The Dark Knight

Tanner and I went to see the new Batman movie on Saturday. As a kid, of course, I would read a Batman comic book if there was one lying around at the barbershop while I waited for a haircut or something, but would never dream of purchasing one. DC comics were Abba to Marvel's Led Zep, or perhaps Roger Moore to Marvel's Sean Connery. Anyway, I was a HUGE fan of Spiderman, Fantastic 4, Daredevil, et al. But Batman? Meh.

Anyway, I doubt that anyone my age or younger could possibly grow up without at least a passing knowledge of the Caped Crusader and his Gotham milieu. And I do still consider the Adam West Batman TV show/ movie to be classic examples of hero entertainment at its finest. (Not to mention my close personal friendship with Burt Ward, the Boy Wonder.) But other than an admiration for the casting and performance of Michael Keaton in the first of the black-suited Batman movies, I've been pretty ambivalent toward the latest cinematic incarnations.

"The Dark Knight", though, was an exception to my ambivalence. I enjoyed the movie a lot. Oh, I don't think it will make me want to read more DC comic books, nor make me want to rent "Brokeback Mountain", but it was definitely worth spending a few bucks. It was quite a ride!

If you've read many of my movie reviews, you know that I rarely focus on the same criteria that most critics do. In fact, I rarely agree with anything the uppity mainstream film sniffers have to say, and hardly ever bother to see the dreck that makes most of their top ten lists. (Citizen Kane, you ask? Boring! Shakespeare in Love? Whaddaya think, I'm some kinda elbow-patched, monacle-wearin' college perfessor or something? I wouldn't waste my time!) But this one time...just this once, I'm afraid I'm going to agree with my colleages in the movie review business:

Heath Ledger's performance is amazing!

Oh, I'm not going to give away any secret plot elements here or anything, but this portrayal of the Joker is nothing short of iconic. This villain becomes the standard upon which to measure all cinema villains from now on. Ledger somehow manages to create a compelling portrayal of genius, madness, menace, and charisma combined...and does it without the benefit of shampoo, laundry facilities, or quality cosmetic products. He's like a mixture of Jaws, Alice Cooper, and Ted Bundy, with just a hint of Dr. Emmitt Brown thrown in as a spice. He's evil, yes, and disgusting and vile...but if the fate of civilization were not at stake, you might just root for him. There's a charm there, somehow dampening the sheer horror of his actions. It truly is a fine performance, and a fabulous character.

It's too bad Ledger is dead. I'd really like to see this particular Joker on the screen for a sequel. But...no.

So, other than Ledger lighting up the screen with an electric character destined to remembered, what else does this movie have going for it? Well, there's the action: there are fistfights, bat-wing glider flights following freefall leaps from buildings, stuff blowing up, and a car that busts itself apart to become a fat-tire motorcycle. There are chase scenes, mob meetings, kidnappings, and bank robberies. And if that weren't enough, you also have Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, who are both excellent, as well.

As for the rest of the cast, Aaron Eckhart is as good as usual. Gary Oldman (surprisingly) does nothing to bother me. And as a special treat, Tommy "Tiny" Lister has a small but important part that he plays suberbly.

But it's not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination. Several things bothered me. First, Batman's labored husky voice -- it gets old. Sure, I understand that he's smarter than Superman...he realizes that if he doesn't disguise his voice, somebody might recognize him. But his throaty wheeze begins to grate when he's making overlong philosophical speeches and trying to make it sound like he's shouting in his "indoor" voice. It's not a movie-killer, merely an annoyance, but you will notice it.

Second, there are plot elements that go beyond the suspension of disbelief. I am quite willing to accept that the Joker is indeed a genius supervillain, and can anticipate and counteract his opponent's moves with mind-boggling speed. But the sheer size of his operation defies my ability to even imagine it. I don't care how crazy, smart, or well-staffed you are, you simply cannot plant and wire large kegs of explosives in every single room of a gigantic, occupied building without someone noticing.

And third, there's a plot element that centers around a couple of guys being madly in love with the same woman. I can understand that, if the woman is something special...but try as I might, I couldn't find a reason for anybody to even like her, much less go crazy-nuts wacko over her. She was bland at best, with tendencies toward annoying at worst. Even the actors involved with her seemed to have trouble convincing themselves that they cared about her that much.

The movie runs about 40 minutes longer than it needed to -- the "bonus villain" subplot they stapled onto the end was completely unnecessary. And some of the fight scenes were nothing but noise and camera movement, as opposed to clever choreography. And I had a bit of trouble following exactly how the semi-truck was able to stay right beside the armored car during the long chase through the city's tunnels.

But it's still worth seeing. It wouldn't be, I suppose, if you put an incompetent actor (say, Jack Nicholson) in the role of the Joker, but with Ledger's charming madness holding the thing together, you could probably remove all the action (and maybe even the Batman), and you'd still have an interesting film. It's pretty violent and scary, so I wouldn't recommend it for audiences who don't do well with that sort of thing. Nor would I recommend it for people who just flat don't like superhero movies. But for everyone else, head to the movies to see this film, and you'll have a great day!