The not so dark Dark Knight

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2008)

While this film has superb acting (by far Heath Ledger's best work) and a reasonably good script (a much better start to this film than Batman Begins), I have to say that I was disappointed by the look of the film.
Since Dark Knight is a sequel to Batman Begins, I was disappointed that Gotham City did not look anything like it did in Batman Begins. I know that different people have different visions but Gotham City looked clean and shiny in this film - personally I wouldn't have shown so much of the city on bright sunny days (something Tim Burton got right in his Batman films). I don't think Gotham has been shown so bright since the 1960s TV show...
Another thing on the portrayal of Gotham City, in Batman Begins it was shown to be mainly an island which I don't think was identified clearly in the sequel. The reason I say this is because I have friends who didn't understand the ferry sequence. Even though the Joker hinted at the bridges and tunnels having "surprises", I had friends ask why they had to take the ferry boats. Although I had no problems following what was going on, if I know people who didn't get it (for what ever reason), there must be others out there I don't know who didn't get it either. Personally I recommend people watch Batman Begins in the days before they go and see Dark Knight, but I think a lot of people are just going to see this film because it is Heath Ledger's last film.
The other very different thing about this film that didn't sit well with me was the very warm look to the film in some scenes - namely the lighting in Bruce's apartment and even the 'bat cave' had warm earthy tones. Warm lighting in any Batman film will always look strange and personally I think it should be avoided. It would be interesting to know why the creative team decided to go this way. I think the film would have looked better by literally being darker and colder.
Overall I think it is a good film, far from the crap that some people are calling it, but I don't think the film is worthy of being given a perfect 10.