A disappointing summer continues...

Rating: 4/10 (26 July 2008)

THE DARK KNIGHT The Dark Knight,is the second film in the revitalised Batman franchise, based upon one of the most famous comic book characters of all time. Having been one of the most aggressively marketed films of the decade, this movie is near impossible to avoid. And with the death of one it's stars, Heath Ledger, just recently, his performance is inevitably going to be overrated. After a string of disappointing movies so far this year, The Dark Knight promised to be the exception, but never managed to deliver.
Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne, billionaire by day, caped crusader Batman by night. Having been clearing up the streets for a while, District Attorney Harvey Dent(Aaron Eckhart) has begun to prosecute the mobs, but the appearance of a new villain, the bizarrely strange and psychotic Joker(Heath Ledger), leads to anarchy and destruction on a large scale.
First off, Christian Bale gives an all time worst performance, constantly vague as Bruce Wayne, leaving no impact, and hinging his entire performance as Batman on making his voice overly gruff and nothing more, the result is the main protagonist being possibly the worst part of the entire movie. Heath Ledger's performance on the other hand is the highlight, whilst not as fantastic as the hype would have you believe, his body language an expression gives an edge to the character, whilst the script completely fails to give life to him.
From a perspective of writing, The Dark Knight is a poor specimen indeed. Batman Begins was notorious for it's lack of dialogue in favour of speeches and quips, and the recursion of the same few lines a ridiculous number of times, however the Nolan Brothers seem to have learnt nothing since, and we are left with the exact same sloppy writing again. Every line is either a quick smart remark like joke, or a monologue pointed in another characters general direction, leaving no real interaction between protagonists. Instead, we are left with lots of quotable lines, but a lack of substance, the typical third rate Hollywood script, drenched in cliché.
Christopher Nolan direction is marginally more interesting that Batman Begins, as he decides to use a bit more camera movement instead of relying entirely on filters to create atmosphere. Whilst it doesn't add anything to the meaning of any sequences of frames, the movement does make scenes that would otherwise be boring, due to the terrible screenplay, a little more interesting. However this is not enough at all, and several times we find ourselves tracking around the subject of a scene in circles for far too long without good cause. Sloppy directing, offering little if anything, highly indistinct and pretty much your basic action film which could have been directed by one of hundreds of third rate directors.
The feel of this movie is very empty, substance and rich content has been replaced by references and cheap laughs, rather than the actual building and construction of the characters and environments, being far too eager to move on to the next action sequence, leaves the movie completely hollow and void of any real emotion as we never get a chance to engage with any of the characters. Rather than a dark brooding comic book film, the whole movie feels more like a poor 'Bond' film, with the focus on gadgets and action, without any integrity, with Batman even travelling to the far East in pure Bond like fashion. The main character could easily be replaced by any generic action hero, and the result would be pretty much the same.
As for the key selling point of the film, the Joker, his handling is the cause of the vague nature of the film. The Joker's 'random craziness' and lack of playing by the rules makes the whole movie fail to have a point, whilst I suspect this was intended, the choice to make it such was a big mistake, as you never can get into the film or any of the characters, the first fifteen minutes being the best. The Dark Knight happens in front of you, with lots of events, but there never seems to be a point or substance, making the experience dull at best.
In conclusion, The Dark Knight fails to be anything special whatsoever, consigning itself to being a cliché Hollywood action film, without any edge. Of course, the film will make money, as with most marketing campaigns, and of course, there will be many people who claim this film is of a high quality, of course, if you're into stereotype, pointless action and cliché, then sure, this film is for you, but if you expect something with depth and purpose, that fulfils you as a viewer, look elsewhere. Another hugely disappointing movie, one to miss.