Firstly: Holy #%$@ wow.
Ok, so maybe this isn't that intelligent of a review.
I saw Dark Knight last night at midnight, and was not disappointed. I was worried that with all the hype this movie has been getting, that even if it was very good I would still be let down. Especially now that Heath Ledger has been getting oodles of Oscar buzz, I was secretly ready to walk out of the theater sad that he couldn't live up to my expectations.
Disappointment never came.
Ledger owned the Joker. I can't describe how perfect his acting was. From the occasional bursts of manic laughter to his need to loudly swallow his saliva during monologues (the smile in this version, as I'm sure anyone whose seen a movie poster already knows, is due to scars on the sides of his mouth. The attention to detail of the Joker having to deal with saliva build-up blew me away). What I liked most about the Joker was how he wasn't over-the-top. He was the Joker: insane and sadistic. But he was a human being, not a cartoon character. He didn't spend every scene laughing (which made when he did laugh all the more horrifying), he didn't repeat his "Why so serious?" catch-phrase more than three times. He was a human villain, and that made him creepy.
The first movie in this franchise, Batman Begins, was not scary - even though one of its villains was Scarecrow. This movie scared the crap out of me. It is not a Batman to bring the kids to. Terrible things happen, in disturbing ways. This is not the Joker from the Adam West TV series, this is the Joker who shoots Batgirl in the stomach, strips her naked, photographs her, and then shows those pictures to her father, Commissioner Gordon (not a spoiler, that doesn't happen in the movie, but it does happen in the comic books. The Joker is a fucking scary dude).
As a side note about the Joker - during the movie it occurred to me that the last movie I'd see with my childhood crush, Heath Ledger, the boy whose poster I'd had on my wall since 10 Things I Hate About You, was so disturbing that I didn't have one scene of "yeah, I'd make out with him." Ledger effectively did the opposite of what his critics said he'd do. He was not a pretty boy leading man in this, he was an actor.
The Joke stole the show, which is a shame, because the other characters and actors were top notch. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent was perfect, through both stages of Harvey Dent's life. And again, the writing of this movie was superb. There was no cheesy build-up to "what eventually happens" (comic book fans know, everyone else can be surprised), just subtle hints that aren't forced into the story.
My only complaint about the movie is a plot point that will be a spoiler, so I can't talk about it. Let's just say, that as a female who goes to nerdy action movie I loved something that this movie did differently, and then my hopes were completely dashed.
In conclusion, go see this movie. You will walk out of the theater going "Iron Man? Who the hell is Iron Man?" This was the greatest movie of the summer (well, maybe. I still haven't seen Wall-E yet).
No comments:
Post a Comment