Erm. Yawn? Zzzz.
OK. It is hard to write something knowing that over 90% of the population will disagree with. And if I am to continue my ‘review career’, I have some serious recalibration to do.
Cynthia loves “The Dark Knight”; I had a headache watching it. So what happens? I will get to that in just a bit.
Great casting, no doubt. The acting is rock solid especially from the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart. Both I adore and respect a great deal. Jack Nicholson’s Joker as far as I can remember is comical; Heath Ledger’s Joker is pure creepiness and madness. Give Ledger his Oscar. He deserves it. Did Warner Bros. modify the ending to be sensitive to the circumstances? I have no clue. Warner Bros. did change the promotional campaign after Ledger’s death.
Just how much of the success of “The Dark Knight” is contributed by this unfortunate event? I also have no clue. What I do know is that I have done some serious reflection on why this film doesn’t quite work for me.
Maybe I am addicted to computer-generated imagery especially after that jaw dropping non-stop special effect of Hellboy II, “The Dark Knight” looks a bit bland to me. I am not sure how most audience feels about the 153 minutes film. But isn’t it a bit too, lengthy, with too many gaps of how-you-wish-there-was-more-entertainment-per-minute?
Sure I could overlook the above easily. I love the Batman franchise. I really do. Probably one of my favorite superheroes. If I close my eyes and think of Batman, I see a strong association to the flying bats, I see the bat cave, I see Batman sleeping upside down like a bat, I see a bat mobile with absolute sleekness, I see fast moving fights, I see a Gotham City so dark so thugs infested that induces fear, I see my heart leaps when Batman appears from nowhere, and I see myself living in a fantasy world captivated by its creator. As I opened my eyes and watched “The Dark Knight” in a theater, I saw Batman making a rather unglamorous entrance, I saw Batman standing on top of the modern IFC building in my birth town Hong Kong (read: where is the fantasy when I know that the building was officially opened in 2003?) having absolutely no animalistic association to bats or whatsoever throughout the film, my heart sank. If Batman was to stand on top of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, I would have thought of the film “Entrapment”. In fact, I did think of that film briefly while I was watching “The Dark Knight”.
And maybe I am still an old school when it comes to comic book adaptation. I want to see frame-by-frame scenes composition; I want to see a rather simple storyline and I want to feel with and for my hero. Anyways …
Having said all of the above, I can understand why “The Dark Knight” has a mass appeal. Over 90% of the population loves this film, why wouldn’t you? Can the gross revenue of “The Dark Knight” overtake the original “Batman” (1989) by Tim Burton? Only time can tell.
OK. I am done. Back to my recalibration process.