The Pros and Cons of "The Dark Knight"

Okay, I know, I know, I am about 4 months behind on this one, but I did just see The Dark Knight. (Through Redbox, for free, I might add) Anyhow, the only thing I really knew going into it was that it was supposedly a pretty dark film and that Heath Ledger as the Joker was supposed to be amazing. Well, I will give you my take on it now: (and this is kinda my first super official movie review. Drum roll please!)

The Cons

1. It was a little disjointed. Compared to the first, I found this one to be a bit more confusing in parts. The first movie had the advantage of having a set story to tell- The birth of Batman, but this one just wasn't quite as well crafted as the first one.
2. Maggie Gyllenhall as the new Rachel Dawes. Oh my heavens! She was terrible in this role. Not only is she a very poor man's version of Katie Holmes, her acting was flat and lifeless. I mean, she is strapped to dynamite, about to die, pouring out her soul to Harvey Dent, but the whole time I am wincing and finding every word totally unbelievable.
3. It was LONG. A running time of 2 hours and 32 minutes was too much for me. The Joker is hard to catch and defeat, WE GET IT.
4. How many times in one movie can we use the 'surprise' that the person driving your car is not really who you think they are? Not exactly the brightest bulbs in the chandelier handling security, I see.

The Pros

1. The character of the Joker was perfect. And I don't mean just in the acting by Heath Ledger, but more so in the type of character they chose to make the Joker. He was not over the top like the Jack Nicholson Batman, but rather he was bizarre and eccentric. And for once we have a character that truly didn't care about taking over Gotham or becoming a ga-zillionaire. Finally!
2. Christian Bale was in it again. Excellent.
3. Two-Face making only a one film appearance. I thought it was genius to only have Harvey Dent/Two-Face in this one film. It would have been really cheesey to have transformed Harvey into a montster in this film and then have him come back with a crack pot squad of other villians in future movies. I liked that he snapped, transformed and then died. Neat and tidy.
4. It adequately advanced the plot. Unlike a certain other highly anticipated movie sequel this year, starring a certain incredibly good looking spy, that shall remain nameless, this movie really advanced the plot. Rachel dies, we see the new Commissioner Gordon take shape, Batman now becomes "the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs." And for me, the coolest part was the ambiguity of the Joker's fate. The last we see of the Joker he is hanging off that building and that is about all we know. (Which, by the way, is right after the Joker tells Batman, that Batman will never kill him because he is too moral, but the Joker will never kill Batman "because he is too much fun." Loved that line.) So we are not really sure what happens to the Joker in the end. Hopefully he will return, or at least someone who can fill Ledger's shoes. Additionally, it makes sense that the Joker tells Batman they seemed "destined to [chase each other] forever". Kinda sums the whole reason that these two enemies can exist for so long and why we never get tired of watching them.

So there you have it. If you are one of the 7 humans on the planet that sill have not seen this movie, now you don't have to. I pretty much just gave everything away, but yet, I also told you everything you need to know to carry on an intelligent conversation about it. This blog is a public service, you know...