I think everyone knows what a "holy cow" status is. It's when a piece of media is so loved that critiquing it will get you driven into the dirt faster than an ostrich's head when endangered. This is bad, seeing as there are always differing opinions on every matter. The Prestige, one of my favorite films, is far from loved by all, for example. I don't take it personally, everyone is different. And to exemplify this, I will now talk about the universally loved Batman film, The Dark Knight, and take a look at what I like, and what I don't like, about it. Many are flabbergasted when they hear that DK isn't even one of my top 5 comic films, and it would have a hard time to crack my top 40 films to date. But if I haven't said it before, I'll say it now: I still love the film. It's fantastic, and it has a lot of golden moments. I don't want with this blog to incite any antagonism, arguments or hostility, au contraire. I wish to broaden everyone's horizon a bit and encourage a smart exchange of viewpoints. I don't think I have to point out that this is my opinion and my opinion alone. I do not mean to say that anyone that thinks of the film as the best ever is wrong. Just wanted to clear that out. One more thing I have to mention: I'm not a fan of the Batman comics. I've read snippets of it, but I'm not much into it. So I'm only basing the films' quality based on their individual merits, which I feel is the correct approach. Now, I hope you find this read enjoyable :D

First things first: Batman himself. I'm a big fan of Christian Bale, he's a stunning actor with many 1st cIass films under his belt. But he cannot be Batman. I have never found him to be suitable for the role, neither in the first film nor the DK. Compare this to the awesome Michael Keaton, who managed to balance the playboy-millionaire and Batman roles perfectly. He oozed with cool but also made you sympathize with him. I've yet to feel any emotional connection with the Bale, which I feel must be made to get you to root for the character. And what in the world is up with his voice? I know it's overstated by now, but it's just ridiculous. All he has to do is deepen his voice, not make it seem like his trachea was a blender filled with gravel. It wasn't cool, it was absolutely nonsensical. Seeing as the movie is about Batman, I feel it's important that the man himself is a good character. For me, Bale doesn't manage his role as well as he could have done.

-"Ahhrm Batmaahnn!"

The other big matter in DK is the main antagonist, and in that field, I have little to no complaints. Heath Ledger delivers a sterling performance which truly makes the film something else. My only complaint, which really isn't a complaint in and of itself, is that he isn't my favorite Joker. People are even more surprised when I say this, which I don't understand. My favorite film Joker is still Nicholson's amazing portrayal of the famous villain. I go by what I feel the Joker should be: a joker. The ironic thing is that HL's Joker, despite constantly saying: "Why so serious?", is too serious for my liking, and he's also more of a traumatized villain in contrast to absolutely insane and psychopathic like Jackie is. It's a subtle difference, but I prefer the absolutely mental. Just a personal preference, I suppose.

-"You're...my number one...guy!"

However, here we come to the main reason I have a slight beef with DK: Two-Face. Darn Two-Face. Now, Aaron Eckhart did a good job as Harvey Dent; he was charismatic, charming, kind, tolerant and an all-around nice guy. If Nolan had decided to develop his character a bit more, and choreograph his descent into madness better, it would have been a great way to build up to the sequel. But no, DK pulled a "Spidey 3" and had an unnecessary second villain. This only diverted the attention from the Joker at some moments, and added no depth to the plot whatsoever. Not only that, it made also no sense. Harvey lost his girlfriend and gotburned on one half of his face. Pretty traumatic, and it might drive the normal man insane (not in one day, mind!). However, Harvey was one step away from being Jesus himself! Joker was trying to make the point that anyone can be driven mad, but it was handled so poorly that it lacked any credibility. Here's a situation that I think would truly drive Harvey mad and fit within the story itself: Joker presents Harvey with a gun. His girlfriend is put in front of him and ten innocent citizens are lined across the wall. He has a choice. Shoot his girlfriend, saving Harvey and the hostages, or commit suicide which also makes the Joker kill the hostages but save the girlfriend. He'd struggle, and for the sake of the story, shoot his girlfriend for the greater good. The Joker then shoots the hostages and lights the warehouse on fire, but makes sure that Harvey can escape alive. OK, this is a very silly and ridiculous set-up, but Harvey actually killing his gf, in any situation, is a far more traumatic blow that would affect him immensely and possibly change him into a murderer.

Then comes the ending. DK was 30 minutes too long, IMO, and it really seems like much of it was altered and cut. It made little sense at all to me. It was way too fast and confusing, and ended in an overly cliche manner (the hero goes vigilante, puts the blame on himself, etc.). Once again, why didn't they just skip Two-Face and have it end with Joker's arrest? It would've been so much better. I would've loved to see Two-Face have his own movie, but alas, it is no longer available. Sad, but we might get the awesome Riddler instead. But this is the biggest reason I don't like DK as much as others, simple yeah?

-The lack of an eyelid on the left eye would cause it to die very quickly, as you might have noticed.

There's one more big gripe I have with the film, and it's that annoying boat scene. Once again, Joker was trying to prove that there's evil in everyone's heart, deep down under the civility of it all. But there's one problem,which is thathis situation doesn't call forth the definition of evil. Think of it this way: you are given two choices, press the button to destroy the other boat, or wait for the others to press their button. One is filled with innocent people, children, men, women etc. On the other, convicted criminals, murderers, thieves, rapists and so on, with only a few innocent guards and people. As the Joker said, if neither ship pressed their button, they'd BOTH explode, and it's easy to assume that the people on both boats believe that if they don't press the button, the other boat will. In this situation, no matter "the price" of pushing the button itself, it is not evil to save one boat instead of both falling to the bottom of the water. This is a rudimentary logical conundrum that should've been noticed by the Joker himself. What makes it even more ridiculous is that one ship was filled with criminals! What I think is evil is that the parents on the innocent ship assumed that their kids would be OK with making an altruistic statement of equality by killing themselves. This was of course done to make the villain look silly, and make the hero, Batman, look even cooler. But there are so many other ways to prove the evil in the common man, this is just a ridiculously simplistic play of "good vs. evil." Plot convenience over logic, yay!

So, does this mean I have little to nothing good to say about the film? Of course not! I still love it! The action scenes are fantastic, fast-paced and entertaining. The Joker really is awesome, his nail trick is disturbingly funny and the way he tells the story about his father is one of the more memorable scenes in comic book movie history. As always, Michael Caine does his part splendidly and Gary Oldman isperpetuallygreat in everything he does. And even though I have issues with part of it, the story is generally told really well and most of the bits fit together, making for a high-octane adventure and one of the highlights of 2008.

However, I'll critique where I feel critique is needed, and this is what I think of the film: a fantastic but flawed action flick that manages to shine thanks to a stellar performance from Heath Ledger and great production values. In conclusion, I'd like to say that my favorite Batman film is Tim Burton's Batman, as you might have figured out by now. Yes, I'm in a minority, but I can at least console myself that my favorite online film critic, Nostalgia Critic, agrees with me, further proving my point that there's no concrete standard on which to judge films. Everyone likes what they want, period. And with that, I bid adieu, and wish you a merry week. My next blog entry should most likely be a top 10 list, so stay tuned! Goodbye, my friends.

-Calvinsora