Batman Returns holds a special place in my mind in terms of the franchise as a whole. No one can duplicate Tim Burton's masterpiece with Michelle Pfeifer, Danny DeVito, and Christopher Walken. This current entry sure does come close to the bar that was set those many years ago. I wouldn't say that either of films is better than the other. It's comparing apples to oranges. Each strives for stir different emotions. Burton is all about the fantasy. Nolan is all about the psychological grit. The Dark Knight feels more like a crime drama that happens to include a superhero, rather than a superhero movie that includes crime drama.

Heath Ledger's Joker is by far the greatest villain to ever cross paths with the cinematic caped crusader (sorry Ahhhnold, the costume and puns were just too much). Regardless of the increased media attention due to his passing, the raw power and unpredictability he exudes as the psychopathic clown deserves recognition. I really hope that this nabs him an Oscar win. It would add some nice closure to a storied career. I actually enjoyed A Knight's Tale when everyone around me balked.

I am somewhat surprised how successful the box office has been for this. I knew it would be huge, but taking in the biggest opening day ever with over 60 million dollars? A few days ago I wouldn't have predicted such an stark and serious movie to rake in that much dough. The previous record holder was the family friendly Spiderman 3. I thought that parents would spare their little ones nightmares of a demonic clown. Perhaps some did, and the slack was taken up by the young female demographic who wanted to pay a final farewell to their departed rising star. Either way, it has quality writing and quality acting that deserves to be experienced.

A couple small gripes. What is up with Batman's voice? It made me shake my head in Batman Begins and it seems they didn't change a thing about it. The attempted deep raspiness just doesn't go over well with me. Also, *SPOILER ALERT* what is up with Harvey Dent's bare left eyeball after his face is burned off? Whenever we went to a close up on him, all I could think was "How could VFX dept. and Nolan not include an eyelid? Wouldn't his eye dry out without the ability to blink?" Small gripes, I know, I know.

Como num bom filme de super-herói, o texto não perde tempo e vai direto ao ponto ao afirmar que a superprodução da Warner oferece "não só o melhor vilão de todas as adaptações dos quadrinhos para o cinema, como também, mais propriamente, o primeiro que não é uma caricatura ou uma invenção pueril. (...) O mais existencialista dos super-heróis ganha, assim, um adversário que é o seu exato oposto e complemento – um niilista". Quadrinhos não é coisa só para crianças, embora por muito tempo essa arte tenha sido considerada menor e destinada ao público infantil. Daí, a idéia equivocada de que as adaptações para cinema de personagens saídos das páginas dos "gibis" deveriam ser simplórias.

Mas os quadrinhos, como em qualquer área da produção cultural, têm produtos infantis, juvenis e adultos. Parece simples isso, não? Portanto, as adaptações para cinema de personagens e histórias oriundas dos quadrinhos têm que ser respeitadas como qualquer outro tipo de obra. O homem-morcego já foi construído para esses diferentes públicos. Mas, definitivamente, Batman não deveria ser um personagem superficial para ser consumido apenas como um leve entretenimento infantil.

O diretor Chris Nolan sabe disso e se serve do dualismo dos personagens principais para compor a densa história do filme. Em seu texto, Isabela afirma que "a distorção que é o Coringa passa aqui a definir também Batman. Na verdade, quase que o explica. Tudo o que o milionário Bruce Wayne e seu alter ego heróico têm de perfeito e composto, o Coringa tem de desfeito e desorganizado". Isso define perfeitamente o que os quadrinhos passaram a valorizar desde 1970, quando Neal Adams, Dennis O'Neil e Dick Giordano assumiram o personagem na revista Detective Comics. Com essa trinca de artistas, Batman retomava o lado sombrio de suas histórias e começava a ganhar uma estrutura emocional definitiva, colocando seu universo em outro patamar criativo.
  
O trabalho sedimentado por Adams/O'Neil/Giordano ganharia um reforço de muita qualidade 26 anos depois, quando o personagem chegou nas mãos de outro gênio dos quadrinhos, o fantástico Frank Miller. Ele desenvolveu uma minissérie densa e que marcou época: Batman, O Cavaleiro das Trevas (isso mesmo, o mesmo nome do filme que estreou sexta-feira). O sucesso foi tamanho que Miller retornaria ao personagem em 1987 para recontar sua origem em Batman: Ano Um, excelente arco de histórias desenhado primorosamente por David Mazzucchelli, que mostra o início da amizade (e cumplicidade) entre o morcego e Jim Gordon*.

Com esses elementos já sedimentados desde os anos 70, Nolan tem nas mãos material suficiente para realizar um trabalho absolutamente criativo no cinema e vários filmes. Não há o que inventar. Já está tudo lá, nos quadrinhos. É quase como um storyboard. Basta ter respeito com à obra.

* O leitor atento irá perceber que, tanto em Batman Begins quanto no novo filme, Gordon – que é interpretado pelo excelente Gary Oldman – parece ter saído das páginas de Batman: Ano Um, tamanha a semelhança entre a concepção do policial de Mazzucchelli e o ator que o caracteriza.

Heath Ledger kicks Christian Bale in The Dark Knight

by Gary Sundt

It is a shame Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight will be lumped into the same category as films like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man. Not that those films aren’t wonderful and all, but I’m being very honest when I say this new Batman film functions light years ahead of the comic book movie genre. Not even Batman Begins can keep up with this exercise in adrenaline and fear.

Notice I used the word fear. The Dark Knight is terrifying, grabbing you from the word go and then pushing the petal down until it breaks through the car floor. Right from the picture’s opening bank robbery, there is a raw power to the production that overwhelms the audience. Even on opening night, nobody is shouting at the screen. People only laugh when it’s appropriate to do so. Even the fan boys (which, in some circles, I have been lumped in with) shut their mouths. Everyone watches in stunned silence as the story brilliantly unfolds, marveling as the story takes us to the edge and back.

The power of that opening scene comes in part from the introduction of the Joker (Heath Ledger), a make-up clad nut job who seems to have a counter-intuitive agenda of cutting the legs out from under the organized crime bosses of Gotham City. And he isn’t the only one. The new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), has joined forces with the Batman (Christian Bale) and Captain James Gordon (Gary Oldman), who are doing everything in their power to do away with the city’s mobster’s as well.

However, in a town as corrupt as Gotham, Dent’s goal is no easy task. He finally catches a break when Batman travels to Hong Kong and kidnaps Lau (Chin Han), the mafia’s accountant, leaving him gift-wrapped for the prosecution to make their case. What is the criminal underworld going to do? The Joker offers his services in dealing with Batman and Dent, and the mob begrudgingly accepts.

The Joker is then unleashed upon Gotham City, promising that people will continue to die until Batman takes off his mask and reveals his identity to the public.  This is part of the Joker’s many schemes to undo the moral and psychological fabric of the people, with his favorite targets being Dent, Gordon and Batman. He makes a game out of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Harvey’s new squeeze and billionaire Bruce Wayne’s old one. The Joker doesn’t know Wayne is Batman, so at first he doesn’t have a full handle on the damage he is doing. But rest assured: this clown is a quick study.

The film’s development rests on the backs of the three men seeking justice. The Joker, on the other hand, is the ultimate catalyst, challenging every facet of moral character these guys can muster. Fortunately, Gordon has Batman; Batman has trusty butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and tech-man Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman); and Dent has Rachel. Will they prevail? Will good triumph? Well, I don’t think that’s for me to say.

As a comic book fan, I was very sure that I had The Dark Knight’s plot pegged. I’ve read enough comics (particularly those stories which inspired this film specifically) to know all of the crazy things they could draw from. To sum it up, my expectation was Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween mixed with this Joker-mob storyline. Was I right? Not really.

I’m going to be honest: unless you have read specific spoilers for The Dark Knight online, you really have no idea where it’s going. The script by director Nolan and his brother Jonathan has many tricks up its sleeve; you’ll never know what’s coming until it slaps you right in the face. There were moments I wanted to turn and give my friends that “WOW!” look, but my eyes remained fixated on the screen. I didn’t want to miss a millisecond of film.

