Visually breath taking, but a long awaited disappointment.

Rating: 6/10 (27 July 2008)

The Dark Knight did everything to bring the new franchise to the next level, which acted as a double-edged sword. What makes the film praiseworthy is the fact that it was shot on a broad cinematic scale and it also comprised many original ideas. The fact that it was shot on large locations, including Chicago and Hong Kong, made the film footage extremely breathtaking as Batman swooped from the building tops. It also introduced some original and inventive ideas, including how Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face and greater emphasis on the Gotham crime lords.
Nevertheless, the film was an overall disappointment. Firstly, the sound quality of the film was absolutely appalling. Therefore, thorough concentration was required throughout the course of the film to pick up the dialogue of the characters and follow the film's overall plot. Secondly, Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker was both original and creative as he managed to explore the character's darker origins while throwing in some humour. However, the character was too far-fetched and unfaithful to character from the comic book's origin that was no where near as good as Jack Nicholson's portrayal and is certainly not Oscar worthy. Ledger may have given it his all for the role, but instead turned out to be a little too silly, which made it hard to believe that he was the criminal genius that he was. Instead, Aaron Eckhart should be given the most praise as he embodied the role of both Harvey Dent and Two-Face perfectly, which is impressive considering the amount of screen time he was given.
There was also too many sub-plots with little development, which made the plot too complex and also lacked depth, causing viewer's to lose their interest to both the film plot and the character's. They could have been strengthened if they were left to the next film in the franchise. For example, it was a crime to have killed off Two-Face/Harvey Dent over the course of one film.
Overall, the film was a long awaited disappointment.