DIR. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
TALENT: Christian Bale (Newsies), Aaron Eckhart (The Core), Heath Ledger (10 Things I Hate About You), Gary Oldman (True Romance)
Before this movie had made an ungodly amount of money at the box office it was already being hailed as a "masterpiece," "The Godfather of comic book movies," and the words "Posthumous oscar" were being thrown about. One rather famous critic specifically gets worked up into a lather over Ledger's turn as the Joker, I won't name names but his last name rhymes with GROPER.
Is it all of these things? Is it truly the greatest comic book film ever made?
Well, you could argue that. It doesn't make it true, it just means you could argue that it is the best film adapted from a comic book source material. Christopher Nolan's direction here is incredible, his ability to transform Chicago into Gotham is fantastic. Gotham has always been shot on soundstages or in New York but I think the grand scope of the city of Chicago lends itself nicely to a city as large as Gotham is supposed to be. Plus I'm glad Michael Mann let his helicopter pilot out of his cage long enough to film some of the shots that Nolan used.
This movie deals with the same questions that Hellboy deals with. What makes a man? What makes a hero? What is the difference between the two and can they live together in the same person? Sure TDK may not answer those questions, but the ride to the non-answers you get is so much more eloquent.
Performances.
Bale. Bale. Bale. Why, oh why use the 'bat-voice'? In BB the 'bat-voice' is barely noticeable because Batman doesn't have large amounts of dialogue, he says a few lines and then vanishes. In TDK Batman makes some pretty long speeches and the 'bat-voice' is a little more grating, he should have taken a page out of Ledger's book for this and developed some inflections, some up and down. Not every line needs to be delivered like Nathan Explosion.
Eckhart and Oldman. I believe in Harvey Dent, I just don't believe in TwoFace. I like the look of TwoFace but don't really think his arch should have been so short, give me some development of a psyche that is obviously broken. I wish that the rumored 'shoot each scene two ways and have it appear as if Harvey/TwoFace is arguing with himself ala Smeagol/Gollum' would have happened, at least then I would have bought it a little more.
It's been a long time since I was really impressed by Gary Oldman. That being said he owns this film.
Truly though the movie belongs to Ledger. His turn as the Joker is so frightening, so engrossing, and so absolutely riveting that he is impossible to not watch. His quieter moments are by far the ones that will become classic, but his bombast as the Joker is a sight to behold.
Nothing can prepare you for how good he really is in this movie, if you haven't seen it. Does he deserve a nomination, yes. Will he win? Maybe.
The Joker is everything you want him to be, he would be so happy to kill everyone in the world until it's just him and Batman just to see if when no one is looking would Batman break his rules. Love it.
Cracking the Batman myth and finding what makes him tick has been going on for nigh on 70 years. Many people have taken a wack at the Bat only to leave us with a handful of truly memorable stories that transcend the comic medium and enter the realm of full-fledged literature. I think the Nolans are on the right track with BB and TDK, one more and I think they'll nail it. The problem is the untimely death of probably the greatest Joker who ever lived could hamper that, considering the Joker is the tails to Batman's heads and always has been.
So TDK, is almost everything people are saying about it, but it essentially is still a comic book movie, and who are we to expect so much from a comic book movie.*
The Dark Knight. 29.9/31
*personally I think its the best directed, best acted and most sublimely shot comic book movie to date. Until WATCHMEN.
