Depends on Your Definition of "Film", "Cinema", etc.

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2008)

My sister goes to the "movies" and wants to munch popcorn and be thrilled, scared or laugh to extremes. I go to the "cinema" and want to be impressed, provoked or mesmerized. She's down to earth. My head's in the clouds. She knows herself pretty well. I'm constantly "redefining". With her you get what you see. I'm a bit of a chameleon. She loved THE DARK KNIGHT. I couldn't wait for it to end.
Many excellent "movie" things here. The protagonist/antagonist contrast was excellent. Ledger's Joker was truly fun to watch. The "mood" and pace of the movie were consistent; i.e., always moving evenly without lulls or digressions (hard to do over 2.5 hours). Action sequences were well placed and often thrilling. Acting was very good (and also consistent; i.e. no one over the top). All above thanks to an excellent script and great directing. Not to mention the fine score and camera work.
Batman is a comic book hero written for adolescents. Kudos to the movies that used comic book dialogue, pace, music, etc. to bring comic book effect to the screen; e.g., the first Superman, the first Spiderman,the first Batman, etc. Its not a sin to exaggerate the comic book and create a hybrid monster replacing comic book dialogue, brevity, etc.,with Hollywood-enhanced scripting, music, technology, etc. Certainly it makes for great entertainment. But its not art.
Farce is classical, sublime themes applied to ordinary, mundane subjects for strictly entertainment, usually melodramatic or comical, effect. A comic book hero is an ordinary subject. No matter how much you multiply the noise, sharpen the action, use clever dialogue, etc., its still farce. Its a credit to comic books that they started many of us to reading beyond empty HARDY BOYS fare (so did MAD magazine). Truly our comic books INTRODUCED us to themes, conflicts, ambiguity, etc., that we hadn't yet experienced. After all, we were twelve years old.
I took my 12 year old son to TDK. Had a burger at Red Robin beforehand. I had a lot of fun the first 90 minutes of the film then became very tired (had a long day). My boy loved the movie and I'm so glad he did. Certainly he will move on to elevated levels, maybe become a writer. He will remember TDK like I remembered THE TIME MACHINE.
I hope TDK is celebrated like KING KONG, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, ET, etc. Lets not confuse it with CITIZEN KANE, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, etc. I guess it all depends who you want to go to the movies with, me or my sister.