I’ve been checking out other reviews of The Dark Night over on Rotten Tomatoes. (Here’s our review if you haven’t read it yet.) One weird thing I’ve noticed that may just be a coincidence; of the few bad reviews this flick is getting most of them are coming out of New York City. The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, New York Press and New York Magazine all turned up their noses at the latest Bat-picture. Marshall Fine of the illustrious Star Magazine didn’t care for it and he’s been a member of the New York Film Critic’s circle sense 1989. Jurgen Fauth of about.com is a member as well and he wrote that Nolan’s movie was “plodding, puffed-up kitsch”. Out of the 12 rotten reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, only four don’t come from New Yorkers, and I’m counting Stephanie Zacharek as part of that four and she used to write for the New York Observer.

Certainly not all New York critics dissed The Dark Knight. The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly both raved about the movie. But 8 of 12 bad reviews coming from one city is a high percentage. Sure, the Big Apple has more media outlets than other cities, but do they outnumber the rest of the nation 8 to 4? Not even close.

So why all the hate for the Caped Crusader coming out of Gotham? Did mix up the reels at the critics screening? Are they mad Christopher Nolan chose Chicago as his backdrop? Did somebody piss in the popcorn? Or are they just falling into that old stereotype of the jaded New Yorker unwilling to accept that anything could actually impress them?

I went to my personal New York contact, a proud member of the NYPD, to get the scoop on what might have caused this phenomenon. Officer Mike Simpson confirmed the pretentious theory, telling me “So many people around here watch movies and say ‘Well, it was alright, but not nearly good enough.’ New Yorkers don’t want to be tied down to loving anything.” He also commented on the number of critics in New York trying to make a name for themselves, making sure they aren’t drowned out in the din of criticism. “So maybe they throw a bad review out there and hope to get their name on CNN. Have Anderson Cooper say ‘Well, Not everybody loved it. Joe Nobody of the West Brooklyn Observation Herald said… whatever.’ They just want to stand out.”

So does the original Gotham really hate the Dark Knight? It may just be an unhappy accident, or maybe, New Yorkers are worried about Batman stealing the weekend gross crown from their own friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Any thoughts? New Yorkers wishing to defend/deride the most popular movie of the year? Post ‘em if you got ‘em.