The Dark Knight was a very hyped movie, however, it deserved all the hype it got. Every part of it was wonderfully executed, especially the "Flora-shat-her-pants" part near the beginning where a fake Batman is smashed through a window. That absolutely scared the living shit out of me, and not because of my high level of lactose intolerance and usual gassiness.
However, let's get to the stars of the night: Christian Bale and Heath Ledger (RIP).
Christian Bale did an absolutely wonderful job, even though I felt he could've done a bit better. His new struggle in this movie was finding out where he was in justice. He asks himself, is he a hero, or, is he more than just a hero. This is the ongoing theme in the movie, and at the end, when the commissioner is narrating, you see that it ties in with the title quite nicely. He finds that his place is that of a silent protector... that, no matter what happens to anybody, he must remain hidden in the dark, for the sake of Gotham.
However, let's move on to my actual favourite character of the movie, Heath Ledger as the Joker. He wasn't dancing to a Prince album, this time at least (see: Jack Nicholson as the Joker). He was sinister, caniving, evil, fucked up yet at times, humorous in a dark way. He was so scary, that a kid in the theater started crying and had to leave. The story of his mother being beat down by his father all the while his father telling him to take it as a joke was sad, as well as when the joker's wife left him because he cut his face with razorblades to make it look as if she was smiling, since she'd always tell him how he never smiled. He's not just some crazy criminal in this movie; he's a crazy criminal because of his terrible past.
All in all, I enjoyed this movie very much. I can understand why some people are going to the theaters to see it for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th times. And now, a little inside scoop from superherohype.com:
I spotted a reference to a "Cat" in the movie when Lucious Fox provided Bruce with the new suit. Bruce specifically asked about whether or not it could withstand a dog bite and is told it could take a Cat. So with Rachel Dawes, his only love interest, out of the picture, I think it's a perfect set up for Cat Woman. Just a hunch though.
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4 comments:
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
I just cannot believe it. It was such a great movie. I loved the message behind he movie that centered around the mantra "you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain" (or something to that effect). It just shows how human Batman is and how uncodified heros have become in the city of Gotham. I mean, the "real" hero in the movie was Harvey. Batman was looking to him to pick up where he felt he himself failed because I think Batman is looking to the future of Gotham and accepting that he needs to step down at some point (as said by Bale in his Dark Knight interview) and, like you said, understanding that he has to stay in the shadows for the sake of Gotham. He was the "white knight", but he ended up succumbing or falling into the corruption and the vice and ultimately transformed into Two Face, full of a sense of both "fairness" and revenge. When I saw the gauze over his face and him looking at the coin, I was like "Oh my gosh, he is going to become Two Face"; a mark of both good and evil, which is a manifestation of the good and evil within the city. I love how the movie incorporated fate and chance, along with the whole unending bit about good and evil because this movie was more than that. And all those scenes with the Joker. Heath really deserves an Oscar nod for that performance. He was completely transformed. Here was a guy with good looks, beautiful blonde hair, and an Australian accent, and I saw not even traces of that in his character. And I knew also what was going to happen in that Gordon scene, the funeral for the commissioner. I knew the cops were the "bad guys". I just knew it. I was sitting in the theatre with my friends and we all just knew it. And the fact that Batman was more a villain himself than a hero, and I just love how again the superhero is the outcast, where all these other superhero films that have come out just demote their superhero into some sort of popstar; Batman, like Harvey, was already corrupted by Gotham.
And that scene where the lights come on and Batman comes around the darkness and starts beating up on the Joker. Classic. And when the Joker smashes that guy's head into the pencil on the desk! Oh my gosh. And when Batman decides not to kill the Joker out of his innate sense of goodness, and he is turned upside down, so that a frown is on his face, instead of his usual grimace. Heath needs an Oscar nod for that performance. In a strange way, I was constantly feeling sympathetic towards the Joker. My heart would skip a beat every time he came on screen.
haha Yeah, nice to see you are alive and back to your blog. =)
There really is nothing else to say about the movie, is there? As I've always said... Christian Bale and bad roles, together, do not exist. He is just unfailable! I've already said what I could about the Joker, though. It'll be hard for them to make a more sinister creature than what Heath was in the movie.
Yes. As you know, I have changed my mind about Bale and you did try and convince me way back when that he was the best man yet to play the vigilante. He still wasn't my main focus, I have to admit.
I just can't understand how Christian Bale wouldn't be perfect for the role of Batman. He's done plenty of good roles that seem to have the same essence of darkness of the Batman character, and he's got the aesthetic look of what you'd expect Batman to be: dark but innocent.
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