Too long and too confusing.

Rating: 4/10 (17 July 2008)

I had the luxury of seeing Dark Knight when it first hit theaters this week and let me tell you, I was quite disappointed.
I do not understand what the rave reviews are about but I found the plot line very complicated and confusing most times. Jumping from here to there, pushing far too much for a nearly 3 hour movie. Heath Ledger is an excellent actor of course but I found Nolan's version of Joker very demented and nothing like the comic book Joker or cartoons. He seemed like a mental patient then the Joker I grew up reading. Where were the jokes and the twisted sense of humor? The only thing they left was the menacing laugh which Ledger did fantastically.
While I love watching Superheros, there just wasn't enough Batman. The whole movie focused a lot on the Harvey Dent character, who in my opinion should have been left for the third installment. It was already enough to have Joker as the villain, but Two-Face too? The development of Two-Face was quick as it ended. And his agenda was too poor to be believable as to why he was the classic Two-Face Batman fans know of.
Batman himself was ho-hum. Christian Bale is good as Bruce Wayne, but as batman? No. That voice he puts on which supposedly was to be menacing came up more constipated and very forced. You could barely hear his dialog along with his spit fly out of his mouth occasionally. However, I did enjoy his fighting, which was downright how I see Batman fight the big baddies.
But the main thing that bothered me most on whole that was missing was the Batmobile. I have no idea what Nolan was thinking to not include it in the movie. It was the main reasons I wanted to see it in the first place. Not to mention his classic domain, the Batcave, which was replaced with an underground high-tech warehouse. Not impressive.
Overall, the movie was just too long, too complicated and forgettable. I favor Tim Burton's Batman over Nolan's version by a long shot. But then, everyone has their own opinion.
4/10.