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Friday
23Jan2009

Movie Review - 'The Dark Knight' (Re-Release)

DateFriday, January 23, 2009 at 2:01AM
The Dark Knight (Re-Release)

Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, and Michael Caine
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Rated PG-13

whysoserious2.jpg The unvarnished truth is that The Dark Knight has more characters that it doesn't need than characters it needs, which means it has more scenes than it should, more storylines to conclude than we're all that interested in, and it all takes too long to get there.

It has one of the silliest gadget gimmicks I've ever seen in a superhero movie, it has some third act problems, and for a while, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) appears to have a cameo in his own movie.

But The Dark Knight also has Heath Ledger as The Joker, which is not only reason enough to see the film but is also a justifiable excuse to fall in love with the movies all over again.

The sequel to 2005's Batman Begins opens with a bank heist, and the thugs sound like hoodlums from a two-bit gangster picture, except for one of them who takes off his mask to reveal a scarred face garishly painted like Priscilla Presley. Or maybe it's supposed to be a clown.

"I believe," he croaks in an unsettling, wavering voice, "what doesn't kill you...only makes you stranger." And a stranger sight we've never seen than this Joker, a man bent on anarchy, who wants to hurl Gotham City into chaos and lay the blame at the feet of Batman.

In the first Tim Burton Batman film, the one that made these event movies profitable and artistically involving, we saw how Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) became The Joker. Since he's the best, most unpredictable villain in the entire comic book universe, having that explanation, that origin story, makes sense. You won't get that here. The Joker is like an earthquake in the middle of Kansas, a force of nature you could never account for, one that just exists to destroy, to "watch the world burn" as Batman's trusty assistant Alfred puts it. And because we don't know where he's from or who he is, it becomes harder to understand why he takes the actions he does, which makes him all the more frightening.

Meanwhile, a new District Attorney has been elected in Gotham. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is an incorruptible servant of the people, vowing to rid the city of the influence of the mob, which, coincidentally, is also on the agenda of The Joker. Dent becomes the number two target for The Joker, right behind the caped crusader. Caught in the middle is assistant DA Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is in love with Dent and is Bruce Wayne's oldest friend (in the past, she was something more). Strangely, director Christopher Nolan has had nearly five hours over two Batman movies to convince us of Rachel's importance, and he has failed to make an overly compelling case. She seems obligatory, not mandatory. The series would move along just fine without her.

The supposed Rachel relevance isn't the only issue I found with Nolan's handling of The Dark Knight. At times, the editing is suspect, as if we're seeing just enough of the action to get the gist of it, and certain scenes feel so short you wonder why they're in the movie at all. There are no fewer than four mob bosses to take into account, a rogue Wayne Enterprises employee who thinks he knows more than he should, and a reporter for whom we're supposed to feel compassion. That's in addition to the six primary characters we're supposed to follow. There's a fun to watch but utterly pointless sequence of events in Hong Kong, and it exploits how little Nolan has left for weapons and technology specialist Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) to do. It is good to see the growth of Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), who is filling the requirements of Batman's sidekick without needing a Robin suit.

But wait a minute: Isn't this supposed to be the movie about Batman and The Joker? Exactly.

Ledger's performance is so overpowering and addictive that part of me didn't like the serve and volley approach The Dark Knight used for about an hour: Three minutes of Batman, three minutes of Joker, then three more minutes of Batman. The subplot with Harvey Dent, while explained in a way that makes intellectual sense even if its character arc feels crammed into too small a space, also drives a wedge between the irresistible force and the immovable object, a reference made by The Joker late in the film that could have been more obvious without all the clutter.

Some will argue that Ledger's performance is over the top. Others will correctly identify that he's portraying The Joker, and that there is no top for that character to go over. It truly is a role that has no rules, and yet Ledger has found a pulse for the character that is irrevocably human: He's the worst of us. The Dark Knight is without question better when he's on screen; the dialogue is better, the action more tense, and the stakes noticeably higher. All the other stuff makes this film a flawed thing of greatness.

Is The Dark Knight a masterpiece? No. If you're expecting it to be a masterpiece, you'll think it is no matter how long we could debate it, because you've already sold yourself on the idea. But this film has too much excess to be perfect. Is it entertaining? Hell yeah, and it's better the second time around, at least it was for me.

Could it have been more? Definitely, and really, all it needs is a lot less.

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

I thought this was the worst movie I have ever seen after watching for what seemed like forever I thought ohh thank god its over but no there was 45mins more.

Saturday, January 24, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterNitog

I can't believe you thought this was the worst movie you watched. You gotta be kidding. This movie dominated the box office top 10 for the longest time. I think this was probably the most successful movie so far in 2009. The movie was more about the Joker than Batman.. either way it was an excellent movie in my opinion.

Friday, August 28, 2009 | Unregistered Commenternew release movies

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