"Why so serious?": The Joker's wild
Friday, July 18, 2008 at 03:21AM I am one of the few lucky ducks that got to catch an early screening of The Dark Knight this evening, and the verdict is in: It was dynamic.
Sure, we've all read the reviews and have heard of the late Heath Ledger's stunning performance. As an avid DC comics fan, I can say that he is as frightening as portrayed in the comic book. Full of wit, comedic timing, and realistic sociopath behavior, Ledger speaks as if his words are measured. He spellbinds each character he comes in contact with and in turn, the audience as well. The kudos are shared; the entire ensemble cast had dynamic on screen chemistry and the interplay was notable. In prior Batman films, I feel that there has always been an unbalanced focus on the villain. Here, the time is well alloted between antagonist and protagonists.
After almost a decade of CGI effects, a la George Lucas and the Star Wars prequels, seeing good old fashioned stunts was a breath of fresh air. From turned over vehicles to colorful explosions, director Christopher Nolan knows how to approach an action sequence. Batman is known for his high tech gadgets, and The Dark Knight keeps with this by showcasing a number of his new toys. Batman also shows off his detective skills which is a nice nod to their namesake, Detective Comics.
For the first time, I feel like I know what life realistically would be if there were a caped crusader. The way the film is executed has a feeling of realism to it. The Dark Knight contained succinct dialog and it seemed as if there were no unnecessary conversations. Everything was well thought out and tied into another element. This was complimented by the tight editing which grips the viewer from one frame to the next. If you have read Batman comics, you know that Gotham is practically a character within herself; the Chicago-Gotham location captured the trademark dinginess of the DC universe excellently.
One issue that I had with Batman Begins was Christian Bale's "bat-voice." First off, I never understood why he needed to change his voice to a weird raspy tone when he was the Batman. Then, I read that it was so Bruce Wayne would not be discovered to be Batman, which made sense. This voice still makes me cringe in Begins, but it vastly improves in Knight. This could go along with the fact that TDK's Batman is more confident and self evident than the fist Batman. It's hard to remember, after all, Bruce Wayne is at the beginning of his hero lifestyle.
The bottom line is that it's interesting to see how each character develops in the sequel. I dare say The Dark Knight is the Godfather II of comic book films, but I do need to re-watch it to solidify all my convictions. Go see it, and tell me what you think!
Reader Comments (7)
Thanks for the thoughtful and spoiler-free review! Can't wait to see it tonight.
The movies was the shit....Ledgers performance is outstanding...Total Frank miller Joker with a twizt of the long Halloween. Two-face to me stole the show. Ekart is The man, I hope they continue with Two-Face As the main villian in Part 3. THis is the empire strikes Back of Comic movies, Ends on such a downer.
I've seen it in imax last thursday and it was a blast! from the beginning 'til end. I've just heard your AfterDark in /film and it was interesting. About the voice in BB, well, i don't know if it's their intention to make it like that 'makes you cringe' but i think it was perfect because it was Batman "Begins", everything is new to him. Anyway, you did a good review and to me it was "a perfect masterpiece". (SPOILER) Its been 2 days and i'm still hunted by the fact that "Who will replace Heath Ledger's amazing performance now that we know his character still lives?". will it be Johnny Depp? i hope not. Hugo Weaving is very old. Who else? Shia LaBeouf? LOL! Jake Gyllenhaal? Just kiddin'! BTW Maggie deserved that role, gives much more life in the importance of the character. Another thing, just like you i thought all batman was good that is because i was a kid then especially "Batman and Robin" but now i realized that I only like "Batman Returns" of all the 4 batman films in the past, the others sucks big time. Again Dark Knight rules!
I kind of don't want them to make another Batman movie with the Joker. Nothing could be better than this, but a friend and I had a hard time coming up with other A-String batman villains that could exist within Nolan's Batman world.
The bat-voice thing kind of annoyed me too, but it makes sense. It's probably likely that Wayne has some voice-altering hardware built into the suit. Not just to protect his identity, but also for intimidation purposes. I would like to have a sweet "DON'T MESS WITH ME I AM THE NIGHT" voice for clutch situations.
Hi Neha,
I heard you on the Slash Filmcast After Dark episode so I dropped by your website. Saw the movie Friday night. Good review. But I do think Bale's Batman voice is still cringe-worthy. The best part was how disturbing this movie was... in a good way. My friends and I were talking about it for hours afterward (and they're not even Batman fans).
-Rohit Iyer
Ahmedabad
Although the movie was great, I don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread, like some people do. If it wasn't for Heath Ledger as The Joker, this movie would've been "OK" at best. The movie should have been called The Joker, cause this was more his movie then anyone else. Then, it was to long. They could have cut 30 minutes off by removing the Two-Face parts and saving him for the next movie. Instead, they just squeeze him in there and end up wasting him by killing him off. I would have cut out everything with him after the hospital blows up. Then as the movie ends, just have him in the shadows flipping a coin. But that's just me.
I loved this movie. I think Heath was the best part, but I loved everyone else. I also think Gyllenhaal was an improvement from Katie Holmes. She was more convincing, and played the character better.
Also, Tony, you had to have Two Face doing that. It was what the Joker was trying to do during the whole second half of the film. He wanted to corrupt the "White Knight" and have Gotham lose faith once more. It was allowing him to have a closer world that he wants: a world without rules. It was a great dramatic ending, and showed that Gotham needed Batman more than ever.