| The Dark Knight We Deserve A Better Class Of Super Hero Flicks. Chris Nolan’s Gonna Give It To Us. July 18, 2008 – I was terrified of watching this movie. Not because I was actually afraid of the film. Not at all, though parts of this film will keep me up at night staring into the darkness. Rather, I was afraid for the film. I’ve been following the hype machine following this movie for quite a long time now, longer than most movies I follow, and I couldn’t believe any film could live up to it. How could it? As interesting as the trailers were, they didn’t speak to me. I was interested, certainly. I was even hooked. But I was never reeled in. I knew that everybody was raving over the late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. I knew that the stunts, effects and camerawork were said to be spectacular. How could anything live up to it all? A sequel at that. Granted, a sequel to one of the most acclaimed Super Hero films ever, but still a sequel. What can I say that hasn’t been said? Probably nothing, however, let me make this clear: This film is a masterpiece. Before I go any further, there is something I feel has to be made clear. I’ve read many reviews, from people lucky enough to see it ahead of time, that call it a masterpiece, yes, but because to them it’s a crime-drama masterpiece. Yes, the crime drama aspects are important, and excellent. Vital too. But this movie is not a crime drama. It is a super hero film. When someone watches this film, and recognize its greatness, why do they feel that they have to classify it as a more critically dignified genre? Can it only be taken serious if it is a crime-drama? Is there something wrong with admitting it to be a super hero film? Does that somehow take away from its mastery of the cinematic art? I say it is a superhero film. And it is a masterpiece. It doesn’t need to be something else to be what it is. I’ve long known that serious story telling could come from comic books. Stories that could achieve incredible heights in whatever medium they were put in. Stand up and take notice that Super Heroes and Comic Books can be for adults too. But the nature of Superheroes is a subject for a future rant. Or dissertation. Or whatever. (We now return you to your regularly scheduled review) The plot starts out simple. Batman’s presence in Gotham has brought out the best and the worst. The best takes the form of the new district attorney, Harvey Dent. Dent is the face of fearless, public justice. He’s a truly inspiring and capable arm of the law. He takes Batman as inspiration to stand up and fight evil fearlessly, but does it where he can do the most good: The Courtroom. The worst takes the form of the menacing, creepy, sinister, sadistic, [insert several more appropriate descriptive words here] Joker. The Joker’s motives start out seemingly normal. He appears to be out for money. This, however, is far from the Joker’s true motivation, which is far more dangerous. In the struggle between the forces of good, like Batman, Lieutenant Gordon, and Harvey Dent, and the forces of evil, the Joker and a friend gone bad, Gotham turns into a war zone, fighting for the soul of the city. The plot coherently follows winding twists and turns that always surprise, always deliver, and yet never leaves you lost if your paying attention. Much ado has been made about Heath Ledger’s Joker. There has even been rumored Oscar talk. After seeing the film, I’m positive that if Ledger doesn’t get a nomination, he will have been robbed, and if it were up to me, there’d be no question, he’d get the little golden man now, and receive the send-off that his burgeoning talent deserved before the world lost him prematurely. His masterwork in this film only amplifies how much of a tragedy it really is. I could go on from here to talk about the intricacies of psychosis, disappearing pencils, maniacal laughs, phone calls, bombs and body counts. I could talk about how you can’t keep your eyes off of him. I could talk about how the makeup that seems to be rotting off of his face will haunt your dreams. But nothing I say will convey the lasting impression Ledger’s Joker leaves. I was worried from the reviews that Ledger might have overplayed it. I was worried from the trailers that he might have under-played it. And for the first few times I saw the Joker on screen I worried he under-played it. But as I watched, layers were peeled away, and more layers kept coming, and what starts as a very good villain at the beginning turns into the greatest screen villain ever by the end. If you need one reason to watch this movie, watch it for the Joker. If you can peel your eyes off of Ledger for any length of time you’ll find excellent acting in pretty much every scene of this movie from the entire supporting cast. Christian Bale is the perfect Batman as always, with the right mix of billionaire playboy during the day and agent of justice at night. