Dark Knight - Your thoughts?
I figured we might as well start a new thread for this movie, seeing as how it's already broken box office records ($160 mil in it's opening weekend?!?) and it's #1 on IMDB's top 250. And I know some of you other gents will have thoughts of your own. I've already posted my review in another thread, but...here it is again. Be warned...there are some spoilers within. The Dark Knight just isn’t content with being a comic book movie; no, that wouldn’t be fun enough, would it? With sinister glee it soars above and beyond the call of duty, going places that previous comic book movies haven’t been willing to. Besting even its powerful predecessor, Batman Begins, this film goes balls-out into the dark territory that Batman has long been known for, but beyond that it gives convincing character portrayals, fleshed out relationships, and a genuine cinematic portrait of evil. The Joker is the true star of the film, and with a combination of great dialogue and tremendous acting by Heath Ledger, the character is given room to flourish, and flourish he does. He relishes in his criminally twisted acts, never failing to enjoy himself. He sees everything as an opportunity for more devilish mischief. When a low rung in the corporate ladder of Wayne enterprises learns Batman’s secret identity and threatens to reveal it on a talk show, the Joker calls the talk show with a lovely proposition; if this man isn’t dead in sixty minutes, why...he’ll blow up a hospital! For he surely doesn’t want to give the satisfaction of unmasking Batman to some corporate pawn. Then there are the other key characters; Batman himself, who is more conflicted than usual. His heroism still goes unappreciated by policemen and citizens, and now there are copycat Batmans who don’t quite do the vigilante thing as well as the real deal. The very city he is fighting to save wants to put him behind bars, yet he must continue to fight the mob. Indeed, his only true ally in the police force is Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman), loyal as ever. His other ally (and love interest), Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gylenhaal, thankfully replacing Katie Holmes), is now attached to the flashy new district attorney, Harvey Dent (A suave Aaron Eckhart), something Bruce pretends doesn’t bother him, although he can’t fool his faithful butler Alfred (Michael Caine). The film is willing to take its time to develop its characters before it launches into action sequences. The pacing is flawless, with the first section of the film intertwining it’s character relationships with sadistic scenes with the Joker, before the second half launches into the action. There’s a thrilling car chase, many solid fight scenes, and some high-impact explosions to satisfy the summer crowd, but on the other side of the coin is tragedy, personal despair, vengeance, and the ever so evil Joker. He seeks to force the good guys to lower their morals to solve the problems created by his elaborate schemes, and to force heroes to become villains in their own eyes. He clearly doesn’t desire money, and he has no need for personal gain of any sort; he gains plenty by the moral wounds he inflicts. And he inflicts many; Harvey Dent is contorted into a tormented creature bent on revenge thanks to the Joker, something he surely takes pride in. Again I must come back to the Joker and Heath Ledger, for this was his show. I never once saw the actor, only the character. Perhaps the obscuring makeup aided in this, but I’d prefer to think that it was due to the fact that Heath created a monumental portrait of Batman’s long-standing arch nemesis. Watch every detail of Heath’s acting, even down to the way he fires a machine gun. He is mentally and physically submerged in this character, and he is never caught acting. His performance towers above the rest of the cast, as competent as they were (Eckhart in particular turns in a wonderful performance). Undoubtedly bound for multiple posthumous awards and nominations, Heath has effectively left his mark on cinema and created an iconic performance; such a pity it came at the cost of his life. The movie had its flaws, however. I’m not sure I completely bought the outcome of an interesting boat scenario, and some of the dialogue seemed directly ripped from any number of old comic books (it wasn’t difficult to imagine the speech bubbles above the character’s heads). Perhaps this was Nolan’s intent, but I found it slightly ham-handed. One fight scene in particular was...well, almost silly. I mean, Batman versus a swat team? Couldn’t he have explained the scenario to them? Yes, but that wouldn’t have been as “cool”, I suppose. And unfortunately for the aforementioned chase scene, it was hampered slightly by unnecessary moments of comedic relief. Despite it’s detachments from the genre, it occasionally reminds that it is still a comic book movie, much to my chagrin. Regardless, the movie’s weak points were overshadowed by its incredible villain, the Joker. While earlier incarnations of the Joker went strictly for the comic, this Joker was all about the insanity and the sadism; a much better choice in my book. The overall atmosphere of the film was laden with the sadism of its villain, and the monolithic city of Gotham, and as such we have a film with an appropriately suffocating mood. It even has the balls to go out with a downbeat ending. Aren’t comic book films supposed to have catharsis in the end? Not this one, at least. (End review) And, by the way...did that final scene with Two-Face have anyone else squirming in their seats? I saw the film for the second time today, and that last scene STILL ranks among the most powerful and disturbing of any film I've ever seen. I don't know what it is...the way the music swells into dramatic climax, the menacing make-up of two-face, or the superb acting between Oldman and Eckhart, but...god damn, that part had me squirming once again.