For the record, the rumors regarding Ledger’s Joker are absolutely true. He is the proverbial ringleader of this flick, and I will jump on the posthumous-Oscar bandwagon when I say a better performance won’t be seen this year. He is literally invisible in the role, and we don’t remember until the very end that the dude from A Knight’s Tale is under all that face paint. Would he have become a Marlon Brando? We’ll never know. All we can do is accept that stabbing sadness when the Joker utters the painfully ironic statement near the film’s climax: “I think we’ll be doing this forever.”

However, Ledger is only the icing on a perfectly-casted cake. Every performance in the film is simply electrifying. Bale and Caine are now, and forever, Batman and Alfred. Gyllenhaal does a wonderful job in a role that many consider to be the weakest link of Batman Begins. Oldman, the wonderful actor that he is, continues to be the perfect Jim Gordon. And Eckhart functions as the perfect moral backbone in The Dark Knight. Harvey Dent has been my favorite Batman character since I picked up my first comic book, and he has never been more tragic a figure than he is in this film.

How does a critic review a film like The Dark Knight? There is so much to say, so much to communicate, but the desire to not-spoil the whole affair overwhelms any wishes I have to discuss the twists Nolan has in store for his audience.

What I will say:

1)   The Dark Knight has the honor of walking with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and the aformentioned Halloween as one of the finest Batman stories ever told. 

2)   I’ve seen the film in both regular and IMAX format, and the latter is the way to go if you have the option. The cinematography by Wally Pfister (who has been working with Nolan since his breakout film, Memento) is mesmerizing, and everything looks that much better in IMAX.

3)   The people behind The Dark Knight have created a masterpiece. The film is certainly the greatest superhero film ever made, but overcomes that distinction by being among the greatest American films of the last 10 years. If Nolan decides to return for the third installment, one can only imagine what will happen now that the genre has been freed of the camp shackles the comics walked away from over 25 years ago. 

Running time: 152 minutes. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Produced by Nolan, Mark Roven and Emma Thomas. Screenplay by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan. Based on the characters created by Bob Kane. Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman and Chin Han. A Warner Bros. Pictures release. Rated PG-13

3 años pasaron después de que vimos al final de “Batman Begins” la pista para una secuela y esa pista fue una carta. La expectación detrás de esta continuación fue mucha, llevar a la pantalla grande al némesis por excelencia del héroe encapotado, la promesa de que The Joker no seria el único villano en el filme, seguir con el concepto de un Batman como lo conocemos en el comic que dejo un buen sabor de boca en la primera película y tristemente creció aun mas con la muerte de Heath Ledger [actor que interpreto al Joker] ahora que “Batman The Dark Knight” llego a las salas de cine, con taquillas abarrotadas, lleno total en todos los cines y una enorme campaña de promoción, que da en el aire la pregunta ¿Qué es lo que en verdad logro?

Con una introducción de un atraco a un banco que la mayoría vimos antes de iniciar la película “Soy Leyenda” durante el tiempo que estuvo en cartelera en las salas IMAX y la otra mayoría vio en videos ilícitos subidos a You Tube, la película pinta muy bien en su inicio, la historia se centra en una Ciudad Gotica en guerra contra el crimen, Batman con la ayuda del teniente James Gordon [Gary Oldman] y el Fiscal de Distrito Harvey Dent [Aaron Eckhart], se proponen a destruir la delincuencia organizada para el bien de la Ciudad. El trío demuestra ser eficaz y una sociedad que no se queda atrás por lograr un bien comun, pero desafortunadamente pronto se encuentran presa de un reinado del caos desarrollado por un genio criminal que aterroriza a los ciudadanos conocido como The Joker [Heath Ledger], quien empuja a Ciudad Gotica hacia la anarquía y fuerza al Caballero Oscuro a estar más cerca de cruzar la delgada línea entre héroe y villano.

Lo mejor de esta película [y creo que así es en verdad] esta centrado en un solo personaje The Joker, se roba totalmente toda la película con una actuación excelente de Heath Ledger capturando la esencia de que es este villano al 100% y no solo encanta el personaje en si, si no la psique que este tiene, además de capturar esa relación que hay entre el y Batman que hace que estos dos personajes sean los 2 lados de una misma moneda dando a entender como en el comic que uno no se complementa sin el otro [aunque en la película Batman no ayudo mucho a esta teoría] como lo dijo el asistente de Bob Kane, el talentoso dibujante Jerry Robinson: “Como estudiante universitario y lector de los clásicos, me pareció obvio que cada héroe importante de la literatura, la mitología e incluso la Biblia, tenía un adversario digno que realmente fortalecía al personaje, desde David y Goliat hasta Sherlock Holmes y Moriarty. Cuando propuse por primera vez el concepto de un supervillano [un boceto del Joker adaptado de la imagen clásica del naipe] Bob y Bill se entusiasmaron, al igual que los editores de DC”; y así nos muestran al criminal mas enfermo, gracioso, psicópata, egocéntrico, loco, brillante, etc., etc., que hay y aunque el filme no se centra en su origen y nada por el estilo, sabemos los que conocemos a este personaje que también tiene o tuvo un lado humano y solo fue victima de las circunstancias, en verdad excelente, tristemente la película es El Joker y ya.

“¿Quién es este loco inocente?… ¡Las puertas del Asilo están abiertas! ¡Llena los suburbios de Asesinatos y Violaciones¡ ¡LOCURA DIVINA! ¡Que haya éxtasis, éxtasis en las calles! ¡RÍE, Y EL MUNDO REIRÁ CONTIGO!

LA LOCURA ES LA SALIDA DE EMERGENCIA, ¡¡JAJAJAJAJA!!”

[The Joker]

Otro punto fuerte e importante dentro del filme es la aparición de Harvey Dent [Two Faces] con una actuación excelente de Aaron Eckhart y un personaje que desde el principio demuestra una personalidad dura y firme a sus objetivos tanto como persona y villano dentro de la película, formando como dice el “su propia suerte” con su ya clásica moneda que lanza al aire y que de verdad a especulación de muchos deja con ganas de mas y que el filme con el transcurso de la historia comete un grave error no solo para el personaje si no para la calidad de la película.

“O Mueres como héroe o vives lo suficiente para convertirte en el villano”

[Harvey Dent en Batman The Dark Knight]

Y ya recios con errores dentro del filme tengo que decir que para mi este Batman interpretado por Christian Bale no logra nada de lo que podía o debería haber conseguido [algo decente y bueno como en Batman Begins] en primera tanto en el comic como en la película de Tim Burton [Batman (1989)] Batman es un héroe frió y oscuro, no sabias que podías esperar de el y no demuestra debilidades, emociones y sentimientos al tener el traje del caballero de la noche, alguien totalmente diferente a Bruce Wayne, por otro lado en The Dark Knight vi a un Batman que demostraba muchas debilidades, los ladrones no le temían tanto como se supone, algo inseguro, predecible y dentro de la pelicula le quisieron dar cierta humanidad pero a un grado muy alto y en una dirección errónea la verdad, y se preguntaran ¿Por qué? por que si estoy de acuerdo que Batman tiene humanidad pero no necesita demostrársela a nada ni nadie con que el lo sepa basta y al final de la película se dan cuenta de esto pero muy tarde. Otra cosa es el traje, al principio es el mismo que vimos en la primera entrega [que estaba mas o menos] pero cambio muy rápidamente a otro peor, muy extravagante y con tantos detalles hostigosos que no capturan la imagen del verdadero caballero de la noche, algo muy alejado a lo que yo conocí y ni modo le restaron bastante importancia al personaje central de esta película [como lo dije parece que la película es el Joker habiendo tantas formas de lograr un equilibrio y eso para mi fue una mentada de m#$%!#], en lo que respecta a películas sigo reiterando que el mejor Batman es el del Director Tim Burton interpretado por Michael Keaton en todos los puntos [Personaje, esencia, traje y hasta Batimovil jaja] y nadie me ha demostrado lo contrario.

