The Dark Knight [Blu-ray] | DVD Review

In a year when multiplexes across the world were overloaded with superhero films, The Dark Knight, Batman’s 7th cinematic adventure (8th if you count the animated Mask of the Phantasm), towered over the competition opening to both critical and financial success. Christopher Nolan’s ambitious follow-up to the equally over-rated Batman Begins, is 2008’s most frustrating and disappointing film. Having seen the film twice, my question to audiences and critics around the world that hail this as a modern film masterpiece is, with all due respect, have you really watched this movie?

It all starts with a bank robbery. Having seen and enjoyed many films about bank robberies (Heat, Inside Man, and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) randomly come to mind), audiences should expect and appreciate the varying degrees of difficulty and meticulous planning involved when attempting such an act. In the first 6-minutes of The Dark Knight, we quickly realize that nothing really has to make sense so long as you’re willing to accept that things just seem to work out the way they do. Sure, we see a man standing on a street corner in broad daylight with a clown mask in hand waiting to be picked up, looks cool enough, but we later discover that man to be The Joker (face painted and all). Does it matter that someone might have noticed this when they picked him up? Does it matter that the window breaking and glass falling to the ground below should have immediately attracted police and fire-trucks to shut down the surrounding area so they could investigate, hence potentially and inadvertently foiling The Joker’s getaway plan? This is after all a realistic, post 9/11 world. Are we supposed to believe that these masked henchmen, spewing b-movie grade expository dialogue, are actually capable of pulling this off? And given that they are all intent on killing each other off (for a larger share of the profits) even before they know for sure if they’ll need each other for something else, wouldn’t The Joker have as good a chance of getting killed as any (in all fairness he comes close to getting shot… well, he should have been shot, actually)?

One could certainly carry on like this, but for the sake of seeing what else the film has to offer you’d rightly forgive the scene of its short-comings and keep watching. The problem is this isn’t an isolated incident. The characters in this film operate however they please and to serve whatever purpose the director wants them to at any given time in the film. Batman can’t find The Joker (mind you, no one even seems to be trying), so Wayne Enterprises creates a machine that turns all cell phones in Gotham into some sort of sonar device (how bat-like), and the images and sounds get mashed onto a complex network of screens. All this and in a nick of time since just that night The Joker unleashes a plan to… does it matter? The film functions like a chess game where both sides are played by Nolan; he pretty much does whatever he wants. Pieces never seem to continue to move along their destined or necessary paths, but rather appear or disappear from place to place at the director’s will. It never feels fluid or genuinely complex, and in such a case where anything can happen simply because it can or has to to tell a story, what exactly is the audience’s reason to care? Where’s the risk on either side?

The dialogue is hardly clever or even charming; mostly self-important. If 40% of the dialogue would have been removed we would already see an improvement. In fact, that same bank robbery scene was playing on a TV in a store window and it worked so much better by leaving things to the imagination (sans dialogue). Maggie Gyllenhaal proves by stepping in for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes that the problems with that character were in fact the way she was written. Every character has something to say, and worst of all most of the time they’re just saying something to make sure we’re ready for the punch line. Take for example the Scarecrow’s scene in the parking garage, when the Russian mobster he’s meeting with sees Batman and says “My dogs are hungry, pity there’s only ONE of you.” This one serves 2 purposes; one being that, surprise, there are many Bat-Men (copy-cat crime-fighters) and secondly it introduces the audience to another great foe in the film… dogs. Or what about the scene in which Batman throws Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts, playing one of the many laughable mob bosses) off a building, but prior to that Maroni says “From this height the fall wouldn’t kill me.” Odd observation for someone in that position, but wait for it… before Batman throws him off he gets to respond, “I’m counting on it.” You see folks, “its all part of the plan.” Watch the film again and you’ll see just how often this happens: Everyone’s a wise-ass.

In another scene, surely meant to offer some laughs and relieve tension in the audience, we see children inexplicably left alone in the back-seat of a parked car pretending to shoot at other parked cars when suddenly Batman’s batpod explodes those same cars in order to get through (since that thing can’t really maneuver, how else would it get through traffic?). Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume Batman potentially killed others in those parked cars (perhaps a couple making out in the back-seat)? Lets not forget that the events prior to and following the reveal of the batpot turn out to be a big elaborate plan of our 3 main “heros”, and yet their satisfaction at the end of this doesn’t seem to relate to what actually happened in this elaborate scene (the level of destruction the city suffers in that one night; Joker shoots up so many cars and Batman just races past him and crashes? The list goes on and on. Do these characters know what’s going on?). Batman / Bruce Wayne’s judgment is so brash when it shouldn’t be (like in the last scene of the film which seems to require he resolve everything on the spot instead of getting back to Gordon once he’s had time to process the night’s events), and so laid back when he should be hustling (such as realistically tracking The Joker, or did he and his crew just disappear after he threw Rachel out the window?).

