The Dark Knight Kind of Reviewed

Disjointed Batman thoughts (with tons of spoilers) after the jump. To be clear, I talk about lots of stuff that happened in the movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet and want to be surprised, do not read the rest of this.

Hmm, I dunno. It was good. I was glad Katie Holmes declined to return until I found out that her character died. I thought it was maybe a little ambitious, plot-wise–having three big characters, each with their own motivations, made things a bit complicated. Heath Ledger was, in fact, pretty great. Too bad he’s not coming back.

The most interesting thing, for me, was how little a role Bruce Wayne/Batman played in it. It was the Harvey Dent/Joker/Gordon show, for the most part, with Batman basically reacting for the first 3/4 of the film (except for the Hong Kong jaunt, which seemed frankly unnecessary, plot-wise, but was really cool, action-wise).

Also, I think this movie was basically a superhero remake of No Country for Old Men. It’s a morally-questionable hero grappling with a fundamentally chaotic, destructive force, and in the end nobody really wins. Plus, Tommy Lee Jones was Two Face once.

Another observation: whoever did the soundtrack kind of stole from There Will Be Blood–the same unharmonious whining drone played right before action scenes. It was actually pretty great.

And I’m pretty sure the whole thing was also a powerful indictment of the war in Iraq, and the surveillance state that has sprung up here in America.

8/10. I want to see it again in IMAX.

I sat next to a stupid nerd who laughed uproariously at jokes that were in the trailer that we all watched six months ago. In the middle of the movie he spent a good thirty seconds rustling a plastic bag, trying to take out a bottle of Snapple. Two thumbs down to that guy.

And I’m sorry, but if you aren’t standing in line for opening night it is LAME to dress up like the Joker and put makeup on and all that. If you insist on being that much of a weenie, at least commit to a midnight screening.

Anyway, spoilers welcome in the comments.