Why so serious? Because it’s a damn good film
The mob in Gotham has started to run scared. The deals they usually do in the evening hours have to be pushed to the daylight because Batman is always on patrol during the evening. Doing illegal activities is basically getting risky for everyone. Add this problem with the new district attorney for Gotham, Harvey Dent, who wants criminals taken in just as much as Batman, and the poor mob has nothing to turn to… except one man. Having robbed the group of criminals/thugs in one bank, the Joker proposes that the mob let him kill Batman, which they reluctantly oblige because they are desperate at this point. Clearly crazy and on the loose, the Joker uses tactics that even the mob wouldn’t touch, putting lives in danger and ultimately calling out Batman to fight or leave.
The film is haunting as it is beautiful. It brings so many questions about humanity and how far we’ve come in the evolutionary and social scale. It asks so many questions about what people would do in completely chaotic situations and how they would react to their fellow man. It provides us with evidence that in the midst of darkness that surrounds and consumes the human nature during this day and age, can we still survive in the worst moments of our lives without giving up our morals and hopes? The movie is enormously profound in so many areas that at times you begin to question yourself and how you would react given the improper situation. It’s an experiment about human nature that goes beyond film and into the audience. All of this, of course, couldn’t have been accomplished without some damn good actors.
Health Ledger deserves at least an Academy Award nomination. I’m not saying this because he has passed away or because I feel bad for the family he left behind, rather I’m saying this because he worked his ass off to bring a new, more accurate dimension to this Joker that moviegoers haven’t experienced quite yet. He brought the crazy, brought the terror and brought a very warped sense of humor to begin it all. His Joker is uncaring, insane and willing to do anything to get his point across. You have no idea this is Ledger underneath the make up, no idea at all. That’s how convincing his Joker is, he will sell you this role and you’ll buy it from the moment he steps in that room of mob folk. Nicholson has nothing on Ledger’s joker. In fact, Ledger’s Joker makes Nicholson’s Joker look warm and loving. Yes, he’s that frightening.
As for the rest of the cast, Bale gives his heart to his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Much like everyone else, he completely engulfs himself into the role and plays it quite nicely. He is suave now, as Bruce Wayne, but still finds himself more comfortable as Batman. Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent is very convincing. In the previews you can see the politician in him, but in the movie you see a deeper side of Dent where he actually wants to do good, but ends up… oh, almost gave it away. This makes me want to see Thank You for Smoking even more. What’s even neater about his character is that there is love triangle with Dent, Rachel Dawes and Bruce Wayne. As a viewer, you’ll sympathize for the guy and actually hope he ends up with Dawes rather than Dawes ending up with Wayne. That’s how likable he is and how convincing his sincerity to do good becomes.
Speaking of Rachel Dawes, if you hadn’t notice there has been an actress switch for that role. Maggie Gyllenhaal did one helluva job as Rachel Dawes, much better than her predecessor. She brought fire to the role, a strong-woman in Gotham, and ultimately when she… oh, almost gave that away too. She was quite good, added more than a helpless girl dimension to Dawes. Not to be left out of the complimenting is the ever flexible, always likable (even in The Professional) Gary Oldman. This guy can act! Not only does he look dead-on Jim Gordon, but he plays the role perfectly. For someone who didn’t care for comics or probably get much inspiration from the Gordon in the comics, he is perfect. This time around he’s not helpless, he’s a man in control of the situation because of his relationship with Batman. He protects the cape crusader and helps in his plight to bring down the baddies in Gotham. You get to know him much better and finally get to meet his family.
Another role in the film that gets expanded slightly is Michael Caine’s Alfred. Alfred is a bit more defined with his relationship to Wayne. He’s not only a father figure, but also a voice-of-reason for Wayne. He helps Wayne to keep it together and to find his true path, but also protects Wayne from himself. He’s just brilliant. Finally, we come down to Morgan Freeman’s Lucius Fox. I love Morgan Freeman’s voice, his acting and his presence onscreen. He’s no different inThe Dark Knight, he is commanding as Fox and plays the straight shooter with his boss Bruce Wayne. He’s everything he should be and more. Just an excellent actor who deserves nothing but the best.
Overall, the film is leaps and bounds beyond what the first did, and Batman Begins was pretty damn good for what it was, an origin film. The Dark Knight forms an attitude of its own. It gets even darker, when people thought it couldn’t, and introduces a truly terrifying character to us, the Joker. It ups the ante on the story, the action and the acting and brings everything you could possibly one from a dark story. Best of all, it will make any comic fan happy (as well as non-comic fans).
Dark Knight feeling the Blu
If there is any movie that deserves this format it is The Dark Knight. Half shot with an IMAX camera (you can see it change from full to widescreen during the movie — opening in IMAX style with the robbery scene), the footage benefits from the HD format. I was fortunate enough to see this film on the IMAX screen and can say that the Blu-ray experience is actually much better. The crystal clear clarity of Blu-ray adds such a powerful visual dimension to an already epic film. It looks beautiful, especially when you’re going through the landscape of Chicago and China. Such detail and visual eye-candy hasn’t been seen yet on the Blu-ray format. This is certainly why you should make this your first Blu-ray when you purchase your Blu-ray player. This is as good as it gets right now. Why, you ask? Well, it because of the IMAX camera and the quality of the shoot, it truly benefits from the HD treatment. You won’t be able to find this type of quality in any Blu-ray to date. It truly is a spectacle. Not to say other Blu-rays stink, but this is the top of the tier. Add that to a tremendous Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard compisition and you will have yourself a visual and audio delight.
As for the special features, here’s what you’re getting:
– Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene
– Batman Tech: The Incredible Gadgets and Tools
– Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight
– Gotham Tonight
– The Galleries
– BD Live Material
Again, this might seem like a small amount of features, but the titles of the featurettes expand into actual smaller features. The Batman Unmasked featurette is nearly an hour alone and interesting as hell. My wife, who is not a comic book fan, sat down and watched this feature with geniune interest. The fact that psychologist breakdown the psyche of Batman and the villains in his fictional life is breathtaking and frigthening, but nonetheless interesting. The featurette of ‘Creation of a Scene’ gives you some fantastic insight into what goes into the filmmaking of such an epic film. You get to see stunts, preparation and just different elements of the shoot. It’s pretty cool, especially for those interested in filmmaking. Batman Tech is cool and beautiful, you can get the idea of what goes into that. The weakest part of the features has to be the Gotham Tonight segments. There just wasn’t enough of that in the film to justify interest in it six times over in the features. As for The Galleries, breathtaking and pretty neat for those wanting still images. As for the Trailers and TV spots, I love ’em. My background in television is promotions and commercials, so I certainly appreciate the effort and creativity that went into the marketing portion of the film. I envy it.