Movie-Holic

The Dark Knight.

I have had some recent conversations with both readers, and friends of mine, about The Dark Knight and whether or not it is really that good. While I have let my feelings about the Dark Knight be known I have to point out that I didn’t hate the movie. I just don’t think it’s the greatest movie ever.

With that I went back to my DVD collection and sat down with The Dark Knight to revisit the movie and see if I can somehow come to grips with what everyone else feels about it. I also went into the watching of the movie with a few criteria just to make sure I paid more attention that I usually do. The things I was going to look for was The Dark Knight as a superhero movie, a fun, entertaining movie, a family friendly movie, and a movie that keeps my attention. I really don’t care about the cinematics, the camera angles, the lighting (although it was a little dark for me), or thespian excellence.

So, with that in mind…

The Dark Knight As A SuperHero Movie

I love Superhero’s. I love the movies about superheros, the comics, and graphic novels. The Dark Knight is a superhero movie. It’s about one of the most known, and liked, heros of our time… Batman. While I would put Superman over Batman as the best superhero, I guess that’s a debate for a later time.

But, the fact remains that at it’s core, The Dark Knight is a superhero movie about Batman. While watching the movie again I really tried to pay attention to whether or not the movie portrayed Batman as a superhero or a rich spoiled brat with issues. In Batman Begins I feel that the superhero of Batman came out more than it did in The Dark Knight. I got the feeling that the movie was more about The Joker than it was about Batman and his evolution into the world’s foremost superhero (besides Superman that is.)

Movies like X-Men , Ironman, and even Fantastic Four are solid superhero movies. Yes, Batman saves people. Yes, he stops The Joker. Yes, he even takes on the burden of being hunted to help save innocent people. But…

I don’t know. I just wasn’t left with a comfortable feeling with the way that Batman was portrayed as a Superhero. Am I wrong?

The Dark Knight As Fun and Entertaining

Another one of the criteria that I set out for myself as I watched The Dark Knight again was whether or not I had fun watching it. For me, having fun watching a movie is a big thing.

And, I did. For the most part. There were some great moments in the movie. The magic trick with the disappearing pencil. The bike chase where. The cellphone bomb. The hospital. They were fun. It was engaging as far as pulling me in and helping me to want to watch the movie for the energy and action. But, in between these parts, I felt, were slow and too disengaging.

Then we get to the whole Harvey Dent/Two Face thing. I felt it just wasn’t needed. It made the movie too long and added parts of the story that just wasn’t necessary. I completely lost interest at this point and had a hard time focusing on the rest of the movie.

But, for the most part. The movie was fun. It did entertain. I just wish it had about 30 less minutes.

The Dark Knight As A Family Friendly Movie

The first time I saw the movie was with my sixteen year old daughter who absolutely loves Batman. I was ok with her watching it. But, when we got home and my youngest, seven year old and ten year old, kids wanted to go and see it. I had to really think about it. I mean, really had to think about it.

Once we bought the The Dark Knight DVD I still waited for awhile before I let my youngest kids watch it. And even then I felt a little uncomfortable.

As a father, I just didn’t think that they needed to be exposed, willingly, to that kind of dark violence. And even above that it was more that complete disregard for rules and morality. I didn’t want them to emulate what they saw these characters portraying on screen.

Is it a family friendly movie? I guess that’s up to the eye of the beholder. As I said, I had to stop and think about it before I let them watch it. And even now I won’t let my kids watch it by themselves. But, that’s me.

Did The Dark Knight Hold My Interest?

The Dark Knight is a good movie. In some ways it is even great. But, the question I asked myself after all the other ones was, “Did this movie hold my interest?”

I think back about it and have to say that mostly it did. I do have to say this though. The first time I saw it was in the movie theater on opening night. Mostly because my teen daughter wanted to go. It was a late night showing at 10:00. I was already tired so that might have played into it. However, I fell asleep about an hour and forty-five minutes into it. I just couldn’t stay focused on the movie.

Maybe if I went to the earlier showing I might have been ok, but I don’t know. I’ve seen the movie several times since then. Once again at the theater, but mostly at home on DVD. And the same thing happens. I become distracted towards the end of the movie. I am ok during the beginning up until the hospital section. Once it blows I begin to drift off. I lose focus. I am quickly and easily distracted.

But, up until then… I’m ok. I am pretty much into the movie and will intently watch it.

Final Grade.

So did I change my mind about The Dark Knight? Am I willing to rank it higher in my list of favorite movies?

Probably not. That’s not to say I didn’t like it. I did. I thought it was a good, solid movie. I thought were some great moments that I don’t mind watching over and over again. But, I think I’ll put the “skip” feature on the DVD player to skip over parts that were not all that interesting.

What is your favorite part? Why do you like the movie, or even dislike the movie? Would you say it’s the greatest movie or just a good movie? Did Batman live up to being a Superhero? Let us know. Leave your comments below.