A admirable and memorable Batman and comics film, but not quite a masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (27 July 2008)

"The Dark Knight" is the best movie based on comics that I've ever seen. For once, impressive special effects and photography are matched by a screenplay that impressively examines the main figures as fully rounded human beings. All in all, I liked "Dark Knight", but I didn't think it was as masterful as some reviews suggested.
Heath Ledger's performance is as good as the hype; his Joker is intensely frightening. The suggestions that he wanted to be killed, specifically that he wanted Batman to kill him simplified his character. Apart from these shadowings, the film's portrait of him is immensely disturbing. I liked how the face off between Batman and the Joker didn't explore that they were two sides of one personality, evil as opposed to good, but forces in eternal opposition.
The screenplay served the film well in its complexity and depth. Gotham wasn't just dark, Gothic, and brooding: it resembled an actual contemporary city, with all its dangers and corruption. I also liked how the film examined the battle between good in evil in everyone, not just in Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent.
Dent's characterization was also excellent, and portrayed admirably. "the Dark Knight's" portraits of Two Face and the Joker are among the strongest the characters have ever had in film or comics.
The film's Jim Gordon was moving too. But Bruce Wayne, alas, seemed one dimensional in comparison to the villains. I didn't feel that Bale was given very much to do in this film in terms of exploring Wayne's personality.
It would been much more interesting if Dent discovered that Wayne was also the Batman: it would have given the last part of the film even more force. I couldn't understand why Dent blamed Gordon for Rachel's death, for not saving her: was he complaining that Gordon didn't get to her fast enough? It would been much more dramatic to have Dent confront Batman and blame Wayne for not saving Rachel first, particularly regarding Wayne's feelings for her.
We found the film too long. I thought the Joker's arrest would be the climax and the ending. I was restless. My seat was a little uncomfortable, but that's not why I kept shifting in it. The movie would have benefited from tightening of pacing and some trimming, especially of the violent scenes.
My husband was upset by the movie's glorification of knives, and the Joker's relishing of sticking knives in people's mouths while terrorizing them. In the past months several teenagers and young people in the UK have been killed in knife attacks, and there is national campaign to confiscate knives and end knife crimes. We were very surprised that the Dark Knight received a 12 rating. I thought it should have been a R movie. I know that sadism is a part of the Joker's character, but the portrayal of it in the movie must be terrifying for young people.