has a quiet strength about him. He's the calming presence in the film. Hard to believe this is the same guy who played Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy and Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK. By the way, where does the term "unsung" hero come from? Is there such a thing as a "sung" hero?
Final Analysis: The best comic book adaptation of all time. One of the greatest action/crime films of all time. A rare films that is entertaining as hell yet makes you think. Similar to last year's No Country for Old Men, it stayed with me for days afterwards. It's rewatchable time and again despite it's length. That being said, not without its flaws. Nolan gets a little too cute with the editing at times and there's a few over the top action scenes. Still, these flaws are easy to overlook due to the excellence of everything else.
Grade:9.5/10
