Batman: The Dark Knight

Now, I know this is The Reading Room but I thought I would write something about this, (without giving any of the story away!). As everyone knows, this film has had a lot of hype, particularly because of the death of Heath Ledger, (who, incidentally, is tipped to get a posthumous Oscar for this role); and I have to say that I was a little dubious about whether it was as good as everyone was saying, (after my monumental disappointment at the Indiana Jones film). However, my fears were quickly put to rest for the first hour or so of the film. All the performances were excellent, the story/script was very well written and the visual effects were, of course, stunning.

But, (and for me, in light of the fact that the first one was awesome, it is a big "but"), after that, the story (and the film) seemed to go down hill a little. There were at least three occasions where it seemed like the film should have ended but it kept carrying on. The tying up of the Harvey Dent/Two Face story line just seemed to be tacked on and, by the end of it, I was quite relieved that the film had finally finished. Some elements of the story just seemed to have been added to make it more exciting or were unnecessarily convoluted and the scenes between Batman and the Joker were too short.

However, Heath Ledger's performance was indeed, to quote one newspaper, "mesmerising," (although maybe a little bit over-rated) and far superior to Nicholson's attempt, as was Aaron Eckhart's performance as Harvey Dent (but not as Two Face. There just wasn't enough anger and insanity in the performance.). Although I don't think it was a good as Batman Begins, it is certainly one of the best Batman films and Christian Bale is definitely more convincing as Bruce Wayne/Batman than any of the other actors who have played him. But, while I am glad that I paid my £12 to see it first, and have a shiny new poster for my walls, I think it could have been so much better.