Review: "Batman: The Dark Night"

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Michael Wechsler

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I got to see this yesterday and it is completely different than all the previous Batman films. Did it contain a philosophical, deeper story line that illustrated the constant struggle between good and evil? Was there a legendary, Oscar-winning performance by Heath Ledger that is the talk of the town in Hollywood? Did this film meet or even exceed the hype?

In the eyes of this reviewer the answer to all those question is... (drum roll please!)... a resounding no! Including the people that surrounded me in my center located seats, my reaction at the conclusion was one of shocking disbelief. What was this exceedingly dark, jumbled mess? While Ledger's performance is certainly good and far more entertaining than the rest of the cast (Hollywood will simply hand him a posthumous Oscar), Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent was the main character in this film, even to the exclusion of Batman. During the previews another film starring Christian Bale was being shown and I jokingly asked my friend how Bale had the time to star in yet another role. After viewing this flick, question answered - and that's where the problem begins.

Those expecting another comic book adaptation will be sorely disappointed. Make no mistake, this is a serious film that portrays a real life vision of a psychopath versus a masked crusader. At no time did I feel that this was just a caricature and a surreal environment in Gotham City. It was highly disturbing and was an endless, roller coaster ride of graphic, gratuitous violence and in no way deserved the low "PG-13" rating that it received. This film is about death, mayhem and destruction and, if you brought a date after a happy meal, you won't be thinking about dessert.

What was most disappointing was the utter lack of any character development. In "Batman Begins" there was a very interesting study about the background of each character, the extensive background of Bruce Wayne and even the villians as well. From the opening scene, The Joker is depicted as nothing more than a crazy psychopath who informs us of his whole reason for being in a single sentence. What drives this man? Why does he just thirst merely for chaos? There was no suspensful setup at the beginning, intense middle drama and awesome conclusion - this film was all middle. The violent scenes roll onward with no sense of direction.

Next was an utter lack of realism that resembled antiquated James Bond. You'll hear about miraclous usage of cell phones, a Joker character who could appear anywhere and everywhere at whim, an absolutely annoying "voice" enhancement and laughably bad makeup on both The Joker (that keeps reappearing) and on The Mayor. What pretty eyes he has! :) There are several "close calls" in this film that went from realism to "camp" and much out of place.

But let's get to the storyline... what story line? It seemed more like a fifth installment of "Saw." Most of this film is focused on The Joker's desire to prove that people are selfish, fickle and only care about self-preservation utilizing an endless supply of credit and elaborate schemes that are inherently not credible. When the film's bloated 150 minute running time was running out, characters that needed transformation were simply turned conveniently and in an instant. Suffice it to say I did not understand the twist towards the end of the film nor the utterly incomprehensible ending. Instead, I received a bit of philosophical mumbo jumbo rationalizing the whole movement of the story that reminded me of what pot smoking youngsters might say after viewing the Matrix (the second or the third installments). Most importantly, ladies and gentlement, the show must go on to yet another sequel! :)
 
Thanks...I will save my money.

As a Batman comic book fan, I have never thought any Batman movie was worth a plug nickle.
 
You're probably right. I'm not sure why we need real life movies of comic books and it changes the whole dynamic.

(I'm also not sure if we need this section but I figured I'd leave it out here and see what happens. :) )
 
Needless to say Heath Ledger did pull off the joker much more convincing then any previous movie. This movie also better represented the "dark" side of batman which lacked in all the other movies being more true the comics. I agree that we will never be able to rip the exact mood and history straight from the comic book because they use different styles to tell the story.

So my say is that its the "best" batman movie yet. I recommend seeing it if its something your into.
 
My husband and I saw this while on NV for two nights last week. We loved it Ledger caught the "real" Joker. This was by far the best Batman film of them all.
 
So experiences will vary. :) Glad you liked it. Ledger was one of the highlights of the film although I felt the screenplay limited him from being able to portray a complete character like Batman/Bruce Wayne was provided in the first film.

I saw Hellboy II this past weekend. I'm not a fan of these movies but, where I was at, it was either that, the X-Files or Sex And The City. Hellboy it was, lol. Vastly different movies as Hellboy was always "comic book" feel, lighter, and sometimes campy. Wasn't bad, decent diversion, reasonably good special effects although the ending limped a bit.
 
The movie not only has a lot of action, it also tells the story of the internal struggle that Bruce Wayne is having with being the Batman hero.The movie explores the literary themes of Hero verses Villain, as well as Order verses Anarchy, and the Joker explains to Batman that to have one you must have the other, and because of that, they will always be connected.
 
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