The Joker really does put the "dark" in The Dark Knight...
Written: Aug 16 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Edge-Of-Your-Seat Action & Suspense
Cons: Brief moments of Mild Language. Might be too intense for children.
The Bottom Line: Batman vs The Joker, Intense Action...any other reason?!?!
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| Chris_Billings's Full Review: The Dark Knight |
I finally got to see The Dark Knight early this afternoon. I’ve been fairly busy, so I my plan on seeing it opening night soon faded away. I wasn’t too thrilled when Batman Begins was announced. After all, almost every Batman film made after Tim Burton’s Batman was terrible. And for years I thought that Michael Keaton was a perfect fit to play the title character. He did a great job and how could anybody top his performance?
Christian Bale (Reign Of Fire) was announced to play Batman. I really did think he could pull of the part. I kept picturing him as the little British kid in the film, Empire Of The Sun in the 1980’s. Then I broke down and bought Batman Begins when it was released on DVD. I was pleasantly surprised with his performance of the “Dark Knight”. The film was much closer to what I had envisioned as a kid. The 1960’s TV series was a lot of fun and fit the time period it was filmed in, but I was looking for something darker. Something closer to Batman’s appearance in Detective Comics. Even close to the 1940’s film serial would have been alright. Tim Burton’s version was close, and for years toped my favorites list.
MOVIE PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD !!!
The Dark Knight starts off almost immediately where Batman Begins left us at. If you go back a couple years, you’ll remember Officer Gordon at the end of the film finding a playing card with a Joker on it after thousands of inmates escaped from the Arkham Insane Asylum. The Dark Knight’s storyline takes place within a year of those events. And since that event took place, the Joker has made a name for himself. Nobody knows who he really is though. And certainly, nobody has been able to catch him.
The film starts off with a bank heist. You immediately know who the robbers are working for, because of the clown masks over their heads. The bank robbery is pretty intense, more than I thought it would be. Even though the film just started, you can kinda’ see how conniving the Joker (Heath Ledger) really is without even seeing him yet. Five guys are sent to rob the bank. Two make their way to the roof to disable the silent alarms and auto 911 dialing system (which we learn isn‘t set up to dial 911). The other three are sent inside. The two on the roof have a discussion about the Joker. The one tells the other that he’s suppose to kill him after he’s finished his job….and then quickly does so. One by one the robbers are picked off by each other, leaving one left…The one that’s left takes off his mask and it’s we learn that it is the Joker. It’s also revealed that the bank is a “mob” bank.
Anyway, the Joker proves to be more than just another crook pulling a bank job. He uses the robbery as leverage against the mob. And he gives them a run for their “money”. Well, Batman gets interested in catching the Joker, Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman), and the District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) wants to catch them all. In fact the community has dubbed Harvey Dent “The White Knight” because of his crusade against crime.
Batman doesn’t trust the new D.A. for a number of reasons. The first reason is because the mob has planted it’s own members on the police force, judge positions, etc. And the second reason is because he’s dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who has been friends with Bruce Wayne (aka…Batman) since they were little kids as well as being in love with her. But she told Bruce that she wouldn’t marry him until the world doesn’t need Batman anymore. But Bruce learns to trust Harvey Dent, and sees him as a replacement for Batman. He calls Harvey a “real” hero, because he doesn’t need a mask to do what’s right. Bruce Wayne confides in Rachel that he no longer wants to be Batman.
The story gets complex, with Harvey Dent wanting to marry Rachel. Bruce Wayne wanting to marry Rachel. Rachel is in love with both Harvey and Bruce, but unable to commit to marriage with Bruce because he’s Batman, and at the same time in love with Harvey. And then we throw the Joker in who just wants to… “watch the world burn”.
FILM ELEMENTS…
First off the music score is wonderful, and it brings to life the dark mood of the film. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard did a great job in creating an epic sounding score. For years I have associated the soundtrack to all the Batman films with Danny Elfman, who did a wonderful job at the time. Who doesn’t love his dark film scores to movies like Darkman, Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas as well as Batman an Batman Returns. But that was a different kind of dark. There was a whimsical and quirky side to his scores. But the new score is not Dark-Fun, it’s Dark-Scary.
The special effects and action sequences were great looking. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on the edge of my seat…wondering what was going to happen next. Most action sequences are straight forward, and for the most part cliché. But the bank job at the very beginning had several twists in the plot that gave us a little bit of an inside look at how cunning the Joker really was. Also the chase scenes were fun to watch, and you really didn’t know when the action was going to end. How much better can you get…the Joker in a semi-truck….Batman in his bat mobile, a convoy of armored cars and S.W.A.T trucks, and an out of control helicopter? Batman even has “Bat Sonar” as well, and the sequences gave the film a little bit of a sci-fi feel.
The violence was intense and it pushed the limits of a PG-13 film, without going too far. The Joker was very brutal but the film’s Director (Christopher Nolan) did a good job in making it so the camera cut away quickly or having something in the way of the scene. Leaving you with the impression and shock of the scene without being subjected to extreme gore. It’s always much better (in my opinion) to leave things up to the imagination of the viewer, instead of showing you something outright. There was not a lot of blood in the film as well. You’d expect with all the shooting, stabbing, and torturing that there would be an excessive amount of blood. Even the torture videos the Joker would film and send to the public and TV studios could have been more grotesque, but they weren’t. I was at the edge of my seat watching the film.
