You know how they say that where there is smoke there's bound to be fire? Well, sometimes it is just some moron smoking ...

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2008)

You know how they say that where there is smoke there's bound to be fire? Well, sometimes it is just some moron smoking ...
I went to the movie theatre with the best mood ever. I was happy, I had just eaten a nice meal, I had my soda (no noisy food of course), I had the best seat and I was in one of the best theatre rooms the city has to offer. So there I was, waiting a few moments more to see the best movie ever made. That is what I was thinking, that I went to see the most thrilling, clever, funny, serious, and deep movie ever made. I went to see spectacular performances, incredible gadgets, smart weapons and lots of witty dialogues. I WAS waiting after all for 3 full years to see this movie!!!
All I got ... was a 7 The Dark Knight was a bit of a snoozer. All this wait for this? All this anticipation for that? All those numbers for THAT? It was as good as Superman Returns and as boring as Spiderman II.
Well don't get me wrong. It is a good movie. It has spectacular moments, it has good actors and an interesting villain. But, there were long periods of time were I was literally falling asleep with my eyes open. Some moments were frightfully boring.
Another thing, story wise, this Joker had little to do with The Joker in the comics. The real Joker wears no make up, he is deformed, his skin is bleached after an accident with chemicals. The Joker commits crimes with countless "comedic" weapons, which very little we saw in this film. Well this was a fine version, but I prefer the story in the comics so I would preferred it if they'd stick to it. Though they kept certain aspects of The Joker, like for example the fact that "he was lying so often about his former life that he himself is confused as to what actually happened" I would love to have a bit more of that. The Joker has some really smart and interesting stories about his past. In The Killing Joke especially.
"Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"
But anyway, this was not the problem with this movie. This is just an observation and a personal preference. There were other aspects that made this a good movie but definitely NOT a masterpiece. Heath Ledger, may he rest in peace, was good but not spectacular! Most actors could pull this part through (unless it was Keanu Reeves lol) And even if I accept him as The Joker I still prefer Jack Nicholson for this part, an actor with more experience and class. Christian Bale looked as if he was bored through the entire movie. He was gray through and through. Plus his voice annoyed me a bit. I got used to it but it was rather ridiculous. Something between Barry White and a lesbian truck driver. (for the record, I have no issues with Mr Barry White or lesbian truck drivers, as long as they don't try to imitate Batman) There was no depth in the story and the moral meanings were a dash tedious. But there were as I said spectacular moments. Mostly visual though. The scene where the batmobile transforms was unfortunately the only clever "gadget moment". I was excepting much more. This is batman after all and since he has no superpowers this is what we all expect from him, clever gadgets. Well there was not much of that. There were too many long chasing scenes, which made the movie seem too long. And when one feels that a movie is too long, most of the times it means it is rather boring.
I am now convinced that the whole racket about this movie had to do with Heath Ledger's death. Otherwise, there is NO explanation why this movie is on top in IMDb. I find it offensive and sacrilegious for this movie to be on top of The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption. I find it offensive even seeing it on top of Batman Begins, which, for my humble opinion, is the best superhero movie ever made. And after that is X-Men and then X-Men II.
The Dark Knight is just a good movie. It is a hard solid 7. No more , no less...