Movie Review: The Dark Knight

*Spoiler Alert*

Yesterday afternoon Emily and I went to see The Dark Knight at Ballston Mall. Most of the reviews I've read so far have been glowing, and their adulation focuses on the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. I agree that Ledger's take on the role was impressive, but there's a lot more to talk about here. So I'll acknowledge that his Joker was phenomenal, and move on to some other observations:

-I was surprised that Bruce Wayne has essentially developed an additional persona. In earlier incarnations of the Batman franchise, there is Bruce Wayne (billionaire playboy) and there is batman. In Christopher Nolan's universe, there is Bruce Wayne (brooding, intelligent, savvy, sincere and only shared with Albert and Rachel), Bruce Wayne (obnoxious billionaire playboy fit for public consumption), and Batman. I am concerned that because there are now three personas, none of them received the appropriate screen time for any real character development.
-I was a little disappointed in Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent. After Tommy Lee Jones' over-the-top portrayal of at the Dent/Two Face role in the 1995 catastrophe "Batman Forever," I questioned whether the role could ever be played convincingly on film. This is supposed to be an incorruptible public servant, who succumbs to psychosis following his deforming accident. That's a tough combination to sell on screen. And Eckhart wasn't the man to do it. Whereas Dent is the "White Knight" and Two Face is a madman bent on revenge, Eckhart's best work has been where he is permitted to walk a fine line between good and evil. He plays en exceptional slimy individual with a nice-guy exterior (see Thank You for Smoking), but leaves something to be desired when working both extremes.
-What happened to the Rachel Dawes character? I'm not talking about Katie Holmes transmogrifying into Maggie Gyllenhaal in two short years. I'm referring to the fact that this character was reduced very quickly to the role of damsel in distress, by which point the audience couldn't care less that she got blown up. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a FAR more dynamic actress than Katie Holmes and that was completely neglected in this film. In addition, Gyllenhaal has the potential to be a hottie on screen (see Secretary or Stranger than Fiction). Yet she comes across as dowdy through most of the movie. What gives?
-Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman have become the heart of the franchise. Bale may be the star, but these three actors are the dramatic firepower that make the films worth watching.
-It's a theme that continues to play out in the superhero movies: The public's fickle relationship with their guardians. Spiderman/Batman/Superman is a good guy, no he's a bad guy, no he's a good guy, no... I am so freakin' sick of this melodrama getting dropped into superhero flicks to fill out flimsy plots. If a guy, with or without the gift or super powers, regularly saves lives, thwarts super criminals and generally makes life safer, then give him a break. As an audience, we love these characters for the righteousness they represent. So why does the "general public" in these films have so much trouble resolving their ambivalence? To the future directors of superhero movies: Knock it off! Everybody but the villain loves the hero. Act accordingly.

Overall, I was impressed with The Dark Knight, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did Batman Begins. Perhaps that's because Batman Begins did so much to raise everyone's estimation of the Batman franchise. But I also believe that Nolan's first film was less conflicted and easier to enjoy.