The Dark Knight (2008) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (30 July 2008)

This followup to BATMAN BEGINS has only been out for a short time, and already it's getting hailed as "The Greatest Movie Of All Time" by many viewers of all walks of life, presently enjoying an unfathomable general rating of 9.4 out of a possible 10 points on the "Internet Movie Database". As a result, the voting has it currently ranking as #1 on their "Top 250 Movies" list, even taking reign above true cinematic classics like CITIZEN KANE, BEN-HUR, THE GODFATHER and CASABLANCA. If this trend keeps up, we'll have a #1 for THE DARK KNIGHT, all right -- as the #1 "Most OVERRATED Movie Of All Time"!
Hey, folks -- please let's get a grip. One has to wonder how much of this unprecedented glory has to do with the tragic death of 29-year-old Heath Ledger (who plays the Joker in this movie), who passed on unexpectedly with a drug overdose just months before this film was released. THE DARK KNIGHT is not a good film, but it's not as much of a miss as BATMAN BEGINS was. The best thing I will say about THE DARK KNIGHT is that Heath Ledger's contagious interpretation of The Joker IS spellbinding, I will happily concede. Every time this character is on screen we cannot take our eyes off him. His Joker is a ghoulish clown ... intense, deadly, maniacal, and - for the first time that I can remember - downright frightening. He is a criminal to be reckoned with. For devotees of the previous screen versions of The Joker, they may like to know that Ledger also retains some of the comic prowess of this infamous court jester, laughing and getting flamboyant every now and then. I would go as far to say that Ledger is reason alone to see this movie, even though very little else in it can add anything to the fancy table he sets. This is another "dark" Batman experience. It's not the "Zap! Bam! Pow!" type of lighthearted comical approach which was dominant in the Adam West television series. From my own personal experiences in talking to different fans of both the "dark" and the "light" Caped Crusader, there seems to be two divided camps. I can't concern myself too much with that, though, because for me I approve of both interpretations of the Batman mythos.
Christian Bale is The Batman once again, and I had the same trouble with him here that I had with him in BATMAN BEGINS. That being, he tends to growl and speak in a sardonic whisper when wearing his Bat mask, and I think the effect is not only silly, but it grates on my nerves. He looks fine as Bruce Wayne, I suppose, but as Batman he also seems to be unimportant in his own film. While we keep looking forward to the next appearance of The Joker, Batman here is not very prominent.
A couple more more sweeteners to the stew are the characters of Harvey Dent (aka Two-Face), well-played by Aaron Eckhart, and Gary Oldman in a good performance as Commissioner Gordon. They're strong and intriguing presences within the movie, also peaking the interest more than Batman himself. Where the movie falls apart for me is that it has a confusing way of telling its story and conveying its action scenes, often coming across like a convoluted mess. It also feels far too long and in dire need of losing 30 or more minutes,easily. Add this to the insipid semi-presence of Batman, and even the factor that Heath Ledger -- for all his ingratiating magnetism in the first half of the film -- also seems to get tired in the last half, and you have just an Above Average film experience. That doesn't make THE DARK KNIGHT even "good", let alone "The Greatest Movie Ever Made". **1/2 out of ****