A group of robbers, a lot of cash plus a school bus, the sum of the equation is the beginning of one of the most anticipated summer blockbusters, "The Dark Knight." Yes, it's going to be another movie review but I'll try to make it more constructive this time around, let's just hope I'll make it. And beware there may be spoilers along the way. So, here we go…
"Batman: The Dark Knight" could not be just another superhero movie, could it? It was one of the questions I asked when the news of another Batman flick was in the making spread. I was psyched that there would be more Christian Bale as the superhero along with Michael Caine and Gary Oldman. And they were joined by Aaron Eckhart whom I first saw in 27 Dresses and one of my favourite actors, Heath Ledger (who's born in Perth, WA!). In addition, there was Edison Chen, the young Hong Kong actor who unfortunately only had a one-liner in the film. Honestly, I didn't take it seriously, all I thought about it was I will watch the movie just like all the other Batman movies that I had watched before. It wasn't till the reviews of Ledger's performance and later on, his unfortunate passing which pushed me towards wanting to watch the movie more than before.
So, after the long wait, here it is. "Batman: The Dark Knight" was finally released in the cinemas. Sitting in the dark theatre with a box of popcorns and a cup of Coke, I was set for a good two hour plus movie. The film rolled and the place was packed, everyone shushed the people around them as the anticipation grew. Just the sight of a bunch of guys in clown masks made me excited already. Minutes after, there he was, Heath Andrew Ledger as The Joker. The freaky villain of Gotham City. Let's analyze the character and the acting…
The whole movie had been advertised around the clock before its big screen premiere around the world and The Joker had been used as one of the major source of the publicity. It was madness and after Ledger's death, the craziness got worse. Everyone wanted to catch Ledger's last completed film which was also praised to be one of his best performances. Man, were they all correct about that! Indeed, Heath Ledger nailed the evil nemesis of Batman. It is his BEST performance (excluding his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar, of course!). It wasn't just the respect which made people believed it was yet again another Oscar-worthy performance. It was the cackle, the laugh, the menacing voice, the grin, the lip-licking, the hair, the make-up, the fingernails, the knives, the guns, the walking, the uncanny jokes, the breathing, the eyes, the teeth; the list would go on and on. Every single aspect of the character, every little cell of the comic book creation, Heath Ledger had studied it thoroughly and further developed it into his own version of The Joker. Using various rock stars as his inspiration for the development, and the time frame he spent on it. It all amounts to this, the newer version of the evil character which was once played by the great Jack Nicholson. Personally, the most appealing feature of the character for me is the lip-licking. It didn't just make the character more freaky and psychotic, it made it believable. My interpretation for the habit was either it was due to the scars around his mouth which may have caused him to have troubles with swallowing his saliva or it may be due to his dry make-up which made his lips constantly parched. Because thinking to the times when you applied lipstick on your lips, just lipstick, no lip balm or lip gloss as the foundation, your lips would feel terribly dry, so this may be why The Joker has this habit of his. And of course, there was the voice and the laugh which was one of the major tools used on the trailer for publicity purposes. Overall, Heath Ledger did steal the show with his remarkable ability to internalise such a crazed character and performed it in front of the cameras as if The Joker was him.
Of course, it wasn't just about The Joker; there is Aaron Eckhart's character, Harvey Dent which was the borderline hidden bad guy in the movie. He portrayed Two-Face which was a role once played by the fantastic Tommy Lee Jones. In my point of view, Eckhart did a great job as well. The emotions of the character were brought out well with a solid performance by Eckhart. And there was Maggie Gyllenhaal who took over Katie Holmes' role of Rachel in the movie. Gyllenhaal's performance was a convincing one on the film. She played Harvey Dent's current love interest and also Bruce Wayne's ex which he never seemed to be able to let go. Gary Oldman, whom I admired since I first saw him in The Fifth Element, was equally good with his performance. Morgan Freeman undoubtedly did well with his character which had witty lines throughout the film causing the audiences to crack up now and then. Christian Bale's portrayal as the Cape Crusader was definitely different than the rest of the Batmen and more distinguished as well. The change of his voice from Bruce Wayne to Batman was great. The realism he brought to Bruce Wayne especially at times where he saw Rachel with Harvey Dent added a flavour to the film.
Which brings me to the next thing about the film which is the script. It was an intelligent piece of work filled with on-and-off wittiness showed by various characters in the film and also the message the writer tried to convey through it. It's not a simple thing to write a nice flowing script which could catch the world's attention from the beginning till the end. The symbolism of each main character (Batman, The Joker, and Two-Face) was a vital factor for the message to be sent out. The good versus evil factor, the desperate times call for desperate measures factor, the power crazed factor, the world has gone unstable factor and it was all wrapped up throughout the film, developing it with time. All the while I was watching it; my mind couldn't stop thinking of Sociology which I could relate it to. It was insane.
The camera angles and lighting of the film was well coordinated with the script as well as the characters. A clear example of a scene from the movie which depicted this was when Two Face talks to Gary Oldman's character towards the end, how the light was shining mostly on the side of his 'normal' face and the dark consumed the side of his 'evil' face. It wasn't a surprise that Christopher Nolan was said to be one of the greatest directors of all times. CGI wasn't even obvious on the film which made it more appealing than most of the recent superhero films. Furthermore, the make-up and wardrobe department were beyond on this film. The most prominent example is of course The Joker's. It was nice to see how his make up was toned down through the film until the end part where he reapplied them which explained his fully made up face. Also the yellow teeth of his, adding on with the greasy hair and Ledger was set for the movie. I wonder how long these people spent on researching and trial-and-error before getting it right.
In comparison with the other Batman films, this definitely stood out the most. The Michael Keaton era (Batman & Batman Returns) was the best before this one. It was the most original Batman without all the exploitation of characters. With villains such as The Joker (Jack Nicholson), Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), and The Penguin (Danny De Vito), the first two Batman movies were definitely my all-time favourite compared to the rest made later on. I could still remember I had always found Catwoman a super cool villain, how she had changed in her confidence when she was Catwoman. Then, Val Kilmer took over which wasn't bad either. Jim Carrey played The Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face. Adding to the cast was Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian. It was a good cast. But when it hit the George Clooney time, it just didn't like click. "Batman & Robin" was the cheesiest and corniest Batman flick. With the constant butt shots and slow motion running, I was having doubts when I heard that Christian Bale took over for "Batman Begins." But fortunately, the film was good again afterwards; it was filled with the originality it had lost over the years and the realism of the characters. But the first one by Christopher Nolan was slightly slow since it was more like an introduction to the origins of Batman but this one; "The Dark Knight" was definitely the bomb.
So, to conclude this extremely long report, let's just sum it all up. Acting in the film was amazing which I hope they would be nominated in some award for Ensemble Cast if they are eligible. The plot was well-constructed. The directing was great. Overall, it was one of the best films I had seen from this year. It was definitely worth it to watch it in the cinema. So, people you don't wanna miss this one.
Yvonne
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