I think its the performances that make it work. Not only was Heath Ledger’s Joker great but Aaron Eckhart’s Two Face made me realize just how awful that “other” Two-Face really was and Gary Oldman just knocked it out of the park as Gordon. Michael Cain’s Alfred is great, almost every word he says is quote worthy, and of course Morgan Freeman is always a delight. The action was pretty intense too, though as we’ll discuss it may have been to intense. As I mentioned before I could see seeds of “The Killing Joke” in the plot, and from what I’ve read the movie also borrows heavily from “The Long Halloween”.
But no movie is perfect and here are five things I did not like in this amazing movie. As always, just opinion and please feel me to correct me if I get a detail wrong.
Too Damn Long
Yeah this is a really lame one, but man is that movie a long one. I mean it’s not a hard watch by any means, and I know I was riveted the first time I saw it, but it just goes on and on. There could have been a lot more trimming I think. The worst is that stupid side quest Bruce goes on to China. Was that really necessary? I mean it’s just fifteen minutes of undiluted filler. It’s not pointless, but man is it boring. Wouldn’t it have been better if Batman just dropped the guy off, and we had to guess how in he hell he did that? And the trial scene is ridiculous what court would ever do anything that nuts? I mean even the opening bank scene, cool as it was, could have been cut altogether.
Christian Bale (as Batman)
So remember when I said I loved the performances? The one I did not like was Bale. Ok he was passable as Bruce Wayne but I’m sorry and I’ll just say it-HIS BATMAN SUCKED! The costume is lame (though batter than “Begins”), the voice is ridiculous, and even the way he fights seems uninteresting. Is it me or does just just do the same fight moves over and over? To be fair when he isn’t Batman he is great. When he is acting as Bruce Wayne he does the spoiled socialite great and is also intense when he needs to be. But as soon as that costume is on…ugh. Is this why Batman appears so little in the next? Though the interrogation scene is pretty good.
To Much Dent/Not Enough Two-Face
So Aaron Eckhart, as I said, did a great job in this movie. But I don’t think the character was perfectly done. First of all, Dent was a little to perfect during the first half. Dent is supposed to already be struggling with issues even before his face is melted off. By the time we get that first glimmer of darkness it’s an hour in and we’re on his side because of the situation. It needed to come out of nowhere, before all hell broke loose, to make an impact. And I never bought the romance with Rachel, they had zero chemistry together. So after the explosion and fire, he’s Two Face (after some forced dialogue gives him the name). With about twenty minutes left in the movie. I did wish they had gotten to it faster, it takes forever and it’s hard to believe he would switch so hard so fast. Why does he listen to Joker in that hospital scene? Why does Two-Face blame Gordon like that, does no one explain Joker set them up? Then he is killed before he can make a real impact. Two-Face is one Batman’s biggest baddies and here he’s just a plot device. I wondered when I first saw this movie why Two-Face was not advertised, but since he’s hardly in it I guess it makes sense. To be fair, it’s still 100 times better than Tommy Lee Jones!!!
Unanswered Plot Questions
Ok here are a few questions for you. How in the world did Joker set that crazy scheme with the prison if everyone thought Gordon was dead? I mean it relies on a lot of chance. Just the way he timed Harvey and Rachel’s bomb’s so perfectly when everything else has to fall into place. Why did Batman have to take the blame for Harvey’s turn to evil, why not just blame The Joker? That “we have to hunt him down” stuff was stupid and thankfully it was ignored in the follow up. There were enough Batman stories crammed in we didn’t need “The Dark Knight Returns” too. What happened to the Joker after he threw Rachel out the window? Why did it takes nine months for Batman to track down Joker between movies? How did Joker get in and out of that hospital so easily? What happened with the people on the ferries? Yeah I get it (and it was well done) but we never get any follow up with the people. Were they rescued? Of course some stuff is resolved in the next movie, like the letter Alfred burns in the end, but a of these aren’t! and that whole nonsense with the SWAT team at the end was stupid.And yeah Joker’s plan needed to be clarified a little better. Did he even have one?
A Little too real??
Ok my friends if you read these then you know I always use this slot to pick on something most people love. Sometimes this doesn’t work (like in my Ghostbusters article), but here we go. I said at the top that this movie was praised for being a more adult superhero movie. And it is, as it raises all kind of questions while also being pretty entertaining. But, at times I swear it was a little too adult. Or to put it another way, realistic. What I am referring to is the violence and underlying tone of the movie about cops being killed and, well, people being angry about it. This is a serious issue in the real world of course, but in a Batman movie? I don’t know I think it was a little to realistic in parts. It was off putting when I first saw it, and I can’t help wonder if that’s why it was toned down big time in the follow up. The death’s were so in your face that it’s no surprise that in “Man of Steel” all the death was implied. Which backfired the other way since Superman wouldn’t just ignore all that suffering. The scene that exemplifies this the best is when Joker taunts the cop watching him in the cell, commenting on how his killed six of his friends. And asking if he wants to know who were cowards. Yeah Ok this is great dialogue, but in a Batman movie this feels way off the mark. I get it, Joker needs the guard to give am an out from the cell but it’s so, real. Why not do a classic Joker gag instead of philosophizing? Also there wasn’t enough, for me, “Batman” style stuff. It always felt like this could be any action/cop movie, they just happened to throw Batman in as the center. The scene where he saves Rachel from being thrown off the building was one of the few moments it didn’t feel that way. The van scene is pretty awesome too. But overall it’s a little to gritty and not, well, comic book enough. Batman is a little to violent, apparently killing people recklessly. Maybe I am just more used the Burton/Schumacher stuff, but this didn’t feel like a “Batman” movie a lot of times.
So am I saying it’s bad? Oh hell no. It was much better than Batman Begins. It’s a fantastic movie and I’m glad that I saw it in theaters ten years ago. What about The Dark Knight Rises? Eh, maybe we’ll tackle that some other time.
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