Con todo esto puedo decir que Batman The Dark Knight es una secuela buena y hasta ahí, con encrucijadas que emocionan, ases bajo la manga y mucha filosofía en sus diálogos que rescatan gran parte de lo que podría perder la película si no los tuviera y fuera el típico filme sencillo de ficción con clichés estadounidenses [y como dato curioso sus diálogos y filosofías hasta te dejan pensando en muchas cosas aplicadas a la realidad], puedo decir que será la película mas taquillera del año [y dicen por ahí que va en camino de convertirse en la película más taquillera de la historia] pero no por ser excelente o increíble como tendría que haber logrado y no lo hizo, si no por el triste hecho de que la morbosidad popular quiere ver a Heath Ledger [en su mejor etapa como actor] interpretando al mejor villano que hay, lo cual es demasiado molesto y hace que solo ese sea el punto de su éxito, pero la verdad les digo que se van a ir bastantes satisfechos por que este personaje si cumple con todo, con todas las expectativas y yo diría que hasta mas, el mejor Joker sin duda [¡por fin!], la verdad me alegro haberme equivocado por que el Director Christopher Nolan no me arruino la broma y tomo en cuenta que The Joker no solo es un villano mas y al final de la película lo homenajean a el y a un técnico de efectos especiales que falleció también recientemente poniendo en los créditos: "En recuerdo de nuestros amigos Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe"; ni modo el ultimo adiós para Conway Wickliffe y Heath Ledger [pero como todo un grande junto con la película I’m Not There], que descansen en paz.

Si son verdaderos seguidores del hombre murciélago les recomiendo ir, teniendo en mente en ver solo una película mas y no hacerse mucha ilusión [como repito al menos no por el Joker, este si se la rifo], así podrán disfrutar mucho mas la película pero esa es mi opinión y aunque se que debería complacer a todos los que leen blogs de este tipo como lo hacen muchos seudo comunicadores para aumentar sus niveles de audiencia y piensan que para opinar con sinceridad si al hacerlo mucha gente [principalmente adolescentes volubles y fácilmente impresionables por los medios masivos de información] pueden sentirse agredidos, pero creo que hay que opinar libremente sin sentirnos obligados a complacer a nada ni nadie, por que la verdad, al menos yo, no soy un critico de nada, soy solo un chavo mas que tiene una opinión como cualquiera, la expreso y la comparto sin esperar caerle bien a nadie, y la verdad eh!, la verdad, a todos los que ven este espacio constantemente gracias por darme un rato y leer todo esto, recuerden que son libres de comentar lo que ustedes quieran y cuídense, saludos.

//[Lars]////

Este tipo que toma la forma de aquel animalito que siempre lo asustó de chico, el murciélago, hoy es un tipo que lucha contra el crimen de su querida ciudad Gótica, ... pero está cansado y los malos cada día son más, son muchísimos. La corrupción está en todos lados, muy difícil confiar en alguien, ni en tu sombra.

De que va la película ya lo sabés, lo leíste en el post de más abajo. BATMAN se une, además del siempre servicial y honesto Comisario Gordon (por favor, Goooor-doooon), al fiscal en campaña política Harvey Dent, que además es el novio de su amada amiga Rachel (si, amada amiga de la niñez de Bruce).

Lo que hay que comentar, es que nos pareció la peli.
UNA MARAVILLA ABSOLUTA. No hay que ser fan del encapotado, simplemente hay que ser fan del buen cine, de las buenas historias, de las magníficas actuaciones. Claro que si sos amigo del hombre murciélago, un buen amigo, quedarás bien contento. Lo de buen amigo va porque siempre hay contras, como los hay con otros superhéroes que ha tenido buenas películas, pero que sus seguidores rechazan por falta de .... no se.
Aquí no puede haber tantos contras ... no debería.
Acción hay y muchísima, adrenalínica. Suspenso hay y muy bien logrado, con genial edición. Efectos visuales y de sonido, de los mejores, perfectos.
¿Guión?, ex-ce-len-te. La historia no solo no decae, sino que te mantiene en vilo siempre, como lo mantiene en vilo a nuestro amigo encapuchado.
Vos, que pensas que Batman es un héroe tarado como el resto de su estirpe, que aparece y resuelve todo de una trompada, que todo le sale bien, porque para eso es el héroe, ... que equivocado que estás, que poco conocés a BATMAN y a los comics de verdad.
Nuestro Bati-amigo la pasa mal, la sufre y no las gana todas; es más, no se si gana algo, más bien que pierde y mucho.
Como sabemos y dijimos, es un hombre común, no tiene súper fuerza, no vuela, no corre como un rayo, no atraviesa paredes con el rayo de sus ojos. Un tipo muy hábil, si, con buen estado físico y muchísimo entrenamiento, con buenos y lindos "chiches" para combatir y sorprender a sus enemigos. Nada más. Por eso, porque es un tipo común, ...... la pasa mal, muy mal. De nuevo muy buen trabajo de Christian Bale.

Cuando Heath Ledger terminó de filmar como el Jocker (Guasón), ya varios decían, por lo poco que se veía en avances y chismes internos, que podía estar nominado al Oscar. Luego vino su repentina muerte y el asunto quedó callado. Hace poco volvió al tapete y con más fuerza, ¿puede ser nominado en forma póstuma y hasta ganarlo?. Si, más bien que puede.

¿Sólo porque murió, porque tenía un buen porvenir artístico, porque era de las mejores promesas hechas realidad?. NO. Heath Ledger se merece la nominación desde ya, simplemente porque la recontra rompió, porque su interpretación ha hecho opacar al gran Nicholson (si si, viejito chocho, si, a vos te digo, vos que hablabas mal sin haber visto lapeli, vos que te creían el "único" Guasón de la historia, a vos Jack, que lo hiciste magnífico, nadie te lo quita, pero ahora....). Señoras y Señores, acabo de ver al mejor Jocker (Guasón) de la historia. Cínico como nadie, manipulador como pocos, inescrupuloso, loco pero no tanto como lo que se cree, sorpresivo. Un tipo que juega con las reglas que los otros siguen, ya que el no sigue ninguna.
Lamentablemente tendrán que venir otros Jocker, pero ya no habrá otro igual. Sep, Heath Ledger lo hizo, se fue como un verdadero grande, con la actuación que lo dejará en la mente de todos ... for ever.

Si, claro, hay más gente en esta peli, pero como que uno se olvida de ellos, cuando está el Guasón. Aaron Eckhart compone a un Harvey Dento más que creíble, un tipo que es un héroe sin máscaras, que encierra a los criminales, pero que, por culpa de ese mismo juego, termina convirtiéndose, el mismo, en uno de los enemigos públicos ... Dos Caras.

Michael Caine y Morgan Freeman vuelven a estar al lado del amigo Bruce, ayudando, siendo el apoyo logístico del encapuchado. Gary Oldman vuelve, también, a componer un buen Comisario Gordon, que también la sufre mal.

Maggie Gyllenhaal es Rachel, la amiga abogada de Bruce, la que ama desde chica, la que sabe su secreto, pero que ahora es la prometida de Harvey Dent. No tiene los minutos necesarios, no había cabida para una historia propia, cuando está el Guasón y Dos Caras, no le dió para lucirse nada (aunque quienes la conocemos, no necesitamos, sabemos que es una gran actriz); pero igual, con tal de no ver a la insulsa y fría Katie Holmes de Cruise ..... (que tipa más sin sal, por favor ... pareja ideal para el naboletti Tom).

Nada más. HAY QUE VERLA.

Calificación:

Not to overhype this movie.. I think everyone should watch it and then tell me really what they thought about it.

Needless to say, I am definitely gonna give this a very (very) positive review. Iron Man and Hell Boy 2 (no.. haven't watched the Hulk yet).. can't be compared to this movie as Christopher Nolan has taken the Batman to the next level.

