As a slightly late birthday present, my older nephew (don’t ask) took me out for dinner and a movie. We watched The Dark Knight. I’d been looking forward to seeing it, as everyone and their dog has been telling me how great it was; I wish they hadn’t, because I was ultimately let down a bit.
Don’t get me wrong - it’s a good movie. I enjoyed seeing it. But for a time, it was #1 on IMDb’s Top 250 list. That’s just cooky. The Dark Knight better than Schindler’s List? Than Star Wars? I don’t think so. The Dark Knight has since slipped to the #3 spot, which I still think is way too good of a spot for it. It was a good movie, but I wouldn’t put it in the top 10 at all. I felt that it dragged on a bit too long, or perhaps a lot too long. If it had been 45 minutes shorter, I would’ve liked it more, I think; as it was, I kept thinking, “okay, here’s the big action sequence that’ll wrap it up.” And then that sequence would end, and the movie just kept going.
Despite my complaints, I still liked it. Some good points:
- One thing I heard from folks was that Heath Ledger’s Joker was excellent; and on that point, I’ll agree. I liked his psychotic killer version of the Joker a lot more than the classic look. I’d have to rewatch the original Batman movie to refresh my memory of Nicholson’s portrayal, but I think I’d end up liking Ledger’s more.
- A few too many of them, but the action sequences were excellent. I particularly liked the car / truck / armored car chase scene.
- The special effects in general. Two-Face was quite impressive, among many other things.
Do see the movie, whether it’s in theaters or on DVD. Just don’t pay as much attention as the hype as I did.
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