Expectations Realized

Rating: 7/10 (23 July 2008)

Dark Knight, the long awaited sequel to one of my favorite actions films (not just action hero or superhero film), Batman Begins, finally arrives with a build-up, which included a IMDb user rating the highest ever, that surely no movie could possibly live up to. I went to the movie with my spouse and my business partner, both very discerning people who had equally high expectations. We wanted to see the IMAX version, and we had to wait until Tuesday as the first weekend was sold out at our venue.
The cinematography at the beginning of the movie (without revealing details)has my buy in, taking full advantage of IMAX, as the action unfolds. The first several minutes doesn't disappoint, and then all of sudden, like a 70mm film was cut, and a unfinished raw project was spliced in, comes disappointment. That disappointment comes slow at first, and then building to a crescendo, which culminates in a hodgepodge of flawed cinematography, an underdeveloped protagonist and a lack of longing to see the completion of a possible trilogy (although #3 can't be as bad as this one). I too was blown away, but not in a good way.
I was wondering, as the movie, was everything was looking so small, as if I was Gulliver and I had travel to the island of bad film noir. Gotham General Hospital looked like a clinic, which couldn't have possibly had many rooms as there was hardly enough room for a lab. The movie should have had a title with "Joker" or "Two-Face" in it, because Christian Bale's role was relegated to a man or myth moving through scenes with mechanical ease, while occasionally satisfying the special effects crowd. Where was Wayne Enterprises, or was Fox's office really in that room with no furniture and more displays than all the TV stations in Chicago (where most of the movie was shot)? In my opinion Maggie Gyllenhall, did an adequate job of playing the role of Rachel Dawes, but I don't think she is very good looking and as a result the competition between Dent and Wayne wasn't even a consolation event. (Dresses from WHICH century?) The transitions from Deep Focus to Shallow Focus were, in my opinion flawed and extremely irritating. What made the cinematography worse was the sequence in editing where transition which were smooth and logical in Batman Begins were choppy and even looked amateurish in many of the scenes (always landing at the upper torso turned left, and yes I know the motion direction is left but enough...NOT EVERY TIME!!!) I was hoping to see a movie the likes of Shawshank. I should have known that it is very unlikely to see an action or adventure film, which would rise to the top.