Closet Sci-Fi Geek

Is the Dark Knight the Best Movie Ever?

“That was the best movie, ever,” my friend said as we walked out of a showing of The Dark Knight.

“The best? No way,” I said. “Good, yes, but the best ever?”

“Well, it’s at least in the top ten,” he replied.

So maybe this really is a guy thing, because I cannot for the life of me see how The Dark Knight could be considered one of the best films ever made, as good as it was for what it was.

Surely, classics such as Citizen Kane or Gone With the Wind haven’t been forgotten? Or, if you are into things of a more sci-fi nature, how about the prodigious effort resulting in the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Or the original Star Wars? 2001? Blade Runner?

Granted, we haven’t quite had a serious film about a superhero that might be elevated to art, but I’ll say that The Matrix, with its post-modern superhero Neo, could certainly fit that bill.

When I saw The Matrix for the first time, I was absolutely blown away. It was not only technically brilliant and innovative, but it set a mood and tone that really messed with your head. You walked out of The Matrix questioning the very nature of your conscious reality. And you were entertained to boot.

The Matrix made me reevaluate my relationship to the world. It reminded me that the world is really just a temporary illusion, a brief stopping point in the eternity beyond.

In comparison to that feeling, my feelings upon leaving The Dark Knight were, “That was really good, but I doubt I’ll ever want to see it again.”

The Dark Knight was not brilliant or innovative. It was simply well-executed. It was an almost flawless action movie. But it was not deep, nor was it original.

So, as much as The Dark Knight has blown away the box office, I am going to make the bold prediction here that it is not going to become a classic that changes the way we see cinema in the way The Matrix did. Spider-Man, as you recall, also gets huge box office, but it will be seen as cheesy and dated in 20 years. Box office success does not necessarily mean lasting cultural impact.

Of course, The Dark Knight is anything but cheesy. It is filled with terrific action scenes and great performances. If anything, it will be remembered for Heath Ledger’s brilliant, tragic performance, so poignant now that we know that the emotional toll the role took on him played a part in his death. But beyond the great action and fast plotting, what does The Dark Knight give us that will stick in our minds later?

Hey, I think it’s great when a truck flips upside down from front to back, but if you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it.

I recently saw No Country for Old Men, and while I’m not a fan of that kind of violence, nor do I go out of my way to watch Coen Brothers movies, No Country for Old Men was brilliant. I’ll remember it. It said something meaningful about the human condition.

The Dark Knight, in contrast, tries to be deep and meaningful, but cannot escape its comic book roots. “Gotham needs a hero,” Batman tells us. And yet, for all the apparent philosophical pondering on the surface, The Dark Knight is so busy piling on the plotlines and action that it loses its heart. The Joker is simply insane; Batman is typically stoic; our heroine is good and beautiful in the most generic way. Most disconcerting: Two-Face makes his dramatic shift without much real character development to back it up.

In fact, the only hint of heart and soul I found in the whole film was the scene involving the large black convict on the boat - you’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve seen the film already.

I was also greatly disappointed in the setting and cinematography. While I understand the trend lately is towards realism in sci-fi (Battlestar Galactica), I found Gotham to be flat and boring. I must admit I enjoyed Tim Burton’s retro-futuristic Gotham’s much better. While I didn’t expect that type of over-the-top Gotham here, I just wanted something more…dark. The entire film was too bright for a film called The Dark Knight. (I did think the final hospital explosion was well-done, however.)

This type of overdone realism in sci-fi will become out of vogue at some point, and the film will show its age later because of it. Mark my words.

As for the cast (beyond Heath Ledger): Super hottie Christian Bale makes a terrific Batman, except for his “Batman voice,” but he did not have much opportunity to shine here. Harvey Dent took up more focus. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a better actress than Katie Holmes, but the lighting on her made her look absolutely awful. With that, I just couldn’t buy that two hot men were so in love with her based on her bland personality and puffy face. (It’s not that I need her to be a supermodel. She just looked tired to me.)

On a more positive note, I’m always delighted to see Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman in just about anything. These two truly gave the film some sparkle that was otherwise missing in our overly serious main characters. Gary Oldman is another favorite of mine, even with that horrible bushy mustache.

All in all, I’d give The Dark Knight an 8 out of 10 for its fast plotting, great action, and fantastic performances by Oldman and Ledger. But a classic? No, not quite.