Heath Ledger. A shame such a young actor that had so much potential even before his role as the Joker. He died of accidental drug overdose, basically mixing alot of mild sleeping pills together, which in effect caused a major side effect which led to his death early this year in February 2008. Lots of talks about him online with regards to his portrayal of the Joker in the Dark Knight. Jack Nicholson did wonders with this role in 1989's movie Batman. We need to give respect to Nicholson's as he did a good job in that film. Fast forwarding to the Dark Knight.... with the general concensus online.... everyone, including myself was blown away by Ledger's interpretation of the Joker. He looked scruffy, less make up... just a white mask, a scar on both side of the cheeks to elongate the angle of his mouth.... rhythmic, rather erratic protrusion of his tongue made him one the best villains so far. I can't remember when the last villain stole the show. Ledger's body language in the Joker was so convincing.. a mad man.. with no self consciousness or empathy at all for other humans. Oh and the laugh.... gave me the spooks. I don't wanna meet this man in person ever!!!

Below is an excerpt taken from WikiPedia, about Ledger having problems sleeping during and after the shooting of Dark Knight. Retrospectively he should have gotten professional help, but who are we to judge that....

In a New York Times interview with Sarah Lyall published on November 4, 2007, Ledger stated that his recently-completed roles in The Dark Knight and I'm Not There had taken a toll on his ability to sleep: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. ... I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." At that time, he told Lyall that he had taken two Ambien pills, after taking just one had not sufficed, and those left him in "a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing."

Prior to his return to New York from his last film assignment, in London, in January 2008, while he was apparently suffering from some kind of respiratory illness, he reportedly complained to his co-star Christopher Plummer that he was continuing to have difficulty sleeping and taking pills to help with that problem: "Confirming earlier reports that Ledger hadn't been feeling well on set, Plummer says, 'we all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath's went on and I don't think he dealt with it immediately with the antibiotics.… I think what he did have was the walking pneumonia.'" ... On top of that, 'He was saying all the time, "dammit, I can't sleep"… and he was taking all these pills [to help him].'"

In talking with Interview magazine after his death, Ledger's former fiancée Michelle Williams "also confirmed reports the actor had experienced trouble sleeping. 'For as long as I'd known him, he had bouts with insomnia,' she said. 'He had too much energy. His mind was turning, turning turning always turning.' "

Talks about Ledger winning Oscars for his villanous role got me thinking. Are people actually feeling sympathetic after his death that they want to acknowledge his acting? With all the makeup (I would say minimal) on.... would this be justified. My answer... a resounding YES. Go watch the film and I don't wanna spoil your perceptions of the whole movie but I actually felt really disturbed and at the same time humoured with Ledger's Joker. He stole the show with quirky yet appropriate jokes and Bale's Batman took the back seat here. Lots of twists and plot here... and the arrival of Harvey Dent Two-Face made it all so special.

The Joker played a big role in this film, with his brilliant mind... he swindled everyone and just caused mass chaos.

Check out the Rotten Tomatoes review too..

Superb. Rest in peace Heath Ledger.

The Dark Knight
Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale / Heath Ledger / Gary Oldman / Aaron Eckhart
Rating:

(This is my spoiler-FREE review. I'll probably write up a more in-depth review of it later)

Synopsis: Death, mayhem, and chaos swallow Gotham City as a war between good, evil, and what lies between takes place. Harvey Dent, the newly appointed D.A. of Gotham, must join forces with Batman in an ongoing initiative to root out the organized crime that permeates the city. Enter The Joker, a psychotic villian, with his own plans for Gotham.

Review: Watching The Dark Knight on an IMAX screen is an experience that I won't soon forget. After driving by a minivan engulfed in flame on I-283 and having my GPS take me down a one-way street the wrong way, I finally made it to the showing. It was great listening to the pre-show buzz from the other people in line, hearing snatches of conversations. One that I found amusing went something like this:

"[Christian Bale] He was in Newsies"
"He was in SHAFT"
Silence.

And naturally, someone spoiled an important twist in the film. May the fleas of a thousand camels nest in your armpits, sir.

So anyways...The Dark Knight met and exceeded my expectations. Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker was outstanding, and Aaron Eckhart fit the politician role very well. No surprises there. :) The Dark Knight is rated PG-13, but this is definitely not a film for the kiddies. I highly recommend checking this out, especially in IMAX if you get the chance.

Chris Nolan's latest opus, " The Dark Knight" might break the highest opening record to late--US$ 158 million--in just a few days from its worldwide premiere. 

Critics around the world praised the movie as the "greatest Batman movie ever made", and I, along with my family, agrees with every word said about The Dark Knight. 

It's a cult classic, the kind that you want to watch more than ten times. Yeah. It's soo good that it made me cry. I'm waiting for the release of the original DVD and whatever the price of that one, i'll gladly part my money just to have it.

Dark Knight succeeded where every Marvel superhero movie failed (especially the preachy Spiderman series)because it turned the age-old philosophical discussions about heroism upside down. It started a discussion by showing what happens when we don't need heroes anymore because we ourselves, have become one. We just have'nt realized it yet.

It's not preachy but it goes deep into people's psyche. The intricately woven tale talks about our search for heroes every time we face difficulties, when all we need to do is look at ourselves. We just need to face challenges that directly affects our own lives. 

Dark Knight shatters the millennia-old philosophical discussion about messiahship. 

In fact, Nolan sparked a discussion. The entire movie is the discussion. Do we need one single person to save the world from evil? 

We have a penchant for leaving the dirty job of cleaning our lives to some group (government) or one individual (Jesus or Buddha or Prophet Muhammad) that we forgot that, within us, we can be heroes. 

We don't need a Bat suit to become heroes. We just need to be reminded that, in extraordinary circumstances (such as that scene of people inside two ferries being made to decide who will flip the switch to cause the death of other people in the other side), where our very lives are at stake, decisions can be based not only on personal considerations, but on social justice and equity. 

When Detective Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent became successful in their anti-crime campaign, Batman suddenly found himself irrelevant. He felt that it's time for him to retire his Bat suit, which was pierced by bullets the night before. That scene was symbolic of the soon-to-be transformation of Batman from a superhero to somebody, a human being out to become a real hero.

This has escaped the people's attention because they always depend on Batman to clean up their city. Real heroism came into light when Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent sacrificed their lives just to show people that heroism is not a monopoly of a few; rather an enterprise of the many. True heroism is shared responsibility. 

Sadly, the movie also showed what happens afterwards--the world always need someone to sacrifice himself just so the people would awake from their stupor. Batman sacrificed himself by bearing the weakness of Harvey Dent. 

The movie succeeds in using real-life imagery to make us realize these things. And mind you, if you're expecting heroes, they're everywhere. Even the Joker is a hero. He epitomizes the terrifying cancer that society created. 

Anyway, just watch the movie and see for yourself if you share the same thoughts and send me an email afterwards.

There’s a simple reason Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight has the biggest opening day ever. It’s phenomenal. The pacing, acting, cinematography and mood are all perfect. However it’s also worth pointing out that the unfortunate death of Heath Ledger probably helped push ticket sales as well. But let me reassure you, anyone attending to see Ledger’s final performance won’t be disappointed. He disappears into the character and at times you can feel an uncomfortable rush swell across the audience. It’s simply spectacular; you believe that you’re actually watching a crazy person being filmed instead of an actor portraying a crazy person. Ledger’s performance in this film exceeds what I experienced months ago from Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood.

The Dark Knight continues where the last film (Batman Begins) left off with a quick resolution to Cillian Murphy’s character, The Scarecrow. This was one of the few problems I had with the movie. I am extremely passionate about having a complete story across one showing. With studios looking for cash cows, everyone is leaving room for sequels. Unfortunately it creates issues like this, where an interesting character’s story is left open and unresolved, only to be taken care of in the first few minutes of the next film. Sadly, The Dark Knight has chosen to carry on this concept into this film and it’s one of the only sore spots I have coming out of it, but enough of my ranting. After The Scarecrow is dealt with the movie continues on with Batman’s struggle for finding the appropriate way to bring justice to Gotham. He finds his answer through Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), a district attorney who has found tangible evidence to lock up the entire Gotham mob, freeing the city from most of its crime. Things are going as planned until a maniacal terrorist called “The Joker” (Heath Ledger) obtains all of the mob’s assets. Without giving anymore away, the story is great and paced beautifully. Granted, I think the film could have shaved fifteen to twenty minutes off of the final time, cutting it closer to two hours instead of its currently running time of two and a half.

