Chris Nolan’s fantastic film is #7 on my Top 20 list, and the 5th American film on the list. Therefore, it is technically the 5th of the 5 films I feel should be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
However, this is a flawed masterpiece, as all great masterpieces are (save the first two Godfather films, of course, and maybe Casablanca). While going to places no superhero film has or, I dare say, will ever go, the film’s screenplay sports plot holes the size of cantaloupes. For example, the cheap introduction of sonar technology so as to find the Joker’s whereabouts towards the film’s climax or the fact that the final HOUR of the film the viewers’ are meant to believe the Joker has planned out to a T, are two points so ludicrous one must wonder how they made the final draft. Also, some lines read thicker than molasses (“the night is darkest before the dawn”). It would not be fair to see David S. Goyer and the Nolan brothers gets nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar. Certainly not.
Now listen, before you stop reading and disown this blog forever, just hear me out. I love this film, and disagreed with people voicing this very opinion months ago. However, re-watching it on a smaller screen only magnifies the problems. There’s no IMAX to get in the way. Furthermore, the acting is not across-the-board phenomenal, although it’s damn close. Maggie Gyllenhaal nearly ruins the movie due to her heavy-handed performance, adding just a TAD too much spunk to the Rachel character (I never thought I would have preferred Katie Holmes in an acting role-NEVER). For an actress of Gyllenhaal’s caliber, this was a huge disappointment.
And now let’s talk about Heath Ledger’s overrated acting-just kidding, he was legendary and needs to get the Oscar for sure.
The biggest reason The Dark Knight should not win Best Picture is because there are only two American films that should be considered for it: Slumdog Millionare and Wall-E. Since my first viewing of either of the two, I was convinced they would sit atop my list for the year to come, and despite a surprisingly strong year of movies (see my “In defense of…the 2008 film season article” for further proof) no film came close to breaching the #1 and #2 spots for Best Picture.
I want to see what the good people out there have to say. So please respond with your thoughts and let’s get a little debate going. What do you think? Do you agree?