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The dark night and the case of the constipated crusader

Super Hero Thursday has become something of a ritual at home over the last month. We have gleefully sat through The Incredible Hulk (redeeming), Ironman (romp), and Punisher (silly) - in which all three delighted and surprised us in different ways.

As a result of these experiences we had built up momentum in preparation for the big one. We like Batman, own various graphic novels and like to think we have an appreciation of the caped vigilante so naturally we were primed for the release of The Dark Knight on DVD this week (particularly as we had missed the cinematic release).

When Thursday arrived we secured a virgin copy - a shiny, unplayed disc from the local video store. Alas the initial excitement of pushing play dissipated quickly as we endured 152 minutes or lacklustre and sloppy film making. It was only the lure of the central character that meant we hung on to the end (normally we would have cut our losses).

I tweeted my disappointment while the credits rolled. Not only was the experience unsatisfying, puzzling and irking, we’re now worried that Hellboy 2 and Quantum of Solace may suffer similar fates.

I received some counter replies on Facebook to my original tweet so felt I should qualify it. Here they are (in no particular order):

• Overall the film lacked atmosphere for a film that should have been tense, dark, and potentially disturbing. It was none of these.
• Gotham City was and is a bad place to live so the Joker should not have created that much mayhem.
• Batman operates at night so the film should have remained there. Consequently Gotham City often looked suburban and safe. Moreover, why was Gotham Central Hospital only two or three stories high?
• The volume of discontinuity and inconsistency meant frequent confusion and astonishment. Most of these were the result of hamfisted editing.
• Christian Bale (no question he is a great Batman) just sounded constipated when talking as Batman. Maybe voice modulation (or James Earl-Jones) could be used next time to avoid this unnecessary constipated crusader syndrome.
• The overall pacing was wrong. The film took too long and was not assisted by the Harvey Dent storyline - which could have been another film altogether.
• The opening scene looked like a poor homage to Adam West’s 1960’s parody of Batman. Despite the undeniable greatness of Adam West, there is no place for this kind of Mel Brook-inspired fighting in a Batman film wishing to take itself seriously.
• The sound levels were inconsistent. Examples include: dampening loud noises such as explosions, conversations dropping, and so on.

However, one thing that was over-hyped actually proved to be a fair assessment and that was Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. His take on the Joker was unhinged, chaotic and menacing - as it should be.

Finally, if you like Batman then either wait for a re-cut DVD or better still - avoid.