The Dark Knight

Rating- 4 stars

It's a difficult time to make superhero movies at a time when realism rules and "being super" is not so super after all. But of all the comic characters, the Batman has been different and is more contemporary with all his self-doubts.
He is more often brooding about something or other. Why can't movie directors make a movie about someone as fun as Flash?

Anyway, personally, I have always felt Batman's inner conflicts to be painfully soap-opera-ish and he is very self- absorbed. That's why I sat up when this movie came out. Because the Dark Knight is not so much about Batman but more about his villains, and we have not one but two villains (if you dont count the fleeting Scarecrow appearance)

There has been a lot of hype about Heath Ledger as the Joker and no doubt his performance was good although I felt that he wasn't "funny enough" to be a Joker. But the true story here that captured my attention and really made me take notice was the metamorphosis of Harvey Dent, District Attorney to the villainous Two-Face. Can you imagine something like that? A good guy who believed in ideals turns completely or rather quasi-evil. I am sure if Ledger had not died, the spotlight would have alighted on Aaron Eckhart who gives a very powerful understated performance. Behind the backdrop of the tussle between Joker and Batman, the true story is the arc of how Harvey Dent falls in his ideals to become TwoFace. That makes him more believable than Batman.

Other than this intriguing story (I hope Nolan brings back Two Face in the sequel which there will be, since superheroes are money making machines for studios), it's the same ho-hum bash-'em burn-'em action stunt sequences. Christian Bale is wooden-faced as Bruce Wayne and Exorcist-voiced as Batman, going through scenes with a lethargic torpor, putting us to sleep in his scenes until the Joker or Dent comes along to wake us up. Maggie Gyllenhaul is eminently forgettable.

Questions for the director
1) What's with the masticating motions of the Joker?

2) Does being the romantic interest of Batman automatically mean that you don't smile or laugh? This goes for both Maggie Gyllenhaul or Katie Holmes. Compare that to Kim Basinger as Vickie Vale in Batman. Over the years, Batman has passed on his brooding boredom to his girlfriends as well. Do you expect me to reconcile Christian Bale's stoic performance to Bruce Wayne's playboy persona?

3) What's the deal with the horrible voice of Batman? Everytime he spoke, I winced.

4) You can't keep dusting off the old Batsuit everytime you make a Batman movie. This suit just makes him look fat nowadays. When even the cartoons have experimented with more aesthetic designs, please stop falling back on the old staple and be a bit more adventurous!