Superb Batman movie but it suffers from an identity crisis

Rating: 8/10 (22 July 2008)

My anticipations for 'The Dark Knight' were great. First of I have to say overall I'm not disappointed. The movie definitely earns its praise as one of the best (if not the best) movie of 2008 so far. I can also see where other people's claims like "best Batman movie" and "best comic movie of all time" are coming from. Although for me, it doesn't entirely feel that way. Let me explain my view.
My major complaint concerns the 'character' of this movie. This movie made me question what kind of 'character' the director wanted to give to 'The Dark Knight'. It made me ask myself if this movie works, in the first place, as the kind of movie it's supposed to be (a comic book translation to the screen). The main problem with 'The Dark Knight' is that it doesn't really seem to know what kind of movie it wants to be and what kind of impressions and emotions it wants to carry over on the audience. Because what is this movie really when you think about it? It's a movie translation from a comic book. But aside from the necessary 'comical' appearance of characters and elements in the movie (Batman and all his gadgetry, the Joker, Two-Face) the movie doesn't seem to present itself as a comic movie whatsoever. Its main shortcome is that it doesn't quite succeed in embodying the spirit of a comic book.
While it was already apparent in 'Batman Begins' that Christopher Nolan wants to give a Batman movie a more realistic and more adult touch, he pushes this even further with 'The Dark Knight'. 'The Dark Knight' tries very hard to be something more (or something else?) than just a mere Batman movie. In fact, it could be considered a psychological thriller/mafia and crime movie/action movie/serial killer or horror movie, all combined in one film. But what is essentially the problem here? It needs to remain a Batman movie. It needs to maintain its identity as a comic book movie. If that doesn't happen, then what's the point in making one? If you want to make it too real, you could just as well completely remove all comic elements from it and make a realistic crime thriller with real-life characters and situations.
Nolan gives the impression that he doesn't seem to realize this. Of course, we all know that probably isn't true, and he just wants to show the darker and more adult side of the Batman comics in his movies. There is nothing wrong with that. But reaching this goal by pushing the amount of realism in your movies to the very possible extremes is probably not the best way to achieve this and to convey the message. Nolan made Batman as realistic as he could with the result being a movie that doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Is it meant to be a comic book movie or a psychological crime thriller? Is it meant for adults or for kids? Is it fantastic or realistic? 'The Dark Knight' has a PG-13 rating meaning that kids will also be able (and are probably willing) to see this new Batman movie. However, they probably won't get much enjoyment out of it. The dark and depressing tone, the violence, the complex plot and dialogues and all other 'adult' elements will put them off. But at the same time, although making an adult and realistic Batman movie, Nolan clearly wanted this movie to be bound to certain limits. For instance, the movie never really gets graphic in showing violence, blood or other disturbing images. This makes the movie, in some way, not convincing enough as being an entirely dark and adult movie. If you want to make an adult Batman, why not go all the way? Adult comic book translations have been made effectively before. Take Sin City. That movie was a comic book movie at heart. It captured the spirit of the comic completely and at the same time had a very convincing adult character. It was far from realistic but it didn't have to be. It also didn't pretend to be something other than an adult comic book movie.
Anyway, enough criticizing, you get the main idea of my complaint, and by doing this I might be giving the impression that I didn't like this movie, which obviously (see the 8 star rating), isn't the case. I actually liked it very much, in spite of the movie's apparent identity crisis. Obviously I was blown away by Heath Ledger's Joker, but the overall acting of the entire cast was actually very good (not a big fan of Bale's Batman voice though). Screenplay, editing and all that was great too. The movie also had a great story progression and a very comfortable and effective way of making the progress of the story flow. It didn't make the film seem as lengthy as it was at all. There were some scenes that were actually quite excellent and really well thought out. The words "pencil trick", "police questioning", "hospital scene" and "social experiment" should make a bell ring for those people who've already seen it. In the end, I really wasn't disappointed at all. I was simply questioning some of the ideas behind the movie. And that sorta stopped me from giving it a higher score, because a perfect movie shouldn't make me question myself if perhaps it couldn't have been handled more effectively to stay true to the real intentions and ideas behind it. That is all. Thanks for reading this.