The Dark Knight
I did something I haven't done for a long time: go to the midnight permier of a summer blockbuster. My good friend, Mashard, asked me if I wanted to go see the new Batman movie on opening night at one of the most popular movie theatres in Dallas.
Before the show, I was reminded of why I don't go to midnight showings anymore. I had to take a coupla hours of vacation in the morning because I thought I would only get three hours of sleep if I came to work at normal time (in reality, I would have only got two hours of sleep). There were at least ten previews before the movie (Sister of the Traveling Pants 2 got my patented, "That's gonna suck" callout), so much so that I eventually yelled out, "Can we start the fucking movie already?" And I could write an entire blog about how dumb, rude, and sluttily dressed all of the high school/college kids are.
That being said, going to see the premier was one of the best things I've done this year, and something I owe Mashard thanks for. The movie was that good.
This is without question the greatest comic movie ever made. Better than the first two Superman movies. Better than any X-Men movie. Better than Blade. Better than Iron Man. Certainly better than the previous Batman franchises. Better than its predecessor. This movie ranks up with Empire Strikes Back in terms of comic/SciFi/fantasy genres.
In other words, this is one of the best movies of all time.
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman once again turn in outstanding performances. I felt that Gary Oldman in particular outdoes himself. I can't stand Maggie Gyllenhall (no, I'm not looking up how to spell her name), but she doesn't do a terrible job (but she joins the long list of women who played Lois Lane in the, "Couldn't you find someone attractive to play this role? Do you really think a billionaire would fall for her?"). Aaron Eckhart is his usual outstanding self; that guy just always does a really good job.
However, the performance that pushes the movie from "great flick" to "one of the best of all time"--of course, in the very definition of bittersweetness--is Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker.
I think we'll all agree that Jack Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker--one of the greatest characters in all of comic book history--was outstanding. It was without a doubt one of the highlight's of Jack's illustrious career.
Heath Ledger makes him seem like a no-talent hack, stumbling through the role.
To me, the beauty of The Joker's character isn't that he's evil. There are plenty of unbelievably evil characters who are exceptional in the DC universe alone: Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Parlax; but these villians are all motivated by the more traditional desires of evil: power, money, domination. The Joker is simply insane--in the most evil way possible. I've always found his character facinating, in that he is so effective when stacked against his much more "powerful" evil counterparts, but so radically different from them in turns of both motivation and execution. The writer (who I cannot say enough about what a fantastic job he did capturing each character's essence) nailed this brand of evil perfectly when he had Alfred say in the movie, "Some men just want to watch the world burn." That sums up The Joker perfectly, and Heath Ledger executes this exceptionally.
What adds to the sadness of this movie--and make no mistake, this is a dark movie--is the fact that we won't get a chance to see this again. I don't see how they can use The Joker again, period. Heath Ledger has now retired the character. Leaving the movie, this was all I could think about: "Oh my God...that was about as good as it gets, and we'll never get a chance to see that again." Sadly, this loss that you can't help of thinking as you leave the film only enhances the movie, as I found myself both appreciating the movie more as a film, but also identifying with the characters in the movie themselves: you feel their pain and frustration, as well. Even in his death, Heath Ledger accentuated the film he was born to play.
If Heath Ledger doesn't win an Oscar for this performance, then the Oscars should be disbanned. As odd as this sounds, with this performance, he stands toe to toe with any legendary actor you feel like naming.
What else can I say? Go see this movie.
Before the show, I was reminded of why I don't go to midnight showings anymore. I had to take a coupla hours of vacation in the morning because I thought I would only get three hours of sleep if I came to work at normal time (in reality, I would have only got two hours of sleep). There were at least ten previews before the movie (Sister of the Traveling Pants 2 got my patented, "That's gonna suck" callout), so much so that I eventually yelled out, "Can we start the fucking movie already?" And I could write an entire blog about how dumb, rude, and sluttily dressed all of the high school/college kids are.
That being said, going to see the premier was one of the best things I've done this year, and something I owe Mashard thanks for. The movie was that good.
This is without question the greatest comic movie ever made. Better than the first two Superman movies. Better than any X-Men movie. Better than Blade. Better than Iron Man. Certainly better than the previous Batman franchises. Better than its predecessor. This movie ranks up with Empire Strikes Back in terms of comic/SciFi/fantasy genres.
In other words, this is one of the best movies of all time.
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman once again turn in outstanding performances. I felt that Gary Oldman in particular outdoes himself. I can't stand Maggie Gyllenhall (no, I'm not looking up how to spell her name), but she doesn't do a terrible job (but she joins the long list of women who played Lois Lane in the, "Couldn't you find someone attractive to play this role? Do you really think a billionaire would fall for her?"). Aaron Eckhart is his usual outstanding self; that guy just always does a really good job.
However, the performance that pushes the movie from "great flick" to "one of the best of all time"--of course, in the very definition of bittersweetness--is Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker.
I think we'll all agree that Jack Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker--one of the greatest characters in all of comic book history--was outstanding. It was without a doubt one of the highlight's of Jack's illustrious career.
Heath Ledger makes him seem like a no-talent hack, stumbling through the role.
To me, the beauty of The Joker's character isn't that he's evil. There are plenty of unbelievably evil characters who are exceptional in the DC universe alone: Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Parlax; but these villians are all motivated by the more traditional desires of evil: power, money, domination. The Joker is simply insane--in the most evil way possible. I've always found his character facinating, in that he is so effective when stacked against his much more "powerful" evil counterparts, but so radically different from them in turns of both motivation and execution. The writer (who I cannot say enough about what a fantastic job he did capturing each character's essence) nailed this brand of evil perfectly when he had Alfred say in the movie, "Some men just want to watch the world burn." That sums up The Joker perfectly, and Heath Ledger executes this exceptionally.
What adds to the sadness of this movie--and make no mistake, this is a dark movie--is the fact that we won't get a chance to see this again. I don't see how they can use The Joker again, period. Heath Ledger has now retired the character. Leaving the movie, this was all I could think about: "Oh my God...that was about as good as it gets, and we'll never get a chance to see that again." Sadly, this loss that you can't help of thinking as you leave the film only enhances the movie, as I found myself both appreciating the movie more as a film, but also identifying with the characters in the movie themselves: you feel their pain and frustration, as well. Even in his death, Heath Ledger accentuated the film he was born to play.
If Heath Ledger doesn't win an Oscar for this performance, then the Oscars should be disbanned. As odd as this sounds, with this performance, he stands toe to toe with any legendary actor you feel like naming.
What else can I say? Go see this movie.
Labels: Batman, The Dark Knight
posted by Michael Pondrom at 4:26 AM
1 Comments:
totally agreed Mike. I went to a midnight showing for the first time since Star Wars Episode I. Thankfully this one turned out better. It was a masterpiece from start to finish. It was one of the few times in my life that someone did such an amazing acting job that after every scene he was in I just thought to myself "Goddamn that was amazing." The movie was such a great depiction of evil in it's purest form and how good will never be able to overcome evil as long as it plays by the "rules." It said a lot about humanity and the choices we all have to make for ourselves and the price of morality. I can't say enough about Christopher Nolan taking over this franchise. It's gotta be a bigger comeback than John Travolta. He resurrected his career, but this resurrected a Legend. Batman is better than ever and I can't wait to go see this movie again and REALLY can't wait for the next one. It's a tragedy that we'll no longer have Heath Ledger as the greatest movie villain ever played
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