A Bit Over-rated but expectedly so and therefore not a disappointment

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2008)

I have never trusted the opinions of the general public on most films so I when I went to see the Dark Knight last night I knew the film would be entertaining and worth watching but not necessarily what one would call a great film. In all fairness this was exactly what I got. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a very good film and in parts I was on the edge of seat like everyone else but there were also many things I was unhappy with.
Overall it simply had a sense of that commercialised superhero blandness that you felt with the spiderman films. Many of the close interpersonal scenes seemed to have very predictable uninteresting dialogues. Moreover, contrary to the characters the film was trying to portray, I found Bruce Wayne, Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent very one dimensional.
I agree very much with piermalos (4-5 pages before my comment) in that it seems like Nolan wasn't trying to create a good film, he was trying to create a money-spinning blockbuster with plenty action scenes lavished on and simple moral dilemmas giving the audience a cheap thrill. Furthermore, Caine and Freeman's roles truly did feel like they were the meat-and-potatoes sidekicks with supposedly insightful 'old man' wisedom coming from them every now and again. It also felt too long and didn't flow as well as many classic films do.
More interestingly, Christian Bales portrayal of Bruce Wayne was far too close to that of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho and he is now very much a 'type cast' actor. You could have cut any of the scenes of him as Bruce Wayne and put them into American Psycho or vice versa.
Having said that, the film was at some points completely exhilarating and thrilling to watch. I loved every second the Joker was on screen - the combination of dark brutality and clever bathotic humour created a richly entertaining character. Like piermalos, one of my favourite scenes was the blowing up of the hospital, especially the point of explosion when the Joker is almost dancing with excitement as he detonates it. However, for me, one of the worst points in the film is in the car chase. The Joker firing larger and larger weapons at the police van holding Dent, with a 'funny' comment from the policemen inside after each hit was both pathetic and childish.
Overall, I really enjoyed the film but simply felt it a bit shaky at points. I'm not sure whether it is the genre of the film or the quality of it but in my opinion I doubt it will become a classic.