killer:
the Dark Knight was one of the best movies I've seen this year, easily the best superhero movie ever, but I wasn't blown away the way I expected to be. Now, in fairness, I expected to be 100%, kicked in the face mind shattered completely blown away, and to be left wanting doesn't mean I didn't love every minute, but I felt it didn't quite connect in the end. The obvious issue is that they simply had too much story, too many good ideas, and too much ground to cover in two hours (a lotr-style 4 hour dvd cut would be welcome). The Harvey Dent recovery/transformation definitely felt rushed, and the final showdown between batman and joker didn't really satisfy after such an intense buildup.
There were also some issues towards the end with the efficiency of the plot; The boats were somewhat unnecessary, the magic cell phone machine was totally unnecessary, and Harvey had really no reason to take the comissioner's family hostage. Taking Falcone's family hostage in the same way would have made TONS more sense for the character, and also then the point they try to articulate with the boats (that people can choose to be good) is discussed with just Harvey. I found that scene lacked tension for me because it felt contrived that Harvey would do any of what they had written for him. If he had murdered Falcone's family instead, that would have been more believably motivated, and made it easier to sympathize with Harvey's character at that point. Ultimately though, after Two Face makes the decisions he does, the joker's victory, and the whole theme of the movie would be that much clearer, the poetry and greek tragedy of it all would be more apparent.
Also, at the end Joker could also just have called the police and told them where he (and the hostages) were hiding, which would explain why all his goons are just standing waiting for the cops to show up when currently the only way they find him is with an impossible, never before mentioned magic technology.
And speaking of technology, that's where my main issue with the movie comes in: Batman. He kind of sucked. His suit was bulky, the voice was ridiculous, and his gadgets where massive; he had an 18 inch cable gun thing attached to his hip for half the movie. If they are going to give us bat gadgets that are impossible (like the cable gun or the magic cell phone thing) couldn't they just imagine them smaller? Batman (even with the new armour) would be the least stealthy, least elegant, most shootable guy in any room with the costume they gave him, but most importantly, it's lack of movement made him the least interesting physical presence in the movie. The suit just doesn't convey emotion properly, no matter who is inside, and the ridiculous voice doesn't help. They didn't have to do it that way though, there have been two better Batman's, that showed the way:
Mask of the Phantasm is a masterpiece of plotting and action. It has the best Bruce Wayne (woot kevin conroy!), best Batman look, best batman voice, best fighting by far, and is the closest movie to the best of the comics, albeit a highly sanitized version. A close second is a fan film made by hollywood proffessionals called Dead End. It's not perfect at all, but the costume is so good! It moves like Batman, it looks like Batman (especially the Alex Ross Batman) and it's also the only live action batman suit the could ever be used with even a little bit of stealth. It's not perfect, it looks a bit cheesy, but with some minor changes and proper lighting it can look totally perfect. I also like this costume better because it reminds us that batman is just a man, which is why he's the most interesting superhero, not because he is bulletproof or can shoot eye beams. He's just a motherfucker in a grey shirt and a mask.
I also saw step brothers and loved it, and pineapple express and was dissappointed.