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are perfect as Luscious Fox and the butler Alfred respectively, each with important, character defining choices to make with moral weight. Aaron Eckhart does a terrific job with DA Harvey Dent, Gotham’s White Knight, not to mention the tragic turn the character takes two thirds of the way through. To save from spoiling too much, I’ll just say that Eckhart played both sides of the coin that is Dent’s character perfectly. Gary Oldman does a brilliant job giving a sense of reality and wholesomeness to Lieutenant Gordon, and Maggie Gyllenhaal plays an improved Rachel Dawes. The cinematography was spectacular. It made unprecedented, and glorious, use of the Imax Camera. Now, what I wouldn’t have given to see it on an IMAX screen …. Most every angle was great and added to the emotion of the film, though there was an occasional moment when the camera gave just a bit to much room for Batman’s pointy ears in close ups that ultimately make it seem that Batman is sliding down out of the screen. It only happened once or twice, and it was generally a small difference anyhow. As for the look, Gotham never looked so true to life. Of coursed it helps when Chicago is willing to become the playground for the film. I’ll always be a fan of the overly gothic architecture of the Tim Burton films, but the realistic city lends weight and reality to the proceedings. The special effects and CGI, which you almost never notice with one exception, are all pretty excellent as well. ****Spoiler Alert**** My only gripe is with Two-Face’s face. Now I’m not saying the whole thing was bad, but I kinda wish the popped eye looked a bit more real. It might have helped if it looked as scarred as the rest of the face, but in such a way that you know it’s an eye. You know, whiten the pupil a bit, maybe make the orb itself less glaringly white. Even still, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Two-Face’s scarred visage when he was on-screen. ****Spoiler Alert**** The Audio was also exceptionally brilliant, with a truly disturbing theme for the Joker that ratchets up the tension perfectly, as well as the subtly swelling trumpets and horns recognizable from the trailers. All of the sound effects were right on target too. The Film editing was brilliant, and the ease with witch it made keeping tabs on all of the action and plot-lines at once was superb. His film also deserves an award for its editing, easily. Most of the complaints I’ve seen of this film, which are admittedly few and far between, rest on a couple of things: 1.) It’s too dark and sadistic 2.) The length, and at two and a half hours, it is a longer movie than most. 3.) The twisting plot. The last two complaints are often bedfellows, as several critics argue that as much as 30 minutes of the film could be shaved off. This may simply be a matter of taste, but the plot was so intriguing, that those 2 ½ hours were some of the fastest of my life. There was never a moment I was looking at my watch going, “Man, couldn’t we hurry this along a little?” And as for the plot twists and turns, they were many and often, but never too confusing for me. Once again this is simply taste as some people like more straightforward stories. I like mine nice and complicated. But the first on is what gets me a little riled up. True, this picture is gruesome, especially for a PG-13 movie (*Hint* Don’t bring the little kids to this one) but its not meant for kids. Almost every time I saw this complaint it was coupled with the idea that as a super hero movie, it was too dark. They’re fine with the Godfather, or a good number of action flicks out there, but when a superhero picture gets serious: “Oh no! Foul!” That isn’t a serious complaint, that’s a stereotype. That’s putting something in a box. And for those who cry foul for that reason I call foul right back. Yes we need kid-friendly super hero films. That’s what we have Spider-Man and the Fantastic 4 for. But I have every right to my adult super hero goodness. Closing Comments: While Iron Man may be the most well rounded Superhero film for audiences of all ages, The Dark Knight is a masterpiece that far surpasses it, and every other contender for the title there is. It can proudly stand next to the greatest films of all time, not because it’s a crime drama, or some other genre, but because it reaches the heights of mastery, period. It is a superhero movie, and still the best movie this year, and one of the best movies of this decade. Go see it. Thank me later. And did I mention that Heath Ledger does a magnificent job as the Joker?
Rating out of 10 Description 9.5/10 Story: The same excellent use of twisting, surprising plot, that is found in other works by Christopher Nolan, such as “Memento” and “The Prestige”. 10/10 Character: Heath Ledger is the Joker. How many times do I have to push his awesome scariness before you go see this film? 9/10 Look: Excellent, real, not as dark as last time and brilliantly executed special effects. 9.5/10 Cinematography: IMAX. Seriously, have you ever experienced the glory? 9/10 Audio: Disturbing and right on. 10/10 The Spark: The movie made so many promises, and it filled each and every one of them and cashed a few extra just for the heck of it. Once again I find myself coming back to the Joker. Even if the Joker had been a little less good, it would still be an excellent movie, but Heath Ledger’s performance brings it up those couple extra notches it takes to hit masterful territory. OVERALL: 10/10 (Not an Average) |
