Top 5 Reasons the Dark Knight Misses the MarkAug 5, 08:20 AM
I know I’m in store for a whole load of religious persecution, since I’m speaking out against the latest religious movement to sweep the world, Dark Knight worship. I know I won’t be convincing most of you that The Dark Knight was a terrible, lackluster snooze fest, but I do have a top five list of why this most recent installment misses its mark.
This of course is coming from a lifelong bat-fan, so I understand that a summer blockbuster has to be made for the masses, therefore it will lose a lot of what makes Batman Batman.
5. The Soundtrack
No Danny Elfman score, no Prince, no Smashing Pumpkins, no Seal. I mean, really?
4. Set Design
I know this seems small, like I’m nitpicking, but seriously guys, Gotham City is not Chicago.
If Christopher Nolan was as keen as he claims on making the film realistic, then he ought to do one of two things, either set the film in a city with more Gothic architecture or change the Caped Crusader’s outfit to the grey costume we’ve seen in so many comic books and small screen adaptations.
Urban camouflage is key. There is maybe one or two scenes where Batman doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. It’s ridiculous.
Tim Burton must be crying himself to sleep every night after making two films with such stellar set designs only to have the franchise turn into The Untouchables.
3. The Joker
Now, by no means am I insulting Heath Ledger’s performance.
Firstly, that’s the meanest Jack Nicholson impression I have ever seen, he has the voice down. Secondly, his sense of timing and physical comedy was on par with that of Bruce Campbell and other great character actors. However, that character Heath played, though creepy, was not the Joker.
The Joker doesn’t give a damn about social experiments or corrupting moral citizens. The fact that he has no understanding of moral lines is what makes him the charming sociopath that he is. This character tries so hard to prove that he’s scary and crazy that it becomes clear he’s putting on an act. The Joker should be whimsical one moment and ready to poison you the next. He’s supposed to laugh hysterically, which didn’t happen that much in this recent film.
I did enjoy the homage to Jack Nicholson like the whole ‘come on, kill me,’ sequence with the motorcycle (reminiscent of the Batwing sequence from the 1989 release).
2. Terrible Martial Arts
Batman is one of the DC Universe’s top martial artists. Hired goons also know a thing or two about fighting. Michael Jai White is one of Hollywood’s top martial arts actors. So why did the fights in this film suck the bag?
Don’t ask me, I have no bloody clue.
The style used in the film is Keysi’s Fighting Method or KFM, one of the new breed of reality-based combat systems that seem to think the block-hammer fist combo is unstoppable and that you should keep your hands pressed against your head at all times instead of, you know, punching or grappling.
Firstly it is a film, fight sequences should be visually appealing. Secondly, Batman should demonstrate superior techniques since we can only assume that you have to train all the time to be good enough to pick fights with hardened mobsters every night.
Not only was the usage of KFM not true to the character, who roamed the planet studying under great masters, but it’s a relatively unknown and untested style. Sticking to Nolan’s idea of ’realism,’ you’d think he select a fighting method for Batman that has been tried and tested in the military or by police forces, something like Krav Maga, Sambo or Escrima.
It must have been too much to ask to bring in Donnie Yen to choreograph realistic techniques that still look cool.
1. Not Enough Batman
This is obviously the big one.
Batman does not enjoy a lot of screen time in this picture, and when he does, it’s not any Batman I recognize. Batman is an obsessive egomaniac who drives the action, he doesn’t sit around whining about his feelings until something so bad happens he is forced to react.
He’s the world’s greatest detective, so he doesn’t rely on Lucius Fox to solve all his problems for him. Also, he is not Superman, so he doesn’t bend gun barrels with his hands or leap off tall buildings without the use of a grappling hook.
Batman is also not Daredevil. The special effects of his ‘sonar sense’ equipment were almost identical to that of the Daredevil film (who wants to rip off Daredevil?).
I know people are going to say something silly like “this is only the beginning of his career, he’ll get better.” Well, every step in a stupid direction makes it harder to turn the character back into what he should be, just look at Smallville, which is what this film reminded me of (sadly enough). My big fear is that the box office success of this film will influence comic book writers to change the Batman character in the comics to the one in the film.
Once the hype from this film and Heath Ledger’s death calms down, I’d like to think that the film will not be voted the greatest movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database, because our morbid fascination with a dead star is shameful.
I should also hope that the next film in the franchise cleans up its act a little bit, bearing in mind some of the oversights listed above. Better production, better fight sequences and more detective work from the Dark Knight Detective is just what the doctor ordered for this franchise and I hope we see more of it.
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