Yes, I saw the Dark Knight. Remember, about two, maybe three weeks ago, when it was all the rage? Before we moved on to blogging about blogging about nth degree I Told You So?

Then.

On a Saturday morning just when the Somerset Mall was getting crowded, me and maybe seven other people had the cinema all to ourselves, I had bought the biggest slushpuppie in my personal history, and it was all systems go for the Batthing and whatever new gadgetry he could throw at us.

In a nutshell, the movie was 6/10. You can keep reading the rest if you like.

So it opens with a bank robbery - the time-tested staple danger-scenario for the Marvel Comic hero to swoop in and save the cash, the cops and the old lady. I have to say I was quite impressed with the Joker from the word “Go”. Right up until the point where he shoved the grenade down that security guard’s throat. From that point on, I was in awe of his performance.

And then it’s all fine and well until he meets the mafia/crime/whatever bosses. Ok, now the movie started to wane a little. Mafia? In a Marvel movie? Have they lost what little marbles they had left? The pencil trick left me laughing for a good while, so I didn’t really care.

But then it emerges that some chinese dude wants to steal the money and let the rest take the fall. What the hell? Is this some sort of joke? Last I checked, Marvel’s movies were all about a hero, a villain, some impossible technology/circumstances, a big city, and shitloads of dialog. Maybe a little fighting now and then to keep the rest of us entertained.

Money and fraud and greed and whatever. They never should have played into the equation at all. I mean, honestly, towards the end of the movie, the whole thing was about Joker vs. World. Jokes hates world, Joker wants to sow as much chaos as possible by playing on fear, Joker is nearly impossible to deal with. Batman’s just trying to keep his wings above water and as many people alive as he possibly can. That’s the essence of a Marvel movie.

Oh, but let’s hop to Hong Kong or whatever, Capture some accountant that, in the greater scheme of things, plays no significant role. And let’s factor the Mayor in, even though he never plays a role in historical Marvel comics. And let’s give Batman a machine that lets him see all points in Gotham at all times. The hero is never supposed to have that much power! The point of these movies is that the hero beats the odds and saves the day.

Okay, so other twists. Two-face. We figure out where he comes from, he has something of a cameo role, and dies at the end of the movie (allegedly). Sucks. He would have made a great villain. Especially the whole coin-50-50-chance thing. Excellent MO for a killer.

Scene of mind-blowing brilliance: Joker destroying Gotham General. That’s the one scene that’ll stick with me for a long time. It has everything to do with the way his character, motives, plan, dress and walk come together in that scene. Brilliant.

The girl dies. Now there’s a twist. Normally the girl is invincible. Still, it’s a stepping stone (one of the clearer ones) that led to the final minute of the movie, so I suppose it’s worth it. The girl was in love with the to-be accessory villain. Not too much of a surprise there. We’ve seen that before.

The plot - what little of it there was - was confusing as hell. It’s as if they were trying to tell three stories (Batman vs. Girl, Chinese vs. Mafia, Joker vs. World), but only accounted for two, and messed up the one they finally came up with. The movie was far lighter on the fighting, and far heavier on the philosophical implications of a world that exists without rules. There are other movies/stories that can carry this message across better - why try and make it work in a Batman movie where no-one knows what’s going on?

All in all, The Dark Knight isn’t so much a Batman movie as a mob-crime movie with Batman characters. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of mob-crime movies (Miami Vice was terrible), and so, The Dark Knight was definitely not one of my all-time favorites.

For what it’s worth, though - Heath Ledger was legendary.