Why So Serious?

Rating: 6/10 (1 August 2008)

Everyone already knows it and knows who directed it, so I'm going to skip all that jazz and move onto the aspect of the film. The tag line: Why So Serious? is exactly the question you should be asking when watching this film. The seriousness of this film and its tone is something that gets pretty harsh and overwhelming that it's hard to even think of what to think of this once you're done watching this. Although, the film is better than a lot of the films out there to date, I'm sad to say that this film is rampaged by the hype that it wasn't truly better than Batman Begins. This is an awful, but this is a B-movie in perfect disguise. However, I happen to enjoy B-movies every once in a while.
First off, let's get to the chase. The Joker -- everyone is saying what a great performance it was. It was, by all means, a great performance. But the character lacked depth. Heath Ledger entirely immersed himself into this role, but he was not given the freedom to actually be the character. To me, that is a waste of talent and a wasteful role in itself. The Joker's character is far too scripted and his "sanity" is far too clichéd, giving off a sense of uncertainty. That begs you to question whether the writers of this film knew what this character was. And by extension, the Joker is a character that is flat and dull. Trust me, there are other characters that are played well that are absolute. For example, Robert Patrick's portrayal of the T-1000 in T2. There was a role that absolutely had to remorse for anything and probably the most ruthless villain ever seen on screen. Robert Patrick convinced the audience and he was given the freedom to actually become the character. I'm sure that Nolan wanted Ledger to stick to what he wrote for whatever reason.
The character of Harvey Dent is too confused that the writers didn't know what was going to happen to him. He is overacted by Aaron Eckhart and is given an extremely unclear incentive of why he does what he does. That people, does not make a character interesting. If anything, that makes a character lack depth and Dent is entirely unrealistic.
The role of Rachel Dawes was god awful with Maggie Gynehaal's carelessness of the role. It seemed as though she showed up to the set completely unprepared for the role and it was totally obvious. Her presence is terrible and she is dead weight to the entire film. The film would've worked better if she was entirely written out.
Lucius Fox was flat and unbearable, being that there is nothing he really is doing. Therefore, he is irrelevant to the entire story. And finally, Bruce Wayne is a character that is lost in his emotions. However that does portray well on screen. We feel no sympathy for him so there is no relation to why he wants to stop being Batman.
However there are two noteworthy characters and that is of course, Jim Gordon and Alfred. These are the best characters and they are only what makes the cast bearable.
The script is too heavy and the editing and pacing is probably the worst of 2008. With all the quick cuts, it's easy to loose yourself in the story. The story grows to epic in scale that it nearly comes crashing down all at the end and the film runs way too long. It was Spiderman 3 all over again.
The quality of the production was nowhere as near the leave as Batman Begins. The fight choreography is sloppy and badly framed and shot. The worst part of The Dark Knight is the editing and the music. I kept hearing the praise for the score, but its nothing special. It's a lot of the same score and themes of Batman Begins. And the Joker's theme is just something you hear everyday. Just roll by a construction site to hear the machines ramble and you have just heard the Joker's theme.
This film is probably the most overrated film I have ever seen. It lacks the sensibility that the first film contained. The depth of this film is just too shallow like you're watching a made for TV movie. The direction is poor and the acting is horrible given the talent.