Even though the film is PG-13 and didn’t have a lot of blood, it was pretty intense. I would probably hesitate letting a child under 16 go see the film. Out of the 20 to 30 people in the theater there was one kid under the age of 10 who seemed to handle the film just fine though. He spent most the film cracking jokes, and asking questions (which I HATE people talking during a movie) And probably 5 or 6 teenagers were there. For the most part not a lot of kids were attending the movie this afternoon.
Every scene with the Joker was intense, and I think somebody died every time he was in the vicinity. The Joker was not campy in anyway. At times he was humorous, but the humor was really dark. Like the funny look he got when he was blowing up a building, and all but one set of bombs went off. He played with the detonator a bit and finally the bomb went off, startling him. He was extremely brutal, and didn’t blink at the chance to kill someone. He also found all kinds of ways to use “safe” objects to kill. Like a pencil through the forehead…a cell phone implanted under the skin of a victim, a potato peeler, and more. Even the way he spoke was chilling and intense. He had a slight pause in between words at times. It’s kinda’ hard to explain his voice. The only thing I could say about it, is he really sounded like a psychopath. His voice alone stalked you. Then he would get really deep at times, and lash out at a victim.
His mannerisms were scary as well. His subtle twitches, constant fixing his hair, and licking his lips all added to the spookiness. His makeup was terrifying. Long, dirty green hair, white face paint, and the smeared lipstick all over his face. And the scars all over his face, including an extended smile that was created by cutting his cheeks. Which he explains to several of his victims how it happened…a different story each time.
I could see why Heath Ledger had nightmares and insomnia while filming the movie. I thought his character was closer to Cesar Romero’s incarnation, and further away from Jack Nicholson’s. It you look closely at the 1960’s Batman TV series, you can kinda’ see it. For being a campy TV series, the Joker at times was intense. Jack Nicholson made the character goofier in my opinion. There were dark moments in Tim Burton’s Batman, but it wasn’t scary. Cesar Romero was closer to a psychopath. Wild and crazy mannerisms, wide eyes, and crazy mustache.
Christian Bale did another great job in his second role as Batman. Although I think that his performance in Batman Begins was a little better. And I know that’s because the film focused on the development of his character. His “becoming” Batman, etc. So it’s not really a big deal that this one didn’t have any major developments. But you could see his struggle as Bruce Wayne trying to live two lives. One as a millionaire playboy and the second a masked vigilante. We were also introduced to his inner conflict, and his want to get out of the “game”. The woman he loves won’t marry him while he’s Batman. But she won’t let him quit because Gotham City needs him.
Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) had a line in the film that said “You either die a hero, or live long enough to become a villain” Aaron Eckhart did a good job in portraying D.A. Harvey Dent. He was named “The White Knight” in the film by the public because of his eagerness to put bad guys behind bars. He wasn’t afraid to take on the mob, and threats didn’t bother him. But his words rang true, as he became a monster after an accident. As well as the Joker pushing over the edge.
Gary Oldman did a wonderful job in his role as Lieutenant Gordon. In most of the incarnations of this character, he’s harsh and hard nosed. But in this series, he’s a little more compassionate but strong at the same time. He works with Batman in catching criminals and taking on the mob. They trust each other. In fact they are the only ones who can really trust each other (but Batman doesn’t reveal his identity to him)
Michael Caine returns as Bruce Wayne’s butler and confidant, Alfred. I liked his character better in the first film. His character was more of a father figure after Bruce’s parents death. But in this film he only provided a small amount of support. Morgan Freeman is also back playing Lucius Fox, Bruce Wayne/Batman’s inventor and acting chairman of Wayne Enterprises. His role is expanded in this film.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall I liked the film, and I can’t wait to see it again when it’s released on DVD. I debated on whether or not I was going to see this film or go see Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I was not disappointed with my decision to see this (although next week I am going to see The Clone Wars).
Like I said before, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen a film that has made me clinch my teeth, hold my breath, and squeeze the arm rest of the chair I was sitting in. The Dark Knight could be the picture of the year, and with record breaking ticket sales…it might just be Best Film of 2008. Do I think that Heath Ledger deserves Best Supporting Actor? That’s hard to say. He did a great job in bringing to life the Joker, but I am not sure if he deserves it. There is quite a bit a hype around him getting the nomination and possibly winning. But I think some of it is fuel by the fact that he died during the production, and his death is pretty high profile right now. We will have to see later on when some of this hype looses a little more steam. I do have to say though, that he is the best homicidal maniac I have seen in a film for a long time. And it was done without adding a bunch of gore. To me gore takes away from the suspense of a film. If you can shock and audience with out throwing a bunch of gross stuff in; then you have done a better job at those who use gore, sex and nudity to persuade the audience. That’s what acting is…
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[FILM]
The Dark Knight
[GENRE]
Action/Thriller
[YEAR OF RELEASE]
18, July 2008
(Theatrical Release)
[MPAA RATING]
PG-13
[ASPECT RATIO]
Widescreen
2.35:1
Color
[STUDIO]
Warner Bros.
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© Copyright 2008 Chris_Billings
I saw this movie at Regal Cinemas - Spokane Valley 12 @ Spokane Valley Mall - Screen 3 - 12:30pm
Trailers/Teasers shown with The Dark Knight today…
Disney’s Bolt, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Watchmen, 007: Quantum Of Solace, Body Of Lies, Terminator Salvation
I also paid only .50 for the movie too. I won “Movie Cash” at work worth $7.00, and the Matinee price of the film was $7.50 (I should of used my College Student discount too…shoot! Didn’t think about that until now!)
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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Chris_Billings
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Member: Chris Billings
Location: Spokane Valley, Washington, USA
Reviews written: 188
Trusted by: 272 members
About Me:
"You know what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like this?"
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