Technically the movie is very well done. The cinematography is gorgeous, special effects look stunning and besides the repetitive hand to hand sounds during Batman’s fighting scenes, the rest of the aural experience was great. On a few occasions during the start of the film there were a lot of out of focus shots, this fortunately didn’t last longer then the first few scenes I noticed it in.

Everyone that was in the first film did a wonderful job replicating their performances. Heath Ledger’s portrayal as “The Joker” will no doubt give him Oscar nods and Aaron Eckhart’s rendition of “Two Face” was sufficient. You’re in for a treat with how they went about designing his disfigurement.

This is the summer of the hero and comic book nerds are getting more love then ever. Even if you haven’t read the comics, these movies are still suitable action flicks worthy of a ticket purchase. Along with others, I’ve always thought…if you’re going to bring back a franchise you better do something special to it and Nolan has. He has brought back the Dark Knight to a gloomy and dark world not suitable for spandex wearing sidekicks with feminine names.

Pies: 9.5/10

It's been marketed for months and months. The buzz has been building and building. Fanboys have been slapping their computer monitors like the Nintendo 64 kid since the first teaser popped up online nearly a year ago. It's finally here! The Dark Knight!!

This seems incredibly pointless but.. Three years later, Gotham City is just as messed up as it was when we last saw it. Mobsters are still meeting in dark alleys and abandoned docks. Cops are being bought off by said mobsters. And a new villain is terrorizing (or can I say "jokerizing") the streets. No, no I can't. He's terrorizing them. Anyway, with all this going on, our caped crusader, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), is doing his best to keep Gotham noble and pure. Helping Wayne to achieve this is the hot-shot District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the love of his life, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes Maggie Gyllenhaal), his loyal butler, Alfred (Michael Cane), and resident know-it-all about everything badass, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). Even with these people behind him, with the introduction of a psychopathic-anarchist known only as The Joker (Heath Ledger), Batman's got his work cut out for him.

The Dark Knight was amazing. A lot of people had been saying in the past week, "I don't want to get too hyped up. It might not live up to it." Well fuck you guys. It delivered. Oh man did it ever deliver. Christopher Nolan has set the precedent for what superhero movies need to strive to be like.

Bale does great once again playing the billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. He can't simply open the front door when going out to a restaurant. No no. He has to land in a helicopters and step out with three gorgeous models. His portrayal of Batman is also great. While it was set up in Batman Begins that he has grappling hooks and a badass Bat-Mobile (The Tumbler), The Dark Knight shows us a whole new barrage of useful tools to topple foes. While these new tools are cool to watch in action, maybe Batman should build a contraption that will shoot a Ludin's cherry cough drop in his mouth like, 20 minutes before he needs to talk. That would definitely help his scratchy voice from sounding terrible and comical to sounding... acceptable.

Aaron Eckhart was a perfect choice for Dent. However, his character development from upstanding District Attorney to a psychotic killer fueled by rage is a bit rushed. Dent spends the entire first two hours of the movie preaching about how good will overcome evil. (I'm not spoiling anything.) Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face. ZOMG!~ And while his physical change is extremely gruesome and will fuck your mind up, him turning completely evil isn't very believable. Also his method of killing people (flipping a coin) is a total gimmick. Rather than accepting the coin's decision (like Anton Chigurh does), Dent simply chooses to flip again until he gets the answer he wants. Why not just shoot your victim if that's what you really want?

OMG the best for last! Did you hear? Heath Ledger died. (Sad face). Too soon? I feel incredibly shitty for whoever gets cast as the next villain for Batman to face. The Joker is going to be impossible to top. Ledger stole every single scene he was in. Thinking back on the movie, The Joker actually had more screen time than Batman did. And that's fine by me. The Joker was a character that kids may even leave the theater wanting to be like more than Batman. There's not a single thing wrong I can say about Ledger's performance as a psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy. Each time he was on screen my eyes were glued to the screen picking up on his facial twitches, each time he licked his lips, each eye squint. It was perfect.

Some people have also told me The Dark Knight had little to do with Batman and more to do with Harvey Dent. The movie definitely doesn't waste time diving deeper into the story of who Batman is. The reason for this? Maybe because they fucking did that in a little movie called Batman Begins? We knew who Batman was in 2005. We knew what he stood for and why he fought for Gotham. Now it's time to see him deal with the "inflation" that Commissioner Gordon warned him about. The villains; more sinister. The costs of being Batman; more severe. The collateral damage; catastrophic.

Pretty much each movie I've reviewed this year I've seen more than once in the theaters. I'm sure The Dark Knight will be no different.

9.5 out of 10.

Heath Ledger, Joker. This movie is an homage to building a brilliant character and taking it to the proverbial limit. After you see the film you think to yourself, that is the Joker. That is the way he is supposed to be. No, there is no other. You think to yourself, it is so perfect, every tongue whip, every raw stare, the walk, everthing. It is so obviously the only way the Joker can ever be, and then you realize, he was not this way. He is the incarnation of an actor’s dedication to creationism, creationism in a character that has already been done before, and done brilliantly no less. The amount of personal dedication to such a task is immense and unquantifiable in its beauty. Bringing together Tyler Durden’s chaos theory, Hannibal Lector’s genius insanity, and an inner animal yet to be seen by the world, Ledger’s Joker will be iconic for as long as cinema is remembered. In a way, The Joker is the dark version of everything we wish we could be, afraid of no one, bucking conventionality, and never, I mean never, is he predictable. Beware of confused teens reenacting his anti-establishment anarchy.

The movie aside from Ledger’s phenomenal performance felt like Heat. It had that blue/grey tone. I truly love the real world feel that Nolan has given to the Batman series. It is so tangible. None of the characters or story lines seem overly comic bookish and all of the scenes look so real. It is a crime drama with some very interesting costumes. Christopher Nolan’s decision to stay away from the CGI FX that have been overdone in the recent past, was a fresh feel for the comic world. The gadgets and vehicles are cool, but not overly emphasized and therefore do not detract from the more important story to be told. The action sequences are so freaking cool.

The supporting cast held their own. Maggie Gyllenhaal was acceptable and filled the shows of Katie Holmes nicely. Oldman, Freeman, and Caine gave reliably great performances. Aaron Eckhart proved he could pull of a difficult character transition and his Harvey Dent character left nothing to be desired. Wow on the look of the Two Face! Where the movie left a little to be desired was in the Batman. I am a huge fan of Christian Bale. I think that he is an extraordinary actor, but, and I repeat, but he does not own Batman yet. He is completely devoid of humor and his cold emotionless attitude never leaves room for the audience to really root for him. I do not, however, doubt that he will become the Batman in his next film, if Mr. Nolan returns. The door is left wide open for Batman to return to the big screen in a truly entertaining way. He has to own the character. He has to become so confident in his own Batmanedness, that when the name Batman is mentioned, he is the first person you see, just like I know Heath Ledger will forever be The Joker!

This movie changed everthing we knew about Batman, comic book movies, and Heath Ledger.

Rating ***** - PISTASSA! Ok, ok, if you don’t see this one, there’s likely some reason, like you’re blind and deaf!

Last year’s Oscars were swept by dark films like No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood, now this summer’s biggest blockbuster is also its blackest. Remember how The Godfather II took the evil and depravity of the first movie and made it almost unbearable? That is in effect what director Christopher Nolan does with the sequel to Batman Begins. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Any attempt to do right carries with it unforeseen consequences. The Dark Knight is the milieu that results when those consequences become too much to handle.

In the wake of the events in Batman Begins, Gotham is all stirred up, and Bruce Wayne spends nights rounding up tubby imposters. He must now continue to intimidate criminals, but also control the atmosphere of vigilante justice he has created. When a fearless public servant appears in Gotham’s new D.A., Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Bruce Wayne begins to wonder if he shouldn’t hand the reigns of public protector over to this legitimate hero and role model. In the meantime Harvey Dent and the Batman linked by the unflappably good Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) form an allegiance to reform the sin soaked city. But their renewed efforts drive a new, inexplicable evil into the limelight.

