the dark knight

I'm having a little difficulty knowing how to start this review.

The reason is Dark Knight was a massively popular film and came with a massive amount if hype. And I have a weird reaction to hype. I've discussed it before, so I won't bore you with the details, but it tends to turn me off a bit.

The problem is either a reactionary streak in my personality or a slight disconnection from the zeitgeist. Or probably both.

It doesn't help in this case that Heath Ledger died and posthumously won an Oscar for his role as the Joker. I mean, that meant I was wanting to like the film, but, I dunno, worried that if I didn't it made me a ginormous shit.

I'm wittering on like this because I'm not sure if I really liked the film or not.

Part of the problem is that while I enjoyed Batman Begins, I thought it was kinda flawed. There were some specific bits I didn't like, but my main problem was the general tone. It seemed to cast Bruce Wayne as a bit of a reluctant hero, where I never really got that feeling from the comics.

I'd got that he was a bit twisted. A bit warped from what happened to his parents. I'd got that he perhaps had an overly developed sense of justice and a tendency towards control freakery. And other stuff too, but never really reluctance.

I mean, I can understand why cinematically it works and it would be something actors/directors/writers might enjoy playing as a character trait. I can also see how adds drama in terms of his relationship with the woman he loves.

But to me, it's not Batman.

That's not who he is.

He's the guy who, although he regrets that he's loosing the girl, he lets her go - pushes her away even, secure in the knowledge that he's doing the right thing. He knows it's his fate, his destiny, his lot and he's resigned to it. He doesn't seek a way out, because he knows it cannot come.

And so my big problem here is that the reluctance thing continues on into this film. Indeed, it's even stronger here - the film is virtually about Wayne's reluctance. So for me, it's crucially flawed.

Which again, like Batman Begins, doesn't make it an un-enjoyable film. It's got plenty of good action, for example. There's a few good jokes and the basic plot is reasonable. And they've done a good job with the joker.

You know when people complain about comic book adaptations and say that they're not faithful? For me the faithfulness comes in depicting the fundamental character of the book/hero, not in terms of transferring the exact story from the page to the screen. And for me, that's where Batman was wrong but the Joker was right.

See, really they've buggered about with the joker, but what they've kept is the fundamental feel of the character. He's a sadist and an anarchist - perfect.

In fact, actually, the only problem with the joker is actually with the rating of the film. It was 12, and that means they've effectively toned him down. If he'd been let loose in an 18, or possibly even a 15, then I think it would have added quite a lot.

Two-face gets short shrift, though. Well, I say that, but the pre-Two-Face Harvey Dent gets loads of screen time, but once he becomes proper two face (which is a truly horrific thing to behold) he's not in the film very much at all, which is a shame. He's a bit of a victim of the classic "too many villains" syndrome that tends to effect superhero films.

So yeah - mixed bag overall, but well worth watching.