Mini-Movie Review: The Dark Knight
Full Disclosure: I saw this movie earlier this year and I’m just now getting around to reviewing it and posting this on the blog.
So, let me just say right now and upfront: 1) I am NOT the target audience for this movie, 2) if you think this is going to be another glowing review of this movie, you might want to stop reading now, and 3) I have an inherent bias against this type of movie–which I will explain in the blog post. In other words, if this is your favorite movie, I will NOT be complimentary towards it–so I’m just warning you upfront.
Also, before I begin, I should note that I can separate and appreciate the actors’ performances in this movie, especially Heath Ledger. Having seen and enjoyed his work in other movies (notably The Knight’s Tale), I find it sad that he is not still with us. All the actors do a phenomenal job–no, I have stylistic and philosophical problems with the movie.
Why Am I Torturing Myself?
This is a GREAT question. Life is too short to watch movies that I don’t enjoy (or know that I’m not going to enjoy). Well, unfortunately, The Dark Knight is one of those seminal films that someone who is a “film scholar” has to see. It is very much a modern “reference” film to see how film-making “changed” with its release. My dissertation director has already asked me if I’ve had a chance to see Joker yet, so I know that that film is also in my future at some point. However, The Dark Knight was on Netflix, but was pulled towards the end of March, so I decided I would go ahead and just watch it and get it out of the way. I knew I wouldn’t like it–but I thought that I could hold my nose long enough to get through it. Well, I did, but it has been a real struggle.
Stylistic Problems
While my problems are mostly philosophical, I do still have some real issues with the style of the movie. The hero does nothing to solve the problem. Batman, and by extension, Bruce Wayne is a very passive hero who does very little to solve the problem.
Also, the costuming of the Batman character looks really weak. Very few of the actors portraying the character really look good in the suit–I think because it is a “movie” suit rather than a vigilante costume designed to inspire terror. Remember, Batman was conceived in 1939, when Gothic movies were popular and where the image of a bat would be considered horrifying to the psyche. However, in 2008, when the movie was released the world is entirely different and the suit in now iconic rather than imposing. I guess my point is that I don’t see this Batman as able to inspire the type of fear that he does in the criminals of Gotham.
Finally, it is a long movie. At 2 hours and 32 minutes, it tested my patience–breaking it actually. So much so, that I actually had to break the movie up into 2 sittings. I don’t see how critics can complain about The Return of the King’s runtime 3 hours and 28 minutes and not have an issue with The Dark Knight’s grueling length. Yes, the latter is almost an hour longer, but I was so engrossed in the world that I didn’t notice it, while I was so weary of the Dark Knight’s world that I could hardly believe it when I turned it off, only to discover I was only halfway finished with it and would need another whole session just to finish it.
Ugh!
Philosophical Problems
This is where I can really cut loose on the movie. We might as well had titled this movie The Joker as well because the Joker gets all of the good lines and all of the screen time. Heck, the Joker basically becomes the hero of the movie in a very post 9/11 fashion. Heath Ledger’s Joker becomes an embodiment of the two things I hate most about “Real Life” (RL): the “bully” as hero and the hero as one who can’t act because they have rules. Let’s take on the bully as hero idea first. So, the Joker is essentially “The Superman of Bullies.” From the very first instance we see the Joker in the movie, he kills the leader of the first mob (an African American, btw, continuing the trend of black characters dying off first in movies)
The Joker’s appeal comes from his “power“–he doesn’t have to follow any rules. He can just do whatever he wants. For some unknown reason, that seems to be a “fantasy” of this generation. Rules only apply to others and not to me. A digression: I see it all the time with drivers making U-Turns all the time. When I was a child, a U-Turn was a major no-no (almost taboo) and it was very rare when I saw it–now I see it sometimes 2-3 times a day (even though it is dangerous to other drivers on the road–hence, the reason it is illegal). This is exactly what the Joker embodies–that only “fools” follow the “rules.” He wants chaos, he wants disorder, he wants to just destroy for the sake of destroying. This is also what 9/11 is about–terrorist want to cause fear just to disrupt lives, so as to change behavior. In some ways, this movie is fighting the war against terrorism all over again, just with the Joker standing in for the terrorists and the need to get revenge.
Overall Rating (D 65-69)
Rating: 2 out of 5.
You have to understand, while this was competently crafted and acted, and received near universal praise, I have to say that I was not impressed. Yes, the dialogue was slick and Heath Ledger’s Joker was mesmerizing as a performance, that is ALL I saw it as–a performance. This type of movie embodies all the aesthetics that I dislike within a movie, but unless I need to watch it again for a class or scholarly work, this is one movie I will not be revisiting.
I know it is, for many, their favorite movie of all time, but for me, I did not enjoy it. When I mentioned that I’d not seen it, I got looks of amazement from the circle that I was with at the time. Next time this movie comes up in conversation, it is likely me who will be giving that same look of amazement for those extolling its virtues and praise.
Sidney
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