The Dark Knight Review

Me and a friend went see The Dark Knight. I have a mixed review of it. First off, Heath Ledger portrayed the Joker as a homicidal sociopath who has no qualms about killing. The Joker is set on taking control of Gotham's underworld and turning it into chaos. The Batman, Lt. Gordon and Harvey Dent team up to bring out the fall of the Joker. Harvey Dent becomes the Two-Face after an accident at the hands of the Joker and becomes just as homicidal but the flip of a coin decides if a victim lives or dies.

There is plenty of chaos, destruction, death and action to keep the masses happy. The film falls short on a few points. First off, Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is great. He kills with freely, has the laugh that is traditional to the character and cares not whit for one human being. He's an utter social path. Unfortunately we get no background on the Joker's origin. He just appears and the chaos ensues. We are also left unresolved as to his fate. Ledger's Joker is outstanding and not over the top. However I don't think it's a fantastic Academy Award material. Some reviews write the Ledger's Joker on par with Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lecter. No way. He's not that good.

Another area the movie fails is in the characterization of Batman. The Bat is dark but not brooding. The Batman in this film is just a vigilante swinging fists and pounding evil doers into submission. The is no character driven exploration of Bruce Wayne/Batman. He's nothing more than playboy by day, super hero by night. Nothing about what makes him tick. Nothing that makes the Joker tick for that matter is revealed. The Harvey Dent/Two-Face character should have been left for another film. The Harvey Dent/Two-face, Batman, Commisioner Gordan story stands as whole story on its own.

Over all it's pretty mindless entertainment. None of the characters are explored. Especially Wayne's brooding quest to fight crime to avenge his parents death. It's central theme to his character that it must be in play some how. Then they screw us on not giving any reason for the Joker's existence. The only theme mentioned by the Joker is when he tells Batman that they need each other to thrive. If there is no Joker there is no Batman. It's a central theme to the Batman comic books.

So go, sit back relax and have a good time watching the latest installment of the Bat man saga.