The film opens with clowns offing each other as they rob a bank. While the standard criminals are calling off deals and lying low, a new breed has become intrigued. Drug deals and embezzling money leave no room for imagination and personal flair, but subverting a city wide effort to reform and exposing the Batman – that requires creativity. So with no allies, no history (he gives several but contradicts himself), and no goal but to frustrate goals, the Joker slinks out from his den to turn everything on its head. Channeling 1930s gangsters and A Clockwork Orange, Heath Ledger has undoubtedly created one of the greatest villains ever to appear on screen. It is such a total transformation from the masculine, silent, brooding types he perfected in films like Brokeback Mountain, I’m Not There, and Candy that the actor disappears behind the creation. The twitches, the walk, flicking his hair, and licking his lips, crooning high then droning low, speaking fast then slow, with sadistic intonation and backwards logic, he is unplaceable, indecipherable, unrelatable, implacable – pure anarchy. This is acting at the Hannibal Lector, Jack Torrance level at least. The script doesn’t hurt either. The Joker has such great lines. He is obviously the smartest guy in the room and controls every scene with his cunning and wit. I don’t know if I have ever seen a villain this good.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne actually shares his leading role with Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger. He is upstaged and overshadowed by them, both in the script and in terms of performances, but then Batman is upstaged and overshadowed in different capacities by both Harvey Dent and the Joker. This inadequacy is the demon Wayne must struggle with in the film. The Dark Knight makes it very clear that Batman is overmatched and questioning his vocation. “People are dying. What would you have me do?” he implores of Alfred. His only answer, “Endure . . . be the outcast . . . make the choice that no one else will face - the right choice.”

A great strength of The Dark Knight as a sequel to Batman Begins is that it deals with completely new themes. The first film was about fear, the second is about chaos. This is part of what makes Batman the most interesting of superheroes. He is anything but one-dimensional. The Joker’s terror attacks so deeply challenge Gotham’s moral crusaders that by the middle of the film everyone is resorting to terror tactics and torture to find the truth. But the Joker has obscured it too completely, and the good men must try to do what’s right while it remains fuzzy and out of focus. 

As a result of all this the movie is both exhilarating and exhausting. There is action, a lot of action – intense, unremitting, fast-paced action. But this is top-shelf, hard-hitting stuff without the stench of CGI. It is so visceral. Batman gliding through Hong Kong at night, and leaping from the top level of a parking garage to crush a van as it passes below were my favorites. In a lesser film all this action would be too much, but the drama is so tied up in it, and the characters are so compelling, that we do not loose sight of them even amidst the explosions. As Harvey Dent lay tied up, facedown, throbbing for breath in a pool of oil I really, really, wanted him to be OK.

Many have criticized its hectic cutting and manic pace. But, you see, The Dark Knight had to have hectic cuts and a manic pace to tell its story. The presence of the Joker turns everything to chaos. There is no way to cut an evenly paced, neatly climactic film with this Joker around. Although it is exhausting it would not have worked any other way. Just like you cannot finish The Godfather II or There Will Be Blood without feeling the weight of evil and corruption, you cannot walk out of The Dark Knight without the swirling cameras and frenzied action creating in you a little of the Joker’s insanity. In this way we get a taste of what Bruce Wayne must be feeling – that is good film making. 

Every aspect of the film deserves comment – the costumes, the set designs, the effects, the editing, the camera work, the razor-sharp, glistening photography, and the sterling cast. This is the kind of film-making that needs to happen. Cutting-edge, but old-school, shot outdoors on location in the weather and city streets with stunt doubles and real explosions. We should all thank Nolan and crew for a truly cinematic experience.

Harvey Dent tells us that the night is darkest just before the dawn. This is that darkest night. Will there even be a dawn? The Joker at times seems more than a match for Batman, and by the end I’m not sure he wasn’t. In a chilling game of chicken Batman flinches – the Joker, for once, doesn’t twitch. The ending of the film is tragic, bold, and open ended. Both sides score a sort of triumph, and both sides suffer defeat, there is no clear winner. This is how it has to be when you deal with a fathomless evil. There has never been a superhero franchise as compelling or a comic book adaptation so thought provoking as Christopher Nolan’s Batman.

Alan just wrote a new review for The Dark Knight, and gives it a C+. Read his review here.

Wow.  The wow is referencing how shocked I am by the consistently awesome reviews of The Dark Knight that are floating all around right me now.  Many may read this review and say, “this guy is a negative jerk that just wants to go against the grain simply because he wants to show what a free thinker he is.”  Honest to God that is not the deal here.  I wanted to be as blown away as I was supposed to be, but it just didn’t happen.  Alright then, that said, The Dark Knight isn’t bad, its just not that great either.  Sorry, the latest Batman incarnation is not that great.  It does appear that, to some extent, a success con is being pulled- making people believe this film is a masterpiece before they even hit the seats.  Read the rest of the review here

As has been noted many times when my guest spots on the /Filmcast (Which, excitingly for Kevin Bacon potential, has Kevin Smith as its guest on Monday night) end before the group gets into discussing the latest new release, I'm not much of a moviegoer. When my own visual media renaissance hit a few years ago, Television was just what I gravitated towards - it happened in such a way that I'm still one of those people who has to pretend I've seen various classics I haven't. Just last night I pulled I "I think I've seen parts of X" when, in reality, I'm clueless.

But, like a whole boatload of other people, I headed to the theatres last evening to check out the biggest film of the summer. And like any multi-layered epic film of this nature, I do have a lot of things to say, but I don't really want to write a review. Cultural Learnings is, at the end of the day, a television blog, and part of my life's curse is comparing everything I read/watch to some sort of television example.

So, I decided that I'd kill two birds with one stone. I'm halfway through Season Four of The Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns' HBO masterpiece, and I see a lot of connections between the construction of that series and what Nolan has accomplished with The Dark Knight. I'm not suggesting that the two shows are identical, or that Nolan achieves the effect or quality of The Wire's five season long story arcs within a single two and a half hour film, but rather that some of the decisions and emphases he makes render this story as much an exercise of scale as Simon's visionary work.

And both in the world of television crime series and superhero cinema, this type of scale is unprecedented.

[Note: Yes, believe it or not, I am going to try to discuss both of these examples without any major spoilers. This means that, while I'm going to talk about themes and characters in both series, I don't plan on going into major details on either of them. So, people who have seen both can fill in the blanks, and maybe those who've only seen one may be intrigued by the other.]

In Terms of Scale

What sets The Wire apart from other crime shows on television is its emphasis on all impacts of a particular event or scenario. It is not a story of the police fighting against the Baltimore Drug Trade, but a show about the expansive impacts of that trade on the people fighting it, the people trapped inside of it, and the people who are simply innocent bystanders caught up in a game they're not playing.

Similarly, The Dark Knight isn't a film about one man's crusade against crime. It is, instead, about Gotham's reaction to the rise of crime and, in particular, the introduction of the diabolical terrorism of the Joker. Batman is but one of the many players we see - whether it's new district attorney Harvey Dent, Lieutenant Gordon, Rachel Dawes, or even the people of Gotham themselves. The Joker's terrorism impacts all of them, and such a broad viewpoint takes this from being a traditional story of good vs. evil to a whole new level of social inspection.

In Terms of Character

While some have criticized The Wire for lacking traditional character development, what it allows is for later seasons to go beyond its set of main characters into something deeper and more thematically interesting. Because the expected actions and reactions of various characters were already in place, Simon and Burns were able to use their time in establishing new characters in relation to them. By constantly adding to the universe, you get a very complicated but rewarding structure wherein heroes are not always playing the hero and villains are not always plotting villainy.

