Good summer movie. No masterpiece.

Rating: 7/10 (5 August 2008)

It is a good movie. It is not a great movie. After all of the hype I was a bit disappointed. I enjoyed the movie but thought it was just a run of the mill superhero action flick. The performances were good. All of the actors were believable and Heath Ledger's Joker was a great character but it was a one note performance. There was no real depth to the character for me. Each time he appeared he acted in the same psychotic manner but there wasn't an exploration as to why he was doing what he was doing or where he planned to take the story. The story was just a simplistic hatred of Batman and a want to unmask him. Sorry, same old, same old. Superhero movies suffer from clichéd story lines. Superman in each movie will be exposed to kryptonite. Profess his unfulfilled love for Lois Lane, (why I don't know. She is usually portrayed as some skinny, ambitious harpy), and is eventually saved from the bad guy by some babe. Spiderman yearns with unfulfilled love for his girlfriend and fights off some bad guy while reminiscing again about his Uncle, who we get to see die again. Batman will struggle with his demons while fighting off another bad guy punctuated by corrupt cops and double crosses.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is a fine actress and is attractive but she is not an outstanding beauty who would attract the Joker to her in lieu of all of the other babes in the room. It is not helpful when the script has to tell you that the character is beautiful. The character's looks should tell you she is beautiful. Monique Curnen was there to provide the corrupt cop. One of many. She was wasted. Give me something new and fresh. Not a new gadget but a new story line. Explore more than the obvious. This movie was a series of vignettes of action scenes and simplistic twists. There were way too many deus ex machina moments and the twists did nothing but provide excuses for more action scenes. SPOILER ALERT. The scene with the cop being goaded by the joker to beat him up was clumsily telegraphed. Gordan appearing again at the exact opportune moment rang false. Aaron Eckhart's accident and metamorphosis into Two-face was rushed and hardly used. It became more of a distraction from the main story of the Joker. The Joker's character could have been examined in more depth. As it was the ending felt like it was there only to provide grist for the sequel. Heath Ledger's unfortunate death, which added hype to the movie, also destroyed the ending of the movie. There was no closure. It seems more like coming attractions for the next movie. Don't get me wrong it was a fun movie but it is just a summer popcorn movie and not a wondrous masterpiece it is being touted as. See it, enjoy it and then forget it until the next installment.