Last night, Liz, her gentleman sidekick, and I went to see The Dark Knight. I'm sure you've heard all the rave reviews and your friends have mentioned the awesomeness of Heath Ledger, and they are all totally right. I am a big fan of the Tim Burton Batman movies and an even bigger fan of Batman Begins, but The Dark Knight takes Batman to a whole new level. It's like a realistic comic book movie. You understand why the Joker is so crazy and wears the make-up. You get the science behind all the cool Batman gizmos. You see the relationships which later bring about serious turmoil. Take indie movie realism and mix with huge action sequences and the result is just brilliant. It's even already become the greatest movie ever (according to IMDB users).
I realize you don't need me to tell you to go see this, but I'm telling you anyway. Christian Bale is the best Batman ever (sorry Michael Keaton. I still love you), Michael Kane and Morgan Freeman provide ample comic relief and advice as Alfred and Lucius Fox, respectively, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a welcome replacement for Katie Cruise as the love interest, Aaron Eckhart is gloriously handsome as Harvey Dent, and Heath Ledger is phenomenal as the Joker. There's already Oscar buzz around his performance and it's totally warranted. The man had a gift. Such a terrible waste.
If I had to take a critical eye, I'd say it was a bit long (I know the exact sequence I would cut. Chris Nolan, give me a call when you make the next Batman movie and I'll help you out, okay?) and there was a tad too much monologuing (which, I realize, is par for the course in a big action, comic book movie, but it always reminds me of Syndrome in The Incredibles saying, "You sly fox, you. You got me monologuing!" and it makes me giggle), but overall, while The Dark Knight may not be the greatest movie ever, I think it's safe to say it's the greatest comic book movie ever. It definitely raises the bar.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
At the Movies: The Dark Knight
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6 comments:
Wait just a cotton pickin' second. If I'm not mistaken what you're trying to tell me in so many fancy words is that this movie is better than Ernest Goes To Camp. And that, lady, is an obvious and lowdown dirty, dirty lie.
I dunno. I guess I just expected more from you.
"I'm like a little dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with it if I caught it."
It was very much an epic, more than I was expecting (even though I knew it was 2.5 hrs long). Very thematically dark as well, and even slightly philosphical about the whole "what is a hero" thing. Def could have shaved off about 20 minutes, and the way they filmed some of the fight scenes made them confusing (was Batman punching or getting punched?) but still, those minor nitpicks aside - me likey!
Is this the movie that's hogging theaters from the far-more-deserving Mamma Mia!? I haven't heard of it before.
I'd like to pretend I'm going to see this, but I didn't see the last one, so I'll see them both on DVD in like 25 years.
I'm glad it was so long. If I'm going to pay $20 for a ticket, I want the movie to take up as much of my life as possible.
Best comic book movie ever? Have you even seen Heavy Metal?? Come on, now. Nothing beats animated aliens having sex. Nothing.
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