The Dark Knight
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Screenplay by: Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan
Story by: Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer
Created by: Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts, Nester Carbonell
Running Time: 152 minutes
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: 2008

As any good comic book nerd should have been, last night - July 17, 2008 - I lined up at a little before 11pm to see the latest installment in the Batman film franchise, The Dark Knight.  Surprisingly, my non-comic book fan wife stood next to me.  Even more surprising, it was her idea to go.

A quick aside:  after the hour plus wait in line (and we were in the very back…we heard people had been waiting for 3 hours or more) and as we filed in to the theater-proper to be seated, my wife looked around with a very puzzled look.  I asked what was wrong but she shook her head and said “nothing.”  A bit later, when a particularly obnoxious group of comic book fans sat down behind us, she took another look around the room with that same puzzled look playing across her face. I leaned in to inquire what was the matter and she, in her infinite wisdom asked, “Is there anyone in here who has ever been laid?”  Thinking myself incredibly clever I smuggly answered. “well, I don’t know about them, but I have.”  To which my wife, who is far smarter than I am replied, “That’s just because I felt bad for you.”  Nothing worse than having your manhood taken away in the midst of a room full of comic book geeks.

As with every comic book movie, I was a bit aprehensive about finally getting to see the Dark Knight.  You see, while I enjoyed Batman Begins for the most part, I was a bit let down by it.  I thought it felt a bit cheesy considering who the director was and what he had done in the past.  I felt like Batman Begins was a slightly tongue-in-cheek version of the franchise and that it fit in very well with other superhero films like the Fantastic Four, the Punisher and even Daredevil.  I had assumed The Dark Knight was going to be similar fare - tasty but not quite as filling as I’d like it to be.

Well, much like Iron Man earlier this year, I am ecstatic to say I was wrong.  It is easily one of the best comic book inspired movies, definitely in the top 10, and, more importantly, an excellent film.  I’ll go over a quick run down of the story for those who you who don’t know it:

With Batman now cracking down on crime in the corrupt Gotham City, the local criminal bosses are being hit hard.  Things are made worse when a new player comes to town and begins to steal from the mobs.  That man is the sociopathic killer, the Joker.  The new bad guy convinces the mobs he will kill the Batman in exchange for a huge sum of money.  From there a very cool movie follows and I won’t go in to more detail for fear of spoiling some of the surprises.

There was a lot to like in The Dark Knight, but I’m going to start with what I didn’t like. 

First off, Christian Bale is a very good actor and he makes a decent Bruce Wayne, but I never really believe he is the tortured soul he is supposed to be.  He just seems too smug and like he’s enjoying the whole thing a little too much.  On top of that, he does the really lame, really cheesy “whisper” tough guy voice for Batman, just like ever other live-action actor before him.  I don’t know who told Bale this was ok, or even tough, but it sucks donkey-anus.  I really wish they had gotten someone able to do a more impressive voice while being Batman.

Second, the costumes in both of the recent Batman movies have kind of stunk…not as bad as the nipple costumes of years gone by, but still pretty bad.  The costume this time around looks more like Bale should be called ChipmunkMan than Batman.

Aside from Bale and the costume, the only other weak points are some of the casting choices.  Michael Caine continues to sleepily go through the paces, almost as if he were appearing in Miss Congeniality 3.  Maggie Gyllenhall isn’t much better, although she isn’t any worse than the god-awful Katie Holmes. 

Finally, how the heck is Eric Roberts getting roles in A-List movies?  I don’t even know what to say about his casting.

Now that we have the bad out of the way, let’s get to the good.  Everything you’ve heard about Heath Ledger as the Joker is absolutely true.  Ledger, in his final role, has produced the single best comic book movie bad guy EVER.  It was so refreshing to see an A-List actor NOT trying and be campy or over-the-top as a villain in a comic book movie.  Normally good actors have put out some of the worst performances of their careers when asked to do a movie adaptation of a comic book.  Ledger went in a different direction.  He didn’t play what he thought a comic book character should be like (which is generally wrong and as assumption made by people with no clue as to what comic books are like) and came up with a top-notch character and made choices which could stand up in a “straight” film with ease. 

The man was incredible and absolutely stole the show from the rather drab Christian Bale. 

Aaron Eckhart was also very good, playing the “White Knight of Gotham,” District Attorney Harvey Dent.  Eckhart pulled off a great performance as man trying to save the city he loved…a real life hero counterpoint to the superhero, Batman.  Very solid performance which helped hold the film together and ground it in reality.  And, as with Ledger, no over-acting!

Amazing.

Beyond that, Nolan has given audiences an incredibly exciting, action filled movie with a ton of meat to it and some twists and turns which put M. Night’s movies to shame.  Everytime I thought the movie was over, there was another twist which reinvigorated the film and pushed it on to another level.

Looking back, one of my favorite parts of the movie…and be warned, this is a bit of a spoiler…was the fact the Joker didn’t die at the end!  I have no clue what is up with comic book movies killing off every single villain which appears in them, but it was very nice to see Nolan and crew not fall victim to that terrible cliche.  It doesn’t happen in the comics and shouldn’t happen in the films.  In a sick way I do find it at least slightly amusing that the one villain who isn’t killed turns out to be the one played by an actor who died, so he won’t end up returning…at least in his Ledger-performed incarnation.

This latest episode in the adventures of Batman is what I hope to be a promising new direction for the franchise and for comic book films in general.  With a record midnight opening over $18.5 million, other comic film producers should take a clue from what was done here and start to treat comic book films like regular movies and not the campy, over-acted films of the past. 

I give this film my highest recommendations.  Watch it, or I’ll kick your ass.

-Mat N., the Nifty Nerd
http://www.TheNiftyNerd.com