It's not that it's a "bad" film...it just has so many flaws

Rating: 5/10 (26 July 2008)

WHAT is all the hoopla about? The Dark Knight is a mediocre film that drags on too long, has too many plot lines, and action sequences way out of step from Batman Begins.
It seems like the screenplay has too many "edits" with plot lines that sprout from nowhere for seemingly no reason. The filmmakers should have done what James Cameron does: stop production because the story starts to suck, and rework it.
The Dark Knight's basic premise is that a deliciously creepy character named "The Joker" wants to kill Batman so that he can get a huge piece of a mobster-group's money. Sounds good, but the story starts sprouting uncontrollably with little plots here and there which the film tiresomely follows to all their useless ends.
The action sequences are totally over the top, way out of step with Batman Begins. In Batman Begins, much of the action, or physics, is somewhat believable yet far-fetched. In The Dark Knight, it is science fiction.
Does anyone die in this film? There are lots of gunshots and beatings, but nobody seems to die. People seem to die then come back from the dead. People are implied dead, then we see them again later. When one character does die late in the film, there were so many others who became "undead" that I seriously expected to see them again later. It was farcical.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is TOTALLY miscast as Gotham's District Attorney. In Batman Begins, Katie Holmes was the D.A. and was MUCH more believable. Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, has the softness and sweetness of Katie Couric, and I don't believe her at all especially in the painful moments she tries to stand tough against crime.
Heath Ledger was good as The Joker, however, he did not achieve the depth of character that Jack Nicholson does in the original. Ledger seems to be a "one-note-wonder". Creepy, yes. Very creepy and dark, but on a shallow level. I think that more than anything the poor editing of the film is to blame for that.
The film has some positive sides. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman are all excellent in their roles.
Cillian Murphy makes a brief appearance as Scarecrow (who knows why). While he is a good villain, his character makes a humorous comment about diagnosing Batman after he is caught in a drug bust which seems totally out of character for him.
The film goes on, tiresomely, with more characters, more villains, more action. Like an oil spill gone amok, The Dark Knight seemingly has no end.