The Dark Knight Review

Batman is my favorite hero of all time. Ever since I was little I have always been enthralled with the Batman story. The idea of a guy who witnessed his parent's death and then devoted all his time, energy, money, and life to stopping crime makes this story compelling. I also like that Batman has no powers, he has to outwit or out muscle the bad guys. He can't rely on a web or being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. And I like the fact that Batman doesn't have to obey all the rules; if someone is guilty he will go after them, he doesn't worry about miranda rights or search and seizure laws, he just does what is necessary to put the bad guys behind bars, even if he has to get a little dirty along the way. I enjoy the dark part of him and was happy when I heard the title and that the film was "dark".

This movie has received a lot of hype. In fact it is hard to remember a movie this hyped. It has a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (Let me give a quick plug for this site. Basically they put together the reviews of famous reviewers like Roger Ebert and Roeper along with reviews from regular people. I think it is a great site and it really gives a good picture if the movie is any good. For instance 232 people reviewed the Dark Knight, only 12 didn't like it. Let's compare that with Hancock where 191 people reviewed it but 119 didn't like it giving it a 38% approval rating. Then you decide based on percentages and the reviews if you are going to see it. But let's face it 95% is unheard of 232 people is about your average theater and only 12 didn't like it. Wow! Try to get 232 people to agree on anything. Try to get 10 people to agree on anything.) Okay so that was more than a quick rant. Of course Ledger's death added to the hype. The movie opened with the highest total of all time $158 million. Most movies don't earn that in 16 weeks. let alone 3 days.

Let's discuss the movie. For those that haven't seen it yet, go see it. Do what you have do, babysitter, or making time for it, whatever, you'll enjoy it. Now this is not a everything works out, they all lived happily every after movie. If that is what you are after go see Wall-E. If you want a gritty, thought provoking show then this about as good as you'll see. There are so many layers upon which the film hits. It makes you think about society, corruption, chaos, and many other items. It really makes you think. And that is why I like it. It doesn't say you need to think a certain way, more it allows the viewer to decide(and in the case of this show, by the time it is done you are mulling and pondering what just happened and are more unsure of what you think that when you first went in the theater).

This wouldn't be a fair review of the movie without mentioning the Joker.

One of the great villains of all time. And yes he is a real villain, not some lame spiderman concoction of a guy who isn't really bad. There is no doubt the Joker is evil, he is cruel, rotten, and psychotic. But he is as entertaining a character I can remember. In fact you can't wait for him to be on scene, when he isn't in the current action, you wish he was. Let's just say all the Heath Ledger hype for an Oscar is well deserved, in fact I would really have to think about a better performance(and I mean from every movie I have ever seen) He is that good. You love and hate the Joker at the same time. You despise what he does, yet can't look away. He is a real villain every bit the opposite of Batman.

A few more thoughts. There are some holes in the show and it is not quite perfect. It gets a little dialogue heavy near the end, Batman's voice is annoying, there are little things that you can nitpick at, but overall it is a great movie. 3.5 out of 4 stars. It transcends the superhero genre by becoming a great crime drama. It has the three elements (my idea) of a great movie; great acting(a show where Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine have supporting roles--two of the best with small roles) a great story, and great dialogue(this is the killer of many could have been great movies--bad dialogue can kill a show no matter who is in it). And it contains an incredible bad guy. So many shows blow it by not having a villain that is the opposite of the hero. It is one of the many problems with the spiderman shows. (The bad guys aren't really bad) I love a good bad guy. Yea I know what I just typed. I like to loathe the villain, I like compelling, evil, bad guys, that are smart and cunning.

In all it is great show worthy of all the praise it is getting. If you are after perfection though you won't get it. Although Janalynn did say, "How can they make another movie? There is no way they can out do this one?" You will come out thinking and pondering what you just witnessed. Oh one more thing if you have kids younger than say 12--don't take em. They can go see Wall-E. One more thing, there are few movies if any that I have ever wanted to see again the next day yet that is how I feel right now. Who knows maybe I will.