The Dark Knight

[Rhett N. Cochran]

It's an unwritten rule. The most hyped and most commercialized movie of the year is bound to fail to meet expectations. We saw it with Spider Man III - lots of criticism for the Emo Spider Man. To some extent, we saw it with Superman Returns, which I actually really liked. But for some, it was just another case of Lex Luthor trying to get rich with land (wasn't that what the first Superman movie was all about?). Even the vaunted Star Wars movies took their blows, most notably The Phantom Menace.

But this summer, we've had not one but two superhero movies with BIG TIME hype and fan boys everywhere just chomping at the bit for the latest grainy photos of the production in Iron Man and The Dark Knight.

Iron Man was immediately hailed by fans and critics alike for setting a new bar for superhero/comic book movies. Robert Downey, Jr., perhaps the most unlikely of heroes was terrific and John Favreau's take was dead on. Marvel 1, DC 0.

Not so fast. If you haven't seen The Dark Knight, what's keeping you. This is, hands down, the best so-called comic book movie ever made. Partially because it's the one comic book movie which transcends its comic book roots. Christopher Nolan has reinvented the genre by using as little CGI as possible and basing as much of the story and production in reality as one can with such characters.

This is a cast crowded with A-List stars. Christian Bale reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne joined once again by Michael Caine (never not good), Morgan Freeman (not narrating, surprisingly), and Gary Oldman (playing a straight forward good guy - who knew?) and for the first time by Maggie Gyllenhall (big upgrade over Katie Holmes from the first movie) and Aaron Eckhart (always good as the everyman but with an interesting twist that I won't give away). But the tour de force performance by Heath Ledger as The Joker is what everyone is talking about and rightly so. Sure, The Joker's been done before and done well. Cesar Romero in the TV series (and 1966 movie) was actually pretty good. Jack Nicholson was demented and calculating in the 1989 Tim Burton pic. But Ledger redefines evil. His take on The Joker is one who is evil because he believes that at our core, we're all evil and that's what makes Batman's quest such a joke.

He is downright scary from his smudged makeup to the cackle to his unpredictability. This is NOT a kid's movie. If your 10-year old doesn't already have a thing about clowns, he will after he sees this. 11-12 is definitely the cutoff.

Shot almost entirely on location in with Chicago stepping in as Gotham City, the city even becomes somewhat a character in this picture. By the way, a couple of things to note that I thought were kind of fun and these are minor spoilers so be warned. The first: there's a scene set in the Pacific on a boat. That's Lake Michigan with the beach and palm trees done by CGI. Second: in a scene where Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox is having a meeting with a business man in "Hong Kong" you can pretty clearly see Chicago's McCormick Place in the background.

The Dark Knight works because of a lot of elements, not the least of which being that Batman is perhaps the most intriguing of all superheroes because there's nothing technically super about him. He's a man. Ultra rich, yes. Disciplined beyond belief? Yes. At the height of human physical training? Absolutely, but a man nonetheless. No mutation, radiation, or alien origin. That allows all of us to see a little of ourselves (or how we would like to be) in him.

I've seen it once. I plan on seeing it again and again and then buying the DVD.

[Bob Sullivan]

Thanks for waking up the forum. :)

Unfortunately, a foot injury has sidelined my movie viewing for much of the summer, but I am finally healed enough I should be able to catch up a bit, and definitely have Dark Knight at the top of my list.

Bob

[Ross Burdge]

I will have to throw myself in as the opposing voice.

I went to see The Dark Knight over the weekend and walked out of the theatre with mixed feelings. To start, I never found myself waiting for Batman to enter the scenes… it is supposed to be a Batman movie right? And although Gyllenhal’s acting is top notch, she didn’t seem like she fit the role, though Eckhart was great in his “everyman” role, I thought his additional “part” was poor as well.

On a positive note, Ledger was outstanding. Prior to this film I could not recall a role he had that grabbed my attention, this role however, I was waiting for his lines in every scene. Never once did I see Heath Ledger, he was so into character the whole time. And to agree with the before mentioned, he, along with Bale and not so much Eckhart, nailed their roles as a mortal men.

If this film was titled and focused more towards the Joker, it would have both my thumbs pointing up!

[Rhett N. Cochran]

Ummmm, I've seen this movie 3 times now. Is that wrong? Have I crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed?

[Sharolyn Waters]

I've seen the movie twice and my son has seen it 5 times. I love the entertainment aspect of the movie. I am not a big comic buff so I can not comment on the story line, but I love to be entertained. I must say I was. If I were to have anything negative to say it would be that I get a little annoyed by the "Batman" voice that Bale uses....really can't stand it. And the 1st time my husband and I saw the movie, during the charity event when Bruce was outside with his childhood love Rachelle (Maggie Gyllenhall), my husband turned to me and said "Well that's not believable at all." which is exactly what I was thinking. Then when Batman jumped out the window to save her, he said, "They should have found someone more believable for her part. Here he is the richest man in the city and a super hero, surely they could have found someone that did not look like his tired Aunt." All in all it was a good movie , everyone in the film did a great job, special effects were good and not over used, story line moved well and was fun to follow, editing was good. I would see the film again, however you did not walk out with a triumphant feeling, it was a bit dark. Dark Knight :)

[Rhett N. Cochran]

Sharolyn,
Annoyed by Bale's Batman voice? I have NO ideal what you're talking about. Take, for example, this scene:

[Bob Sullivan]

Having finally seen this last November, I'm surprised no one commented on the car chase sequence. I put it up there with some of the very best put on film. Who's ever seen a semi-truck do a complete flipover in mid-air? Very impressive. The sequence overall was extremely well-filmed and exciting--it really elevated the entire film for me.