It can’t be said enough, the screenplay ruins the film, so let’s see what good stuff was wasted. Visually the film has many stand-alone breath-taking moments. In fact you see just how great this film should have been when viewing the trailer; the rig flipping over, The Joker’s cop car ride, Batman swooping over the city of Hong Kong, the transformation of Harvey Dent into Two-Face… beautiful moments, lots of potential. Then we have the acting, in which a top-notch cast does wonders with what they’re given but are left posturing throughout. Bale pulls off Bruce Wayne’s double-life as billionaire playboy and the more serious version that carries the weight of the city’s problems on his shoulders. Unfortunately as Batman, it just doesn’t work. Perhaps if we were given a Taxi-Driver like scene in which we see him rehearse that voice and persona, maybe it could work. Still, he talks so much it’s hard to take him seriously; surely the Joker should have found this funny. What about Batman’s eye make-up? Should we dismiss that as movie magic? More importantly though, what about his neck? They spend 1/3 of Batman Begins working on his costume and he didn’t think it would be useful to be able to turn his head? No problem though, Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman) can whip up a new suit in no time… wait, how much time passes here? And where did he get this new lair, and individual bat-a-rang holders? And who approved that new bat-logo design?! Ok, the bat-a-rang and logo are nitpicking.

That brings us to the true diamond in this cracker-jack prize of a film, Heath Ledger as The Joker. Sure, his was the showiest roll but credit is due for having created such a twisted and unique incarnation of the well-known villain (then again “unique” may be too strong a word having just seen Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road. How’d that happen?!). One could make a strong argument that his performance coupled with his untimely death earlier this year created the perfect storm that led to the films astonishing success. If there is a single reason to watch this movie, Ledger is it.

We won’t even discuss the pros and cons of Harvey Dent / Two-Face; suffice to say Aaron Eckhart is part of what went to waste.

This isn’t a costumed version of The Godfather or The Untouchables or Heat. It certainly seems like it wanted to be, but whether or not that was in fact the intention doesn’t matter. What matters is the end result, how it tells its story. The Dark Knight fails by its own standards. It wants to be realistic and taken seriously, and yet if audiences do so the film self-destructs. There are some great ideas but most are poorly developed. What makes it all the more disappointing is when you consider how much genuine hard work went into all aspects of this production. Christopher Nolan has had an interesting career, and certainly has proven he knows his way around a storyline (Memento’s fragmented structure is what makes that film special). In that respect his best days seem to be behind him and he should consider working from someone else’s script the next time out.

Unlike the Batman Begins 2-disc Special Edition, this release lacks the in-depth and original documentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. It’s possible to assume that not having Nolan locked for the next one, and all the goodwill from fans of the film, the studio feels they can easily get away with another edition in 2 years or less thus increasing the films massive profits (makes sense if you work for WB). Having said that, let’s see what we do get.

Focus Points (HD) – 45 minutes: You’ll find this on the first disc, a feature that alerts you while viewing the film that there is additional content to be viewed regarding a particular scene. If you click on the little gold disc icon you’ll mini featurettes on the making of some of the stunts, costume, etc…

“Batman Tech” (HD) – 45 minutes: This doc-like feature appeared on the History channel during the theatrical release of the film. It aims to sell the plausibility of Batman’s wide range of crime-fighting tools, from the bat-a-rangs to lasers to grappling hooks, etc… Never delves too deep into any one gadget, but rather is content with showing off the potential in

“Batman Unmasked” (HD) – 45 minutes: Similar to Batman Tech, this segment appeared on the History channel, this time exploring the psychology of Bruce Wayne / Batman. Again, not wholly profound, but does what it can to show how the right person can in fact become a Batman.

“Gotham Tonight” (HD) – 46 minutes: A waste of 46 minutes; doesn’t add to the film, and the segments aren’t produced well enough to stand on their own. Skip it.

Still Galleries: Some hit and miss artwork here, but they’ve collected it for your viewing pleasure.

Theatrical Trailers/TV Spots (HD): The title says it all, and quite frankly these trailers and TV spots are the best incarnations of the films content.

BD-Live: This feature would allow you to access content (wallpapers, peer to peer interaction, exclusive special features, etc…) via the internet, and upload it to your Blu Ray. Certainly a cool feature, but it remains to be seen if the content will be any good.

Digital Copy: If you loved the movie, you can download it to your iPod or laptop and take it with you leaving the disc behind. Frankly it doesn’t make sense that a film so proud of its visuals would produce this option, but so be it.

The Dark Knight remains an ambitious failure, and suspect further viewings would only fuel the fire. Having said that, Nolan’s serious take on the material was the way to go. The Blu Ray disc looks incredible (as well it should since sound and picture quality are really the main reasons to switch to Blu Ray), but everything else really doesn’t sell the new format. Considering how much content these new discs can hold fans simply don’t get enough bang for their buck on this one.

Movie rating – 2

Disc Rating – 3.5