Why so serious?

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2015)

Actually, I really had a hard time writing this review. I was pretty intimidated by the fact, that most of the reviews really worship this movie and I really don't wanna ruin it for all the fans who waited for exactly this kind of movie, but I promise to all the fans: I won't ruin it for you, I just add my opinion to the pool of critics.
First time I watched this title I can't help of feeling somehow not dragged in. Of course maybe this is connected to the fact, that I really expected something like the old Batman movies which I really liked at that time. I read critics which complained about the "non-comic", realistic look-and-feel of the movie and this is actually the point where I really got confused somehow. This movie has passages where it appears to be like a crime series and some where it appears to be like a thriller. It is certainly my own taste, but if it is considered to be like a thriller or even like a horror, than it should add a little bit more blood to the screen. I know, that it was an artistic decision not to do so and somehow hold back with more violence, and for that reason, it is difficult to criticize, but I guess it would add one extra point to my rating to really have a grim, dark story here. When I reckon the day, where I watched Batman with Jack Nicholson as the joker in my first theater visit at all, I saw some very shocking scenes that haunted me for a while. Of course, this has been a couple of years ago and the comic approach of the movie made everything look somehow unreal and scary at the same time, but the picture was more vivid to me than the new images.
So, when we are talking about actors, I want to praise Heath Ledger like most of the audience did. He tried to change the character into a real psychopath rather than a mad comic book joker who is smiling all the time while doing horrible crimes. So his acting is superb. Nevertheless i liked the comic book version joker more, exactly because he would not appear to be a real person in the usual sense rather than a blurry vision of a chaotic symbol, a joker for the evil kind.
Now to my biggest issue, Harvey Dent and his sub-plot. This story isn't really interesting for me and the connected love story that comes with it, is frankly said: boring.
So I want to summon up: We do have a movie, which I would want to be less realistic either by adding more violence or by making it more comic-like, a good Heath Ledger, who convinced by what he was doing and a meaningless sub-plot.
And so my final question to the filmmakers remains: Why so serious?