For me, that's what Nolan has crafted with The Dark Knight. With Batman's character already in place thanks to the fantastic origin story of Batman Begins, the film is able to branch off into further time spent with characters like Harvey Dent, like The Joker, like Gordon without feeling we're missing part of Batman's story. This isn't a story about one character (Although The Joker comes closest) but rather about the ways that all of Gotham reacts. As a result, the story is as much about Dent's struggle to fight crime with his face showing to the world as it is about Batman's struggle to do so under a mask. We also, like The Wire, get a glimpse into the character of both sides: while we see the people fighting against criminality, we also see the criminals themselves and their own inner workings.

The Joker's Mirror Image

The character of Omar is a fan favourite on The Wire, a shotgun-toting, nursery rhyme whistling thief who steals from the drug kingpins and has his own moral code that doesn't pay attention to most of the rules we're aware of. He's not evil - his code includes not killing civilians, and he honours rules that he respects (Such as a Sunday truce). But to one side of the conflict, the drug fiends, he is an unpredictable monster who everyone fears and who no one should mess with. On the other side of the conflict, with the Police, he is willing to work within the system to help them out knowing that he will benefit from the sheer satisfaction of screwing over everyone else.

This is, in other words, the exact opposite of The Joker. The Joker is independent in many of the same ways, and shares his own moral code that neither side really doesn't understand or follow. But, he is evil, and he is an unpredictable monster for both sides even though he does help and associate with the criminals to an extent. Both characters share a commonality in that their actions force certain reactions within their respective settings: watching the ways various different characters deal with Omar is one of the best parts of The Wire, and in The Dark Knight watching Heath Ledger's stunning performance as the Joker force complicated decisions within the police department is just plain thrilling.

In Terms of Theme

One of the central themes of The Wire is the question of corruption, of whether or not the Baltimore Drug Trade's corruption is capable of spreading so far as to be unstoppable. To steal a line from TDK, actually, it's about whether or not the battle against drugs is an issue of an unstoppable force facing an immovable object. The battle will keep raging (And rage it does), but no matter the battlefield (Whether on the streets, in the courtroom, or in the school system) no outright winner can be declared, and no side can back down. The Wire is about investigating why that is, and what motivates the people involves to be who they are, to become who they may not have wanted to become, and to end up as part of this game.

And, like the line itself says, The Dark Knight is about when, why, and how the various people end up in the position they're in. The Joker is, ultimately, the lynchpin moment for these people: with his inclusion, his terrorist actions going far beyond the line of criminal behaviour, forces people like Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent to consider why they do what they do. Like much of his activity, The Joker is all about social experimentation - the film, however, is not about him as a character but rather how his corruption spreads to the point of compromising the larger battle. While Ledger's death is a tragedy, the Joker's arc in this story is largely complete at the end of the Dark Knight - the damage is done the second he arrives, and the rest is about its impact on the rest of Gotham.

Defying Genre Expectations

In the television crime drama genre, there is no show quite like The Wire. In a genre now completely driven by the procedural dramas that have come to the point of oversaturation, something about The Wire just sticks out like a sore thumb. There are shows that operate in the same vein, and ones that also click in certain areas, but people going in expecting a Law & Order-type series will be in for a surprise, albeit a very pleasant one should they be open to it.

But it's nothing compared to what The Dark Knight does for the superhero genre. This is a film in which, outside of some technology leaps we normally associate with Batman anyways, reality dominates. There is nothing about The Joker that feels fake, in some way manufactured to create the type of dangerous situation that requires a superhero to swoop in and save the day. It's a film that trascends the idea of superheroism to the idea of simple heroism, a film with uses comic book mythology to speak to real world issues with a levity beyond anything before it.

And, like The Wire, it's because every plot point or character development has more than one reason. It's not an issue of one tragedy resulting in one reaction, but multiple variables combining to create new emotions and new intentions. The villains of the piece (I don't think I'm spoiling it if I pluralize that) are not two separate entities but rather two connected parts of a larger whole. Their battle is not just with Batman but with something far bigger, whether it's inner turmoil or simple psychosis (And that's presuming psychological damage that is never confirmed and, in some cases, contradicted by the Joker's clarity). While Superhero films are capable of having nuance and complexity, it has never been crafted on this level across both heroes and villains, or both plot and character.

They're both Really, Really Good

To put it simply, The Wire and The Dark Knight are both extremely engaging, thought-provoking, well-crafted pieces of television and cinema respectively. They feature amazing performances, complex moral structures, dynamic plotting, nontraditional narratives for their genres, fantastic character development, and a sense that what you're watching transcends its normal categories into being something that can stand up against any other form of media.

And while The Wire never had its chance to set television ratings record and emerge as a blockbuster success as The Dark Knight has (Already with the largest single day of all time from Friday), and it'll be a pity when both examples are ultimately shut out of their respective major award categories. Just as The Wire was never nominated for the Emmy for Best Drama Series, I don't feel that The Dark Knight could ever get a Best Picture nomination - this does not change, though, how deserving both would be of such honours. Neither is perfect, and there are plenty of things I could point out about The Dark Knight that might quibble with some of the above, but in terms of scale it's hard to argue with the impulse and impact of either.

So, this is my opinion - does anyone else have thoughts about The Dark Knight or The Wire that they want to get off their chest? Are they actually similar, or am I just taking two things I like and making them out to be similar so I have an excuse to write about them? If you want to discuss either example, although try to keep spoilers to a minimum if entirely possible, leave the comments below.

"Why So Serious?"

For anyone living in a box lately, The Dark Knight takes place about a year after Batman Begins. This time around, Batman [Christian Bale] teams up with Lieutenant Gordon [Gary Oldman] and Gotham's new District Attorney, Harvey Dent [Aaron Eckhart] - the guy many people believe - including Bruce Wayne - to be Gotham's white knight in his fearless attack on crime, rounding up mob bosses and cleaning up the streets. Things are going smoothly until a psychotic bank robber, soon known to a terrified Gotham as 'The Joker' [Heath Ledger] gets the upper hand and unleashes a new kind of chaos and terrorism on the city. The question is - why? According to Dent, "you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain." 

Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine reprise their roles as Lucius and Alfred. This time around, Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as Rachael Dawes. I thought she did a good job. That character is a tad on the annoying side for me, no matter who's playing her. But Maggie was very convincing and fit into the mix just fine. Both Eckhart and Ledger did stellar jobs, and Christian Bale ... well... he's perfect in this role. 

To say The Dark Knight is 'good' is an understatement. This movie was AMAZING. I already can't wait to see it again! There was so much more to it than I expected. I loved Batman Begins so much that I was actually worried this one wouldn't live up to expectations because the last one set the bar so high. I can honestly say they cleared the bar and kept going. I don't want to give anything away so I'm going to wrap this up. Just know that the story is brilliant, the acting was top notch and the effects - visual and stunts - were awesome. There was so much more to this story - this was a comic book movie that hit so many social and moral issues, making us think, while simultaneously taking us for a wild ride and even made us laugh here and there. This movie is long at 2 1/2 hours, but the pacing was dead on. I dare say this is the perfect summer blockbuster and I'm going to do it...

5 out of 5.

A first here at Movie[Crack]House. Also, it's worth mentioning that Christopher Nolan was at the helm again, the same guy who directed The Prestige and Memento. His resume isn't that long yet, but it's pretty impressive. I'm looking forward to many years of amazing movies from him.  =)  For those that enjoy a good movie score, my hubby informed me that The Dark Knight's soundtrack is pretty similar to the Batman Begins soundtrack - except no more weird latin bat names for song titles, so you can actually figure out which scene they go to. Beware of the 'special edition' soundtrack - it doesn't have any additional songs to the regular one - it just has 'collectible' cards - so if you're only interested in the music, save the $5 bucks and skip the special edition. 

And finally... I have to mention Batman's 'other' car - the gorgeous Lamborghini  Murcielago LP640. Read more about it here: Jalopnik.com

Add'l Info: Released: Jul 18, 2008 • Runtime 152 minutes • Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace • Movie Photo by Steven Vaughn via allmoviephoto.com • Car photo by Edo Competition via jalopnik.com

“Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moon light?”
-The Joker (Jack Nicholson in Batman)

For several decades, the Joker was maybe the most definable super-villain in all of popular culture. His iconic look, facetious attitude, and troubling history were standard knowledge among ten-year-old boys. But, not in a million years could creator Bob Kane have imagined where Hollywood would take the Batman character—much less the Joker. Over time, outgoing comic creators like Dave McKean, Frank Miller, and of course Alan Moore tried to show just how versatile this clown could be. The possibilities seemed endless and the character’s back-story was always changing.

