"The Knight reigns supreme, The Joker make you pee, A Legend of a film is born, World Peace is obtained and yes, Christian Bale does kick Robert Downey's ass"
Directed by Christopher Nolan; Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Echkart, Maggie Gyllenhal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman
This review comes in a bit late. Actually considering the amount of hype on this movie, it comes in very late, but it also happens to be the one review I utterly have to write, no matter how tedious. At first I convinced myself I was putting off writing this review because I wanted to wait until my second viewing to soak in all the pure awsomeness from this movie (after which I'd unceremoniously pass out drunk on my popcorn). It became clear however, after the second viewing last week, that searching for a full understanding of the film was not the factor keeping me from reviewing this film. The truth was far simpler.
I was scared of writing non-stop describing each and every single thing they got right. And then some.
After much deliberation, and some prayer to the gods of geeks, I have finally decided how to begin this review, and that's to say, "I told you so."
You see, I actually put this movie on the top of my most anticipated movie list of the summer. A slightly controversial choice seeing as how movies such as Indiana Jones and the even more powerful Wall-E was in the mix. Sure Dark Knight had a lot of hype to start off with, a great advertising campaign, but the choices of Heath Ledger (and his subsequent death) as the Joker was fuzzy at best at the start. And while Christopher Nolan did deliver on Batman Begins, it still had its problems. Nonwithstanding, Wall-E in comparisson was done by the people at Pixar, who by far have done every film as if it was their last. Combined with the most breathtaking animation I have ever seen in a trailer or anywhere else, it seemed a safe pick for my top spot, with the brooding Knight a safe second. Some may say I chose Dark Knight only out of bias for the fanboy inside me. Well, they''re right in a way. But then again so was I. You see, no matter how good Wall-E was (or in my case will be), Dark Knight has already shown both financially and critically that it would the movie everyone remembers the year 2008 for.
This movie marks an interesting mark for me. I have never been this hyped for a movie since the Lord of the Rings trilogy ended. And even then I did not spend every waking moment glazing over the trailers, harassing internet sites and making altars to Ledger (just kidding bout that last one by the way). I can safely then say that I have never been so hyped on a movie ever. It is then also safe to say that with great hype comes great expectations, and I demanded no less than perfection from this movie. Me, along with every other fanboy out there, was going to this movie looking for every possible flaw from cheesy lines to convoluted plots. I think it's safe to say that Dark Knight had quite possible built up too much hype, if sucha thing was possible.
Well that movie just blew all my expectations out of the water. Then it proceeded to beat me up, take my wallet and burn my homework, all while juggling three waterbaloons over my previously dry head.
Where do we begin. Well, let's just start off with the obvious, and the one everyone wants to talk about. The acting. and with the acting, Heath Ledger as the Joker. By now you've heard all the reviews, and each and every one of them don't give enough credit on just how amazing he is (take note that the critics are actually shoving Oscar nomination predictions down his throat). In some ways, this movie would not have broken all those records (and still breaking as I write this) without Ledger's death, sad as that may sound. And the fact is, his death has made this role legendary. And for all the right reasons.
The man is insane. No, he's not the insane joker who tried to copyright fish in the 80's Batman comics (that was actually a good storyline). He isn't Jack Nicholson's Joker who stretches out overlong phallic weapons from his pants to Prince music. Neither is he Alan Moore's Joker who shot and paralyzed batgirl, stripped her bear and made her father watch as she slowly bled out naked on the floor (although that one actually comes pretty close.)
No, this is Heath's Joker, and I promie you you've never seen anything like it. There is no Heath Ledger here, only a maniac, with no regards over his own life. He does the cracking one liners as good as anybody out there, that's not what makes a Joker. Waht makes him are the monlogue that sends shivers down your spine. The talks of anarchy and chaos, the determination to show you that everyone in the world is scum and you only need a small push to bring them the edge of insanity. This is a Joker who's willing to massacre an entire city, gleefully, just to prove a point, then kill some more just for fun. From the Glasgow scars to the lopsided stride, this tongue-flicking Joker is the epitome of pure, untainted evil. He also happens to be the best villain to show up on-screen since Hannibal Lecter (and even he never fired a bazooka out of a moving truck). Ledger alone would have made this film rise above mediocrity, even if everything else was crap. Thankfully that isn't the case, because as good as Ledger was, he would not be nearly as great without one important factor. The script.
Against all odds, Nolan has created a story that is unique from the comcis, and unique in movies in general. You will not fins that this is simply an adaptation from the comic plots. No, Nolan has set the abr with this compelling piece of literary genius that takes into account the irony of heroism, challenges the morality of the everyman, the price of crime, the ecstasy of insanity, the integrity of the righteous and the complexities of the human mind. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the movie disproved Gravity along the way. This is not just a great Batman movie, nor a great Superhero movie, nor a great crime movie. This is already by far one of the most compelling movies of all time, and already it has grabbed my love more than I ever even remotely thought it would.
The story revolves around the theme of the first movie, specifically that things are going to get worse before they get better. And it does, the criminals up the ante with the introduction the wildest card of all, a homicidal maniac who cuts a line across all of Gotham, an unstoppable force. Luckily, Batman has help, specifically Jim Gordon (the good cop in a rotten city) and the White Knight, new district attorney Harvey Dent (who also happens to be barking up Bruce Wayne's old girlfriend). If anything the movie revolves around the rise and fall of each of these men and more specifically HArvey Dent, who like Christian Bale gives an amazing performance that is undersung in the film. Harvey's rise and fall to the dreaded Two-Face gives the movie soul and shows just how messed up this world really is. He is the battleground for Gotham's soul, something Joker and Batman are on opposite sides of. Really, the parallelisms and ironies found in this movie are amazingly vast and complex, and Harvey's tragedy has you actually wishing more that he survive to see good win a world gone wrong. When was the last time I was actually left hoping a villain wouldnt turn into a villain? (FYI Two-Face looks grotesque and amazing. Another highlight of a movie filled with them).
If I had to keep going with everything else, I'd run out of both time and space. Needless to say, I'll just keep it short with everything else that shines in this movie. Particularyly, everything, from the cinematography (gorgeous and a depressing) to the score (epic, grand and spine-chilling). Even the pacing, while it borders on convoluted, makes every scene pack a punch with the intensity of a climax. Simple dialogues between characters hold as much power and danger in each word as any of the amazing action sequences here. The tensions between the Joker/Batman dynamic are not only well-explored buy by far one of the best moments of the film.
Rare has it been for a movie to ravage me so hard and so thoroughly than what this movie has done. This is a rare gem among movies, it's the kind of movie that you know people will remember twenty years from now, and they will speak it's name with reverence. It's fitting that they changed the name for the first time in the entire series. Because this movie soars above its predecessors, beat the hell out of both the box office and the audience, and reaches the crescendo of film magic. Applause. Applause.
10 out of 10
(By the way, the posters of this film are among the best I've ever seen. Here's the full set to let you know what I mean)
P.S. I don't care what the some skeptics say, Heath Ledger better get that posthumous nomination and award or I swear I'm blowing up the ceremony. No, seriously. >:D
