Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Rating: 6/10 (26 July 2008)

It's hard to say that the Dark Knight is a bad movie. After all, it's well acted, well directed, and deals with some heavyweight, complex social and ethical issues.
Problem is... is that what you really wanted to see? A drama? A deadpan, straight-faced, humourless, mostly action-free drama?
I like dramas... I really do. Some of my favourite movies fall under the drama umbrella - Shawshank, Shine, Goodwill Hunting, Once were warriors, American History X, The Assassination of Jesse James, Ondskan...
But lets be honest with ourselves shall we? We're sitting in the theatre watching a movie about a billionaire vigilante in a caped bat costume fighting a green-haired clown. How much drama/realism can you truly inject into that mix before you lose any and all sense of good entertainment?
Sadly, not this much. And I'm at a complete loss as to how this movie got such a high IMDb rating (9.4 at the time of writing). The only thing I can speculate is that an entire new generation of over-enthusiastic, and apparently very easily-pleased, youngsters just reached movie-going age and skewed the results. Go figure.