“Dark Knight” Was All, Like … Long

Enh. I didn’t dig “Dark Knight.” That’s OK, right?

I had heard about how tremendous this flick was from almost every quarter, so maybe I came in expecting too much. It was entertaining and action-packed, but I thought it was about as good as most of the “Batman” movies and not as good as “Batman Begins.”

I didn’t really buy Maggie Gyllenhaal as the love interest (she’s more quirky hot) and thought Morgan Freeman was underutilized in what amounted to a throwaway role. Heath Ledger was good as the Joker, but not as transcendant as some had ascribed him to be, in my estimation. Playing the Joker gives you license to act freaky, creepy and outlandish, and he nailed that, but it just came as off as a bit overdone (Jack Nicholson nailed it, just as Jim Carrey owned the Riddler, and all others will fall short).

It was really, really long (to make up for it, I’ve made this rather short). Beyond that, I found it be a little trite at times (the situation of the dueling cruise ships, one full of elitists and the other full of convicts, was horribly forced) and Batman’s motivation to “give up” wasn’t explored enough to warrant its inclusion. Don’t get me wrong; the fight scenes were pretty cool and a lot of stuff certainly done got exploded. But I found it to be a step back from “Batman Begins” (and this version), even though I realize Ledger died and all that. I get it.

Wake me up when a new version comes out with Catwoman involved, played by Scarlett Johansson.