So overrated!

Rating: 7/10 (24 August 2008)

So this is the movie that created one box-office record after the other. I really expected quite something, but was left disappointed. It's definitely not a bad movie. There are many things that are good entertainment and worth watching and definitely one of the better movies this year, but come on it has so many flaws. If you think that a movie like matrix which is more original, more intelligent, better from its action-sequences and so on and so on just didn't earned that much at the box-office.
The most disturbing thing is probably the amount of realism they tried to put in a comic book story. Which always confused me as a viewer. That doesn't work for me. I think there was a hype created in America that pleased the hardcore comic book fans but i think the main reason why it was so extremely successful in America is it's dealing with Americas 9/11 Trauma.
The whole movie was kind of a propaganda movie for the government and its actual foreign policy.
When you see Batman standing in the ruins of an exploded building together with the firemen it evokes images of 9/11. And America's desperate yearning for a hero. Someone who will clean up with this scum. But what made "it" a scum isn't really told. A super-villain like the joker is just mad in a comic book. But in real life who is mad and who is not is often just a matter of the point of view.
The prisoners in the one boat evoke images of Guantanamo. And it justifies their illegal and often unjustified imprisonment of innocents with the words of the people of "other boat" . Why shall we have mercy with them. They blew their chance. But still we give them much more than they deserve. It still was a nice gesture giving them some kind of redemption by letting tiny lister throwing the detonator outside.
In the end Batman stand for me as a symbol for "W", because he is blamed by the people even though he is doing it seemingly just for them and sometimes they don't appreciate it or even understand it.
Next thing was how often and illogically they let the joker get away. I mean come on. The just cut to another scene and he is free. Thats so cheezy.
Batman hits him up like nothing and the man doesn't even bleed a bit. Other real people he just hits once and they are K.O. I thought the Joker had no superpowers but here he seems invincible.
Then you wonder how quick he has everything planned without ever getting a touch of an recruited army behind him , even though he seems to have tons and tons of toy soldiers. I a comic book it works but in a movie where they try to put a lot of realism in it it feels weird. First he is in prison but he is so foreseeing everything. Maybe i need to see it again. But it felt weird.
The action sequences felt not really thought trough. The whole chase tunnel sequence was so unrealistic. i mean first the police somehow never hits back. And joker just shoots and shoots and shoots. And it felt unreal.
Maggie Gyllenhall felt miscast. She maybe a favorite in art-house productions but here you need someone with obviously more sex-appeal. I never bought it that they fell for her.
The the totally unrealistic wounds of Harvey dent turning into "two-face". Come on. No one would have such an open wound. Isn't "Two-Face" a mad scicophrenic in the books. Here he never feels mad, just like a guy trying to get his revenge. Thats what I mean, with the amount of realism. Here a mad character from the books is explained in his madness, but the main character the joker which is a synonym for any terrorist threatening America isn't explained a bit. Yeah better that way. One might get scarred that one self turned that man into a terrorist. So they better leave that explanation out.
Then the much hyped about heath ledger (r.i.p.) performance. It was good but not that great. For me it was just an update of the Nicholson joker. He even talked much like him and his facial expressions also resembled Nicholson's expressions. So whats all the hype about. He is still performing very good but not legendary. I have seen better villains.
Then it seemed like there were many points in the movie that resembled of "L.A. Cofidential" One scene in the end where they let Harvey dent die as a hero is one of them but there were others too which i forgot.
So after all. Worth watching. Good movie. But too overrated. And i still don't understand the enormous box-office-records.