Not the greatest film ever made

Rating: 5/10 (19 July 2008)

Time for a corrective. As I write this review, The Dark Knight is, according to IMDb voters, the Best. Film. Ever. At the risk of incurring a hail of brickbats, I must demur. Yes, Heath Ledger delivers an excellent performance, as does Gary Oldman as Lieutenant--er, COMMISSIONER Gordon--and it's always a pleasure to watch Michael Caine and Aaron Eckhart. But The Dark Knight is an overlong, over plotted, logically flawed, and philosophically confused film that cannot (and should not) be mistaken for great art. Compared to most comic book movies, it's not bad. Compared to La Regle du Jeu, it ain't so hot. The film's first half is actually quite good, and seems to come to a timely conclusion somewhere around the eighty minute mark. Unfortunately, this being a summer blockbuster, there's another 70 plus minutes to go, and the film's second half is a distinct letdown. Instead of ending on a neat and tidy note, The Dark Knight spirals off into a muddled mess of bizarre plotting (how DID that prisoner get the bomb sewn into him?), illogic (how does Harvey escape the hospital explosion--and why is he apparently impervious to pain?) and confusing action (too many ass-kickings in too little time). I don't expect 100% logical consistency from my genre product, but there are so many flaws and elisions of simple common sense in Christopher Nolan's screenplay that utter frustration sets in around the two-hour mark. By the end of the film, we're expected to believe that, for some reason, the residents of Gotham now need to revile Batman rather than reward him for his good work, setting up a police pursuit into the sunset that presumably will end with our hero receiving a ticket for speeding on the Batcycle. So let's tell it like it is: in terms of 2008 comic book flicks, The Dark Knight is inferior to both Hellboy II (which at least is charming and amusing) and Hancock (which raises far more interesting questions about the nature of the super hero).