Not the second coming, but still a great movie

Rating: 7/10 (22 February 2009)

Everyone has been acting like this is the greatest movie ever made or something. I thought it was good- I had a great time watching it, and appreciated the whole attempt to be deeper than a comic book film thing. I didn't think it was the second coming of Christ or anything though. I'm sure I am in the minority, and people will react like they do when you say that you thought Apocalypse Now was overrated and bloated, or that Quinten Tarantino sucks, for the most part.
Anyway, I'd say this is the best Batman movie yet. Christian Bale still has that horrible voice when he's Batman, and still does the whole Patrick Bateman/American Psycho thing when he's Bruce Wayne.
Heath Ledger's Joker sounds like Andy Dick or something. And here was my biggest problem. This was a good performance, but it was NOT a groundbreaking performance by any means. I think when posthumous actors have roles like this, people tend to over-blow it- kind of like they did with Brandon Lee in the Crow (another good performance, but not a performance for the ages, by any means).
I can appreciate the whole Zen/Anarchy/pseudo Fight Club philosophy stuff Ledger was going for, but he's no Frank Langella as Skeletor. I mean, it's definitely better than the whole Jack Nicholson paradigm, but he still just came off like a wannabe Tyler Durden/Bodhi from Point Break with schizophrenia. The real star of this movie is Aaron Eckhart, who is great as Harvey Dent/Two Face.
The cinematography and plot twists were really something to behold, and I applaud the filmmakers for continuing the standards set in 'Batman Begins' and not turning the Dark Knight into another mindless, popcorn munching summer blockbuster. The only really negative thing I can say about this film is that, for a film that takes itself so seriously, and clearly expects to be measured against truly great cinema, it just falls a little short. Not the second coming, but still a fun, "thought- provoking" (AHEM) movie. Score another one for Christopher Nolan and Goyer.