not bad movie that takes itself very seriously

Rating: 7/10 (20 July 2008)

Although this is a competent film, I can not but begin my comment with a word of caution because of the stunning result of the vote until now which gives the movie a 9.7, a mark that has not been approached by another film in IMDb I am aware of. I have to say that the Greek quality press was very much impressed by the movie which made me want to watch it. It also characterized the movie as "realistic". I have to admit I can not agree with the last comment in the sense that the technological appliances used by both heroes and villains are not part of everyday life and use, at least in the part of the world I come from. Also besides the fact, that the character played by the late Ledger, was the most memorable in the movie, I can not but observe, that contrary to the comments made by newspaper film critics speaking about the deep and strange thoughts the joker has, I simply found him a case of psychotic illness out of a medical textbook, adding the impressing but ultimately annoying mannerisms of the actor. Surely the movie spoke about the dilemmas inherent in law-keeping and administration of justice, as well as about the meaning of heroism, but those things have been tackled again and again in all artistic media and everyday life, in a subtler manner. Joker seems to enjoy evil for evil's sake as opposed to the profit-oriented mafia bosses, he is at loggerheads with, although I find their motivation much more normal judging from experience.Despite the profoundness that certain critics found in Joker, I simply find him weird and strange and surely not in a par with other eminent villains as Macbeth for example. The effects were impressive and the performance of the actor that played Batman especially when speaking with a distorted voice under the mask as if a heroic version of Darth Vader. Michael Caine was interesting as Wayne's butler and confidante but his character was a flat one and limited in scope. I found Garry Oldman's portrayal as Lt General of the police, Gordon convincing in the sense that he played a normal middle-aged character in a position of responsibility with normal human affections, for wife and children for example. Ledger's performance must have been very demanding physically and I credit him for that but the character is so, forgive me the word, bananas that I can not judge him, except the fact that he was portraying a cartoonish hero and not a human one. The idealistic district attorney was idealistic clearly and then he turned evil, justifying Joker's world view. His physical appearance was that of a committed educated American from an Ivy League university, someone like Kennedy for example- a figure from American political mythology. The movie had interesting scenes of destruction which added to it's already tense atmosphere, enhanced by advanced visual and acoustic technology. The plot was twisted as the the villainous characters were and sometimes an inexperienced viewer would have been at odds to discover was was really going on. Overall this has been a good movie, withstanding the fact that the arch villain was impossible to comprehend and that moral dillemmas were portrayed in a rather platitudinous and obvious manner despite the attitude of subtlety and complexity that the movie sought desperately to convey.