I figured we might as well start a new thread for this movie, seeing as how it's already broken box office records ($160 mil in it's opening weekend?!?) and it's #1 on IMDB's top 250. And I know some of you other gents will have thoughts of your own. I've already posted my review in another thread, but...here it is again. Be warned...there are some spoilers within. The Dark Knight just isn’t content with being a comic book movie; no, that wouldn’t be fun enough, would it? With sinister glee it soars above and beyond the call of duty, going places that previous comic book movies haven’t been willing to. Besting even its powerful predecessor, Batman Begins, this film goes balls-out into the dark territory that Batman has long been known for, but beyond that it gives convincing character portrayals, fleshed out relationships, and a genuine cinematic portrait of evil. The Joker is the true star of the film, and with a combination of great dialogue and tremendous acting by Heath Ledger, the character is given room to flourish, and flourish he does. He relishes in his criminally twisted acts, never failing to enjoy himself. He sees everything as an opportunity for more devilish mischief. When a low rung in the corporate ladder of Wayne enterprises learns Batman’s secret identity and threatens to reveal it on a talk show, the Joker calls the talk show with a lovely proposition; if this man isn’t dead in sixty minutes, why...he’ll blow up a hospital! For he surely doesn’t want to give the satisfaction of unmasking Batman to some corporate pawn. Then there are the other key characters; Batman himself, who is more conflicted than usual. His heroism still goes unappreciated by policemen and citizens, and now there are copycat Batmans who don’t quite do the vigilante thing as well as the real deal. The very city he is fighting to save wants to put him behind bars, yet he must continue to fight the mob. Indeed, his only true ally in the police force is Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman), loyal as ever. His other ally (and love interest), Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gylenhaal, thankfully replacing Katie Holmes), is now attached to the flashy new district attorney, Harvey Dent (A suave Aaron Eckhart), something Bruce pretends doesn’t bother him, although he can’t fool his faithful butler Alfred (Michael Caine). The film is willing to take its time to develop its characters before it launches into action sequences. The pacing is flawless, with the first section of the film intertwining it’s character relationships with sadistic scenes with the Joker, before the second half launches into the action. There’s a thrilling car chase, many solid fight scenes, and some high-impact explosions to satisfy the summer crowd, but on the other side of the coin is tragedy, personal despair, vengeance, and the ever so evil Joker. He seeks to force the good guys to lower their morals to solve the problems created by his elaborate schemes, and to force heroes to become villains in their own eyes. He clearly doesn’t desire money, and he has no need for personal gain of any sort; he gains plenty by the moral wounds he inflicts. And he inflicts many; Harvey Dent is contorted into a tormented creature bent on revenge thanks to the Joker, something he surely takes pride in. Again I must come back to the Joker and Heath Ledger, for this was his show. I never once saw the actor, only the character. Perhaps the obscuring makeup aided in this, but I’d prefer to think that it was due to the fact that Heath created a monumental portrait of Batman’s long-standing arch nemesis. Watch every detail of Heath’s acting, even down to the way he fires a machine gun. He is mentally and physically submerged in this character, and he is never caught acting. His performance towers above the rest of the cast, as competent as they were (Eckhart in particular turns in a wonderful performance). Undoubtedly bound for multiple posthumous awards and nominations, Heath has effectively left his mark on cinema and created an iconic performance; such a pity it came at the cost of his life. The movie had its flaws, however. I’m not sure I completely bought the outcome of an interesting boat scenario, and some of the dialogue seemed directly ripped from any number of old comic books (it wasn’t difficult to imagine the speech bubbles above the character’s heads). Perhaps this was Nolan’s intent, but I found it slightly ham-handed. One fight scene in particular was...well, almost silly. I mean, Batman versus a swat team? Couldn’t he have explained the scenario to them? Yes, but that wouldn’t have been as “cool”, I suppose. And unfortunately for the aforementioned chase scene, it was hampered slightly by unnecessary moments of comedic relief. Despite it’s detachments from the genre, it occasionally reminds that it is still a comic book movie, much to my chagrin. Regardless, the movie’s weak points were overshadowed by its incredible villain, the Joker. While earlier incarnations of the Joker went strictly for the comic, this Joker was all about the insanity and the sadism; a much better choice in my book. The overall atmosphere of the film was laden with the sadism of its villain, and the monolithic city of Gotham, and as such we have a film with an appropriately suffocating mood. It even has the balls to go out with a downbeat ending. Aren’t comic book films supposed to have catharsis in the end? Not this one, at least. (End review) And, by the way...did that final scene with Two-Face have anyone else squirming in their seats? I saw the film for the second time today, and that last scene STILL ranks among the most powerful and disturbing of any film I've ever seen. I don't know what it is...the way the music swells into dramatic climax, the menacing make-up of two-face, or the superb acting between Oldman and Eckhart, but...god damn, that part had me squirming once again.
Here we have Todd returning from yet another pleasant evening at the cinema. :D
