The Dark Knight
September 10th, 2008Warning - contains slight spoilers. Keep this in mind if you still haven’t seen this film.
Contrary to popular opinion, this was not the greatest movie ever nor even the best comic book movie ever made, nor even the best of the Batman movies. It was still good, don’t get me wrong, but this may be hands down the most overrated movie I’ve seen in years.
The Dark Knight has Christopher Nolan reprising his role as Director for the Batman series, which reset with the awful Batman Begins. This time, Nolan gets it partially right.
Christian Bale once again is Bruce Wayne/Batman. With two assistants, fellow scientific and business genius Lucius Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, and the wise and trusted butler Alfred, played by Michael Caine, Batman takes on the Joker, a twisted sociopath with no plan. Freeman like always is likable, but his screen presence is limited, as is Caine’s.
Batman has three legal partners in crime fighting - the good cop Gordon, for which Gary Oldman does a splendid job, and Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart. Dent ends up with one of the film’s most important roles, but it is the recently deceased Heath Ledger who steals the show as The Joker.
I actually like what Nolan did with The Joker. Here’s a guy with no superpowers other than faster than average reflexes and a paranoid wit to him that gets him out of trouble on more than one occasion. The Joker also gets an A+ in psychology, playing people’s weaknesses against themselves.
However, his downfall is predictable. He sees the human races as cheaters and liars, and severely underestimates the good in humans. I saw that one coming from a mile away, and it took one dead zombie from the film.
If you know what happens in the comics, you’ll know what happens to Harvey Dent. I found Dent to be too easily manipulated by The Joker and just didn’t buy that a man with as much character can be duped like he did.
The other thugs were one dimensional, which is fine for comic book movies, but have a little bit of depth. These guys had none and were pretty much there as cannon fodder.
Overall, a much improved effort over the first one, but doesn’t compare to Tim Burton’s ‘89 Batman nor even ’08’s Iron Man. Still worth watching if you like action flicks, but it’s not great film by any means. 7 out of 10 dead zombies. 
I’m interested in your review on the ‘89 Batman cuz the Dark Knight blows that away. Heath Ledger gave the best psychotic performance I’ve ever seen, and the character development and psychology in this film are so good you don’t even realize you’re watching a comic-book movie.
Bale’s Batman character is the real deal. He’s a terrifying demon with a dark side that from time to time contemplates murder. I went into this movie with a lot of expectations, and they were all met and exceeded.
I really liked the Dark Knight. I thought it was way better than the first of the new series. And while the Tim Burton versions will always have a place in my heart, they don’t really stand the test of time.
The Joker character was by far the highlight of the movie. That’s a true sociopath character - the way he’s supposed to be.
I liked the movie too and thought it was the best of the Batmans, but like you I thought Iron Man was better. Still, Heath Ledger made me really regret that he is no longer with us. His character certainly did have a plan, and I thought his actions were eerily similar to how terrorists behave, and realistically portrayed. The Joker, this version, totally blew Jack Nicholson out of the water. No comparison.
i must be one of the 3 people in north america who hasn’t seen this flick yet.
in unrelated news i was in the bookstore the other day and saw a book called “zombie haiku.” i thought of you of course. it made me laugh and even more so when i picked it up and flipped through it.
I liked the Joker best. It was weird. He had no ID. Was he a government person? It’s usually only spooks don’t have IDs.
I understand why Batman took the rap. It’s because the Two Faced guy was the White Knight. He didn’t want people to lose hope.
Kate - I would have liked to see more of the Joker’s origins.
Lime - Yeah, I finally saw it when I wrote that review. It seems like everyone and their Grandma saw it first. The thing is, it was just built up too much. That’s why I was disappointed.
Scott - Ah, you liked Iron Man better too. You think Ledger was better than Nicholson? I’ll have to see that one again.
Laura - The thing about the Burton versions is they were more cartoonish, so they had a different kind of charm. They also were a lot more American Gothic than the new one, which stylistically, I like much better.
Skeletor - See what I said to Laura. Liked the style of Burton’s much better.
The thing about Nicholson is that he is never anybody else but Jack Fucking Nicholson. That was great when he was young, but the shtick has gotten old.
What sealed Ledger’s character for me–but I was already sold at this point–was when Batman knocks the Joke off the building, plummeting to his death–and he laughs while he is falling. Not a care in the world. Beautifully done.
As for Iron Man, is there anybody funnier alive today the Robert Downey Jr.? That scene in the humvee at the beginning was classic.
“is there anybody funnier alive today the Robert Downey Jr.? ”
He’s fantastic. His off-the-cuff sounding line deliveries are phenomenal.
Scott - You know what’s funny? My father said the same thing about De Niro. I actually think De Niro is quite good. True about Nicholson though. He’s always the same role. The thing is, I wasn’t into film yet when I saw Batman in ‘89. Didn’t really start studying film until ‘91, so wasn’t sick of Nicholson yet.
Yeah. Downey’s one of my favorite actors. I’m hoping the guy stays clean and sober.
Laura - Very true.
I just watched the Dark Knight again. Still the best Batman by far, and I’ve decided I’ll be the Joker for Halloween.
Well, I’ll have to watch Burton’s again. I don’t think I’ll change my opinion though.
I do think that Ledger stole the show. No Ledger and that would have been a mediocre movie.
Burton created a cooler world too. Look at the average screenshot and compare it to the new one.
I think Burton’s movies just had better sets and a cooler Batmobile. He also made Batman a badass again after that cheesy TV show. As for characters, The Dark Knight’s Batman, Joker, Alfred, and Gordon were all much improved. Keaton did a great job but the new Batman is more ferocious and intimidating.
I had forgotten (if I had ever known) that Tim Burton did the first Batman which I remember as disappointing most people. I, however, saw it without really wanting to and was therefore not disappointed at all. I don’t remember liking it particularly, but I wasn’t suicidal because it wasn’t what I expected.
On the other hand, I quite liked the Dark Knight (and its precursor Batman Begins) and completely agree with everybody’s assessment of Heath Ledger - as I said at my blog, I kept looking to see if I could find Heath Ledger in the Joker and couldn’t, whereas there was no missing Jack Nicholson in his Joker.
I do agree with you re: not enough Morgan Freeman (or Michael Caine, IMO) in this film, but I love them.