Dark Knight

Finally saw The Dark Knight over the weekend, would have seen it earlier but I wanted to see it in Imax and the shows were sold out long in advance unless you were game for a 9am or midnight viewing. I have to say that after a summer of disappointments (don't even get me started on Indy 4) I had finally learned to prep myself for the possibility that it was not nearly as good as it looked, but for once I found my initial intuition correct. This film is truly and genuinely great. Clocking in at just over two and a half hours I thought for certain that it would feel too long, I smugly told my husband so in the car ride to the theatre,  but for probably the first time ever since the new era of ridiculously long, much-in-need-of-editing filmmaking, I felt that the length was just right. It is so rare these days that a "blockbuster" film is not only successful at the box office but also a great work of filmmaking across the board, the cinematography is beautiful, particularly the sweeping shots of the Gotham City skyline, and the talent is excellent, so much has been said about the performance of Heath Ledger it would be redundant to repeat it, but it is all well-deserved. Overall, I think what really brings a tentpole film of this magnitude to a higher level of filmmaking is the writing, it is so easy in big films like this for the dialogue to be, for lack of a better word "cheesy" and for plot points and action sequences to appear beyond ridiculous. With the small exception of the bullet-reconstruction sequence, Dark Knight is extremely well-written, with great dialogue and twists I didn't see coming. Ultimately, I really enjoyed the film and I am left wondering why the concept of a well-written blockbuster is so hard to come by? I mean sure you can slap together some silly catchphrases, rubber nippled suits and fancy digital explosions and call it a day, but why settle for that when you have the opportunity to entertain a massive broad audience and make good films at the same time? Dark Knight is truly a gleaming specimen of a studio summer movie, but at the same time it shines a light on exactly what is wrong the hollywood blockbuster mill.