I love Batman. He is my favorite superhero and I adored Batman Begins. To me, it was simply the best Batman film ever made, followed by the Tim Burton Batmans. With all the hype and talk about The Dark Knight, i went in to enjoy what was hyped and reviewed to be the best Batman film ever made as well as possibly the best sequel in filming history; even to top The Godfather 2.
Not sure about you guys, but my job is to analyse films. break them down and put them back together again to give it fair criticism. So here I am sat in the cinema waiting for the return of my favorite superhero to kick ass , but what did I think of it after 2 and a half hours?
1) The actors were brilliant; Christian Bale, heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and the other supporting actors.
2) Direction- Chris Nolan is an awesome director. I have watched all his films and again with The Dark Knight he didn't disappoint. he delivers the film with perfection.
3) The sound is amazing as are the Special effects. Just like the cast and director- nothign can be faulted here.
So the film is perfect and I am supposed to have enjoyed it and felt pleased with the end product, after all, there are no errors... well in my opinion there is one BIG problem- the story.
Did the film have to be 2 hours and 30 minutes long? Unlike Batman Begins, the story doesn't evolve so much, instead it is a cat and mouse game between Batman and Joker, the joker and 2 face and Batman and 2face. Sure it may sound good but going back and forward for 150 minutes can become tiring and boring.
Secondly, it didn't feel like a superhero film. It felt more like crime caper. Sure the director and actors did whatever they could, but ultimately I think the story lacked in allowing the director to do anymore. the magic of Batman, Gotham and other elements from the batman universe that make batman films magical such as in batman begins or the Tim Burton Batman were seriously lacking. When making Batman ultra realistic as done is this film, it maybe a good thing for some, but I believe this is what makes superhero's unique to us. They are super. What they do is out of this world. The world they live in is not like ours. This is what makes comic books what they are. That is what differentiates crime crusaders from superhero films. The Dark Knight was lacking this throughout most parts and was saved by the director and the cast.
I did enjoy the film and I will be buying the special edition DVD when it is released (I am a Batman fan after all). However, was this the best Batman film? No. Was this the greatest sequel in filming history as some may have made out? No. Th Dark Knight was a great film. This is what it was, nothing more and nor was it anything less. The only hype and praise that is worth mentioning that did not only live to my expectations but also exceed them is Heath Ledger. The man has given a performance like none I have seen on the silver screen. Heath Ledger's Joker is beyond amazing, he is electrifying!
Please discuss and share your opinions. I would like to know if I'm the only one who feels let down or whether it is just me being a harsh critic!
