The Dark Knight didn’t quite meet my expectations. I’m reluctant to say it’s great because it is great but not because of the Dark Knight. It’s great because of the Joker. TDK reminds me of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events where Count Olaf is much more interesting than the protagonists. In TDK, the Joker is the captivating character. That’s also the reason why i would want to watch TDK again. maybe the reason why I’m disappointed with Batman's character is because there's really nothing new about the character except that this time, he has bigger challenges. Isn’t that the way superhero movie sequels should be? so what more could be expected from the Batman? anyway, the movie focused more on the villains which isnt bad actually. But i was already expecting that the villains were interesting because of the months of promotions. i guess i was expecting to see more than what the promotions already introduced. or maybe i just didnt see the "greatness" of the Batman. its clear on the choices he had to make. thats what made him great. but I’m referring more on the style he fights crime. i was expecting to be impressed on how he does it (“the shiznit!” factor). well, what I’m sure of is that the Joker character was brilliant. It was impressively portrayed. too bad Ledger's gone.
as a whole, TDK is really good. but my problem is, my expectations were raised because of the months of promotions and thats why im a bit disappointed (and I really have the tendency to have very high expectations). i knew the Joker was going to be interesting and sure enough, he was. but i was also expecting the Batman to be better. i was probably expecting that TDK's promotions havent shown the best the movie had to offer. the same way with the Transformers movie. thats what made Transformers really good. you get to see something you werent expecting because it was promoted well enough that the movie itself can still exceed the expectations created by the promotions. there lies the difference between the two movies. the Transformers was promoted very carefully, making sure that it arouses the people's interest in the movie yet making sure that they don’t disclose the best parts of the movie. as for TDK, it was promoted so well that it made itself a highly anticipated movie but the promotional materials made use of the best parts of the movie that there isnt much to expect anymore. or maybe its just me. and since i just compared it with the Transformers movie, im really referring to visually stimulating scenes. as for the other parts of the TDK, i really dont have problems with it.
sort of spoilers: the plot was good. its also as realistic as it can possibly be (except the part where the batmobile/tank broke down. that made me wonder. why did it sustain that much damage? Did I miss something?). the batman's fight scenes werent impressive (i still think The Incredible Hulk's fight scenes were the best fight scenes ive seen this year. Edward Norton was a good choice for mild-mannered Bruce Banner (Keisie was right) and i still think Nicholas Cage isnt Ghost Rider material). For me, it lacks “mind-blowing” scenes. Also, there weren’t much gadgets (i dont remember him making use of his ever reliable "utility belt" but then again, it might be a better to ditch the "utility belt" idea). the batman's voice was weird at first but you get used to it as the movie progresses. the ending is good, i really liked the way they did it. putting Two-Face in the movie dont come across as if they were forcing an additional character nor was the character underdeveloped. the story's really good for a two villain movie. i also liked the way they portrayed the Joker as the Batman's biggest challenge. but that's what makes it problematic for me. in order for the Joker to be the Batman's biggest challenge, he has to be as menacing, threatening and demented as he can possibly be (just the way i like my villains). thats what makes the Joker very interesting. too interesting that the Batman looks like a secondary character. the Joker is the star of the movie. TDK is also a break from the usual superhero story where the villain poses a challenge to the hero but youre still very sure the hero is going to win in the end. You just wonder how he or she will do it. In TDK, its not as simple as the ordinary "hero wins, villains lose" kind of ending. the Batman didnt really defeat the Joker now that i think about it. the Batman just stopped him. With the damage done by the Joker, to Gotham City, its citizens, to Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes and to the Batman, I think Batman didn’t really “win”. That’s why i said i liked the way they ended it. it also didnt look like it was aiming for a third installment of the reinvented Batman franchise (like the way The Incredible Hulk ended where it gave the impression that the ending is open to the possibility of a sequel depending on how well the movie fares).
It’s still much better than Batman Begins and the best of all the Batman movies. Its more than just another comic book superhero movie. I won’t even say it’s an action movie because, again, its more than that. probably the problem i have with it is that it lacks the action part (huh?). i mean, it could go beyond being just another action movie (which it did) but it doesnt mean it need not have mind-blowing fight scenes or bloody fist fights or gruesome whatever. or maybe im asking too much. and probably thats why i didnt find the Batman character impressive. or maybe he is. only that the Joker is much more impressive. I guess I’m just expecting too much and my idea of a “perfect” movie is unreasonable or maybe im looking for more action. thats also my problem with Iron Man. although Incredible Hulk had better fight scenes, i liked the Iron Man more. between TDK and IronMan, i would go for the TDK if i were to judge it in its entirety. so, in the end, TDK is the best movie ive seen this year. im just being unreasonable for expecting more.
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