Good, but not a great movie

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2009)

I've read some of the comments as I usually do before writing a review, and preferably the I hated it section. It invariably produces a few good laughs and sobering remarks. However this Dark Knight movie, despite its obvious flaws, wasn't all that bad.
I rate flaws in movies against the mother of all flaws: the lord of the rings trilogy and Armageddon. Versus these giant misproducts The Dark Knight doesn't do so bad.
The plot wasn't so unbelievable as in the lord of the rings. There where also no characters you where starting to hate towards the end of the movie, unlike in Armageddon.
Batman is aimed at a younger audience but I've grown to admire the dark and fairytale-less mood in this movie. Batman is torn because of feelings for a girl that is about to get married to another man. It does not end positive. He has to fight a great adversary in the Joker, and that also, doesn't end positive. In fact, i loved the dramatic moments a lot and thought it made Batman a much more believable character.
The flaw in this movie is in the little details in the plot. Some events are simply unbelievable or overdone. I agree the Hong Kong scene was not needed and not realistic. Since China starts shooting even at simple American fishing boats when they near Chinas waters, its highly unlikely the Chinese would take kindly to an American KC-135 troop transporter flying over Hong Kong to aid in the kidnapping of one of their head of industries. The Joker rides at high speed in a truck alongside the armoured car where Dent is in, the lanes separated by lots of huge columns of concrete, yet he manages to fire time and again, in the small holes in between those columns. And despite that I liked some of the stunts and action, other examples where like the above mentioned: hard to believe.
Then there are the actors, which i liked but where not outstanding because of the written dialogues. I do have to mention I think Christian Bale is not a very impressive actor. He was fantastic in American Psycho but here you need a bit more than just playing the bored socialite. His low voice when he was Batman was sometimes laughable. He should beware to not slide down to Tom Cruise-levels of shallowness.
Praise goes out to Heath Ledger, and where i think Bale has gone downhill, I didn't appreciate Ledger until I saw his role in this movie. Okay so he is no Jack Nicholson but who is? Ledger was brilliant, radiating energy, convincing with great mimic and vocal performances. He reminds me a little bit on Johnny Depp with a slight edge on intensity. We are gonna miss a great, great talent because of his passing away.
I have to mention two things that did put me off. No country for old men had the great Javier Bardem (can he follow Ledger as Joker please?) tossing coins in deciding peoples lives. In the Dark Knight we see Dent do exactly the same. Couldn't they not at least try and be a bit more original? And Dents badly damaged left face reminded me a lot of how the terminator looked. even if a skinless skull looks like this, again, they couldv made some effort to at least avoid the suspicion that this was also a case of being copycat. Movies with such huge budget oughta do better.
To cap the review: the story was thin but good. The acting was average with the occasional exception here and there. The cinematography was excellent and the stunts, while some unbelievable, where impeccable in execution. The sound and editing second to none. The directing was also impressive as was the camera-work.
I hope the next Batman movie will address the minor flaws and then im sure it will grab a lot of Academy awards. But until then this movie is entertaining enough to be watched a few times more. The dramatic end was something of a shock and left me puzzled and sad. Proper movies do that to a man. I give it a 7.
PS: Rest in peace Heath Ledger.