The Dark Knight
The sequel to the Christopher Nolan film, Batman Begins. (spoilers ahead)
The Dark Knight follows up the storyline of Batman that was successfully relaunched after the 90′s took its toll on the franchise.
Bastardization after bastardization, the plot and look of the films went from graphic to comic. Now Christopher Nolan is thankfully wising up and bringing the dark back to the bat.
I’d heard a lot of hype about the Dark Knight. When I first heard that Heath Ledger was playing the Joker, I thought it was a cruel joke. I love Jack Nicholson as the first Joker and couldn’t see Ledger doing anything with the part. Then, as I started seeing trailers for the film, I knew that he was going to do something unbelievable.
The Dark Knight opened on a Thursday night at midnight and made something like $18 million, a record for any movie to date. I didn’t go until the following Saturday, so I had plenty of time to hear people tell me that it was one of the best films ever made. Could it live up to my expectations?
After being pissed that they didn’t run the Watchmen trailer before the film, I settled in for a 2 hour 40 minute Batman extravaganza and I got what I paid for.
Christian Bale, amazing.
Heath Ledger, amazing.
Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, amazing.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, not bad on the eyes and did something that Katie Holmes couldn’t, was good.
Back on the Heath Ledger note, that is one of the best performances by any actor ever. At no point in time did I look at him and see Ledger playing the Joker, I simply saw the Joker. Nicholson played the Joker as humorous and almost likable. Ledger is so dark, twisted and sick, he frightens you. He is the Joker.
I really like the look and feel of these new Batman films. They are dark and gritty, but more importantly, they feel real. Sure, fantastical stuff happens, but nothing to the extent that it took me out of the movie and felt like I was watching a cartoon.
Another great point to this film, is that they easily could’ve taken the Harvey Dent / Two Face storyline and continued it completely into a new film. Instead, they made the correct move and pushed it into this story line and completed it. It’s the first time in a long time that I felt Hollywood gave me what I wanted and didn’t try to stretch something out to make another buck. The CG on Two Face was mind-blowing. The eye tracking and lighting were photo realistic and done perfickly.
I could probably write about this film for days, but I will leave you with this. If you have not seen this film, go see it now. See it in theatres and do not wait for the DVD release.
The Dark Knight is epic.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:49 am
I told you so
July 21st, 2008 at 11:11 am
you were correct, sir.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:28 am
Ledger is so dark, twisted and sick, he frightens you. He is the Joker.
The thing that was most telling about his portrayal of the Joker was when he was getting his ass kicked in the interrogation room. He wouldn’t listen to Batman. All he did was take a severe beating and get back up and keep his monologue going about how everyone else was just as crazy as he was.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:27 am
there are times where maggie gyllenhall has a frumpy grandma face.