I know this is going to be controversial, but I must admit something. Something that has been eating at me for a long time, that kept me from being my true self. Friends, loved ones, I’ve gathered you here to say… Batman Begins is better than The Dark Knight. Before you write me off as a simply insane person, allow me to give you my reasoning, in no particular order of importance.
1) Rachel Dawes
Katie Holmes is exponentially better in the role of Rachel Dawes, as compared to Maggie Gyllenhaal. I don’t think you’ll find many people who disagree with this. She’s more relatable, seems more invested into the character, and makes the character actually seem important.
2) Focus
Dark Knight is all over the place. First they’re talking about Joker, then Rachel, then Harvey Dent, then Batman is extraditing people from China, and there’s the cell phone sonar thing, then Joker does the boat thing, then Harvey kidnaps Gordon’s kid? This is way too much, and could have been split into two movies.
"Why am I in China again?"
3) Length
Dark Knight is at least 20 minutes too long. I hit a wall every time I watch it, about halfway though. Compared to Batman Begins, which is shorter, although not by an insane amount. The real difference is that it FEELS much shorter. Just a tighter script.
4) The Story Itself
Batman Begins is one of the few stories to actually focus on Batman. The problem with having such an amazing rogues gallery is that it can take some of the spotlight off our hero; this happens a lot in Dark Knight. Batman Begins however, while having interesting villains, is a movie that is clearly all about Batman.
5) The Antagonists
Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul are great characters that not a lot of casual fans know that much about. Batman Begins does a great job of introducing them, as well as making Scarecrow terrifying and having a role in each of the trilogy.
Spooky!
6) No Ham-fisted Analogy
We get it, Nolan. You don’t like the Patriot Act and think it gives too much power. But when average people forget about that, in 10, 15 years… is that whole section of the movie going to hold up? Or is it just going to be Morgan Freeman weirdly expounding about Batman hacking people’s phones? When you make a movie about current events, you better be damn sure people are still going to be talking about those events.
"why have 1 iPhone, when I'm rich enough for a full wall of them?"
In closing, while Heath Ledger did an amazing job as the Joker and deserves every ounce of praise that he receives, the Dark Knight simply falls apart without him. Batman Begins is a cohesive whole, an engine firing on all cylinders. Compare this to the Dark Knight which has some excellent aspects, but fails to bring them all together the way Batman Begins does.
But we can all agree Dark Knight Rises is the worst one.
