The Dark Knight is AWESOME

Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized

The Dark Knight, the new installation from DC Comics’ Batman, is a wonderful piece of work.
I would suggest you watch it. A review.

——–Possible spoilers ahead———-

Well, with (almost)3 villains, a confused superhero, a coveted heroine who doesn’t last long, brilliant suspense-building scenes and a few gadgets and gizmos, it is good enough to keep you asking for more.

The hype around the film is well justified, in the sense that it is really worthwhile watching, I might watch it again, something I usually don’t do.

The storyline of the movie is a bit complex - it deals with Batman’s omnipresent guilt and dark history - he battles with his own character trying to justify the presence of a caped crusader rather than a person people can call one of their own. Listening to the dialogues is very important to completely absorb what the underlying story is all about.

The overall story is something like: Society(Gotham) is debating the need for Batman, a masked guy. Enter and Harvey Dent, the District Attorney(DA) who succeeds in putting behind bars most of the city’s bad guys. The Joker promises to kill Batman but wants half the money which is in the hands of a Chinese guy, who is brought back by Batman to Gotham. Joker’s real intentions are to bring anarchy to the city, so he doesn’t care about the money - he wants to defeat Batman - so he tries to remove both the DA and the sweetheart. Joker convinces Two Face Harvey that Batman is the cause for all suffering, causing him to turn against the world.

The first half of the film was, to be frank pretty boring. Most films are(the opposite of Indian films). Heath Ledger’s performance? Acting like a psychopath is no simple task - not least because you have a chocolate boy image. Bringing out emotions and mannerisms to fit a crazy guy when you are not (unlike Jack Nicholson) takes talent. And guts. Does he deserve an Oscar?

Superhero movies seldom get performance nominations - but given the hype surrounding his untimely death - may he RIP - he might make it to the nominations and even win an Academy Award in a Supporting Role.

So much was happening in the movie - the buildup I mentioned, that something is going to happen, is terrific. You are waiting to know what will happen next - the constant drone slowly increasing in volume is as unsettling as the ticking of the clock indicating the Joker’s evil deeds. Not to mention the Batman theme first composed for Batman Begins - that is a very good tune. The Joker’s antics make you shake your head from side to side, in disgust.
I knew Aaron Eckhart from Thank You For Smoking, Maggie Gyllenhall from Stranger Than Fiction(nice movie) and Heath Ledger caught my attention when I actually thought after the initial promos that Jack Nicholson was doing the Joker again. I too was sad when news of Ledger came around… With the Joker in his kitty more fabulous roles were expected… Maggie has that light ‘lisp’ when she says ’s’, it’s just an observation. Not too many tall actresses around who are beautiful today… She has a very 50’s look, making her a ‘classic’.

I never expected Maggie to die. Seriously. Damn the Joker for purposely mixing up the locations. I never saw it coming, especially when Harvey and Maggie had accepted their fates - only for the opposite to take place, turning Harvey into a two mind revenge seeker.

The love angle is also intriguing - Batman’s secret love, Harvey’s anger at the commissioner for not saving Maggie… I don’t get this part: Batman goes to resuce his love(or thinks he is) and instead gets his hand on Harver. Commissioner thinks he is going to rescue Harvey, but doesn’t make it in time. Does he not reach in time, because he was jealous of the DA or just because he couldn’t… It was noble of Albert to burn the letter from Maggie, to save him the heartbreak of the news that the one he loved didn’t love him(always happens in life, doesn’t it).

It is revealed as to why the Joker paints himself a big smile - his father slit his mouth - the make to believe stitches can be seen.

The Bat-bike - the Batpod - is cool. I liked the scene where Batman flips the truck over - it looks great.

I am not too sure of the daring kidnap from China - it was a bit too daring. The Sonar-detecting-technology is slightly far fetched… Anyway, it is only a comic book.

Batman takes the guilt of Harvey upon himself to maintain a legacy of the crime fighting DA, so as to make people believe that a crusader need not have a mask on his face. That was noble. But by killing Two Face(well he wasn’t killed, he just died), a ’sequel’ won’t have him, but whatever the sequel feature, beating the hype and presentation of The Dark Knight will be a very very tough task for director/producer Nolan.

Impressions of the trailer(s) and fan vids on YouTube alone are upwards of 20 million with single trailer racking up half that number - that too even before the movie released. As of this post The Dark Knight is set to beat Spiderman3 for the biggest opening ever.

I will remember the movie as one which had great performances, a dark script, unexpected twists and interesting altercations between the antagonist and the protagonist. I am one who believes that a movie is successful not because of the lead player but because of the supporting actors including the villains. Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart have delivered. The Dark Knight will carve a niche for itself for actually being one of the more unforgettable, lovable and well made superhero movemovies.

Why so serious? eeehhhhahahhahahahahahahhahahahhahahaha

refback:

http://abhijith1729.blogspot.com/2008/07/dark-knight-is-awesome.html

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July 20, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized 

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