Today’s post begins with a fractal called All My Pictures. This fractal is suitable for pretty much ANY movie review--but the black and white color scheme is particularly suitable for the review of a movie like The Dark Knight. Of course it also means back-to-back black and white images in my blog (which offends my aesthetic sensibilities somewhat) but when the image is right it’s right so compromises must be made.-
The Dark Knight is a BIG movie--in every way. It’s rare for a movie clocking it at nearly 2 ½ hours to make over three hundred million dollars in the first ten days of release. Still, the movie needs the long running time to squeeze in everything--the big battles, the big dramatic scenes and big, broadly-drawn characters. In fact, with one major exception, everything in this movie is drawn with a big brush. Of course, this IS a movie based on a comic book so that might or might not be a bad thing--but more on that later. Still, The Dark Knight offers everything a summer-movie viewer could want.
-
The plot to the movie isn’t all that important--and to be completely honest it doesn’t bear much scrutiny. The Dark Knight is all about the FX and the performances and all those are first rate--especially one. Heath Ledger has gotten considerable “Oscar buzz” for his portrayal of The Joker. Unlike the others before him who made the Joker a man madman, Leger underplays the role--and it is all the more powerful for that. His Joker is as frightening as it is completely crazy--a perfect combination. While the rest of the cast of chewing the scenery he’s subtle menace elevates the entire movie to a whole new level of almost realistic horror. Christian Bale (as Bruce Wayne/Batman), Gary Oldman (playing Jim Gordon with nary a hint of a British accent), Michael Caine (playing Alfred but pretty much acting like himself) and Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) all do fine but Ledger completely steals the movie every time he’s on screen.
-
The movie is far from perfect: it strains credibility that the Joker’s elaborate plots always seem to go off without a hitch (even considering that Gotham is such “ corrupt” city). Surely someone would notice all activity required to pull these stunts off. I also worry about the general “dark” tone of the movie (although it does my heart good to know that the citizenry eventually do the “right” thing when given a choice--even though that choice is difficult.)
-
The Dark Knight also raises concerns for the next movie in the franchise. Movie sequels in general--and super hero movies in particular--have a tendency to want to “top” the previous movie. There’s already so much in this movie that the producers are going to have the devil’s own time figuring out how to “up the ante” for the next go-round considering what they’ve already put out here. Will the movie-makers be able to raise the bar for the next installment? I don’t know--but I’m sure with each succeeding movie it’s going to get harder and harder. (All you have to do is look at the Spiderman, Superman, X-Men and the original Batman movie series to see the proof of this in action.) Still, the viewing might get lucky and the “curse” might be broken. (but I’m not holding out much hope).
-
We saw the movie in a crowded theater with all ages but this is NOT a movie for younger kids. If you want to see The Dark Knight in a theater (rather than waiting for the DVD) leave your kids (especially the youngest) home and have a good time.
-
FINAL GRADE: B
No comments:
Post a Comment