But in 1989, Jack Nicholson and Tim Burton showed the world once and for all the true nature of the Joker. The Joker’s creation story fit perfectly with Batman’s. To this day, it is difficult for most people to imagine someone besides the Joker killing Bruce Wayne’s parents. Jack Nicholson showed the world that the Joker is not a criminal, but simply an artistic lunatic. Not only did the film define the Joker, but Jack Nicholson to a certain extent as well—and this is a man who had been in everything from war movies to B-horror films to existentialist New Wave. After Burton and Nicholson’s psycho-pop art interpretation, the Joker seemed untouchable. If someone were to use that character in a film ever again, they would have no choice but to totally re-invent him.

Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight took the character to its absolute extreme. However, it was also the next logical step in the historical evolution of the character. The criminal clown had been growing progressively more twisted and nihilistic over the years. The Dark Knight portrayed him at his darkest and most malicious yet—not to mention most criminally successful. Conversely, Jack Nicholson’s Joker exemplified a total divorce from reality, such that chaos and creative expression were often one in the same. He always seemed very concerned with how he presented himself to people—perfect appearance, witty retorts, making a great entrance and so forth. Yet, for all his twisted planning and scheming, he never came across as terribly evil. The face of Ledger’s Joker is chaotic and disheveled, not trying to impress as much as intimidate.

In several respects, Ledger’s Joker was very much the opposite of Nicholson’s. Despite the continued witty dialogue, gaudy purple suit, and all-encompassing hatred of Batman, Ledger’s Joker was actually very grounded in reality. For all his criminal antics, he had no reservations or insecurities about his role in society. “I’m like a dog chasing cars,” he confesses, “I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one.” Where Nicholson came off as a total psychopath, Ledger portrayed the clown as more of deranged criminal mastermind. But regardless of how grounded in reality he may have been, neither he nor Nicholson ever showed loyalty or respect toward those working for them. As a henchman of the Joker, you are like a screwdriver: expendable, generic, and of limited use.

Despite these traceable character developments, Ledger’s Joker was still very much a unique re-invention. He gave the Joker a voice he had never shown before—a voice of self-confidence, of expert criminal intelligence, and of pride in what he does for Gotham City. What he mainly lost from the Nicholson depiction was the overwhelming theatricality. There were only two instances where Ledger’s Joker shows his more creative, expressive side (aside from the make-up, obviously). First, in the highly publicized hospital scene featuring Ledger in a nurse’s gown and wig. Also, in three different scenes throughout the film, the Ledger’s Joker tells three different stories of how he got the scars on his face. Other than that, the “take thy beak from out my heart” Joker is left in the eighties. It is a good thing too, as Ledger could not have executed that sort of role as well as Nicholson.

The two Jokers did, however, share a passion for toying with innocent lives to prove or promote something. There is a scene in The Dark Knight where the Joker constructs a “social experiment,” involving two boats out on the River—one full of innocent civilians and one full of inmates. Passengers aboard each ship are given a detonating device that will destroy the other ship. Coming in on both ships’ intercom systems, the Joker warns the passengers that their friends on the other ship may not be as noble or rational as they. In a very memorable and riveting scene, the Joker forces the citizens of Gotham to rethink their own priorities.

Somewhat similarly, the famous parade scene from the 1989 Batman shows Nicholson’s Joker showering Gotham City in money. “Hubba hubba hubba, money money money, who can ya’ trust?!” he exclaims. Even Gotham’s two key reporters, Vikki Vale (Kim Basinger) and Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl), comment on “Gotham’s greed.” Once the immense crowd has been properly wooed over by the Joker, he confesses that he now plans to kill every last one of them on the spot. Both scenes illustrate the Joker’s undying obsession with control.

In The Dark Knight, that measure of control is often dependant on the Joker’s ability to predict the actions or responses of Gotham’s most powerful citizens. At a banquet honoring Gotham’s up-and-coming District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the Joker crashes in to find, amongst other VIPs, Dent’s girlfriend and assistant Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The Joker asks Dawes where Dent is, knowing she will not comply. When Dawes slugs the Joker in the nose, it allows the Joker to create a great scene in front of everyone. As he holds a knife inside Dawes’ mouth, he tells one of the three classic stories about how he got his scars. The Joker knows Batman will show up any second, yet all the clown really cares about it creating pandemonium and exerting control.

Once again, this display of male dominance harkens back to a scene from Batman in which Nicholson’s Joker forces reporter Vikki Vale to have dinner with him. “What do you want from me?” Vale asks, to which the Joker replies, “Oh, little song, little dance, Batman’s head on a lance.” The Joker knows Vale will not help him, but interrogates her for the purpose of feeling control and proving his dominance. Both Jokers know they could never beat Batman in a fistfight, so they find other ways to feel on top.

The study of each Joker’s relationship with Batman proves yet another interesting similarity between Ledger and Nicholson. The culmination of the two freaks’ relationship, in each film, is the point at which they reach an understanding of their similarity. “You complete me!” Heath Ledger tells Christian Bale, in a scene reminiscent of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, “The Killing Joke.” The Batman equivalent of this is where Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton realize how they created each other (a bit of a long story, if you are not familiar). An even greater similarity is in why both Jokers get so much enjoyment out of mentally abusing and harassing Batman. Neither would get nearly as much enjoyment out of actually killing Batman, as they do just from seeing how much they get under his skin. Again, the main idea behind both Jokers is a search for control, not a struggle for victory.

Where each Joker goes once they attain that control is where another key difference arises between the two. Ledger’s Joker, as seen in both the boat experiment and banquet crash scenes, aimed to prove a point once he had control of a situation. Throughout The Dark Knight, the Joker threatened to continue his rampage unless Batman would remove his mask and reveal himself. Exposing the “winged vigilante” for the mad billionaire he really is would not have killed Batman, but ruin his reputation and give the Joker an immeasurable feeling of control.

At face value, Nicholson’s Joker may have seemed more immature in what he sought beyond control. As previously mentioned, the ’89 Joker lived by no code of morals or ethics typical of the everyday world. Therefore, it would have been illogical for him to care about actually proving something to Gotham City, like Ledger’s Joker. The parade scene with the money illustrated the Joker’s lust for control. Once he had that control, we could plainly see his sole use for that control: promoting his own image. The appearance, the theatricality—the very concept of the Nicholson Joker is essentially a vain propaganda campaign. This self-obsessed conformity he of course imposed through Smile-X—a lethal drug that left the victim with “a grin, again and again.” As opposed to the Ledger Joker, the Nicholson Joker strove to actually become what Nicholson himself labeled his performance 15 years later, in Esquire magazine: “a work of Pop Art.”

In conclusion, the film world is now left in the same predicament as in 1989. If someone were to use the Joker in a film ever again, they would have no choice but to totally re-invent him. Yet, after the differing versions given by Jack Nicholson and the late Heath Ledger, where else could they possibly take that character? Perhaps, some day, some one creative and talented enough will think up a new face for the Joker. Until then, fans are left with two of film history’s most memorable performances. The films from which they came will never get old and will still be cherished and discussed when Ben Affleck’s Daredevil and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Iceman have been consigned to oblivion. Although Jack Nicholson may be remembered for many things, the film world will forever hear the echoes of Heath Ledger laughing in the dark.

Bleakly will resume Monday or the point during the weekend that I finish outlining Act Two.

Hit the jump for my review of The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight:

Iron Man is the best superhero movie of the summer.

But.

The Dark Knight is the best supervillain movie of the summer. Which is to say, there's no way that Bale, even in his immense badassery, can begin to compare with Downey's fast-talking charm. Bale broods, he's badass, he is everything Batman needs to be (and everything Wayne needs to be as well.)

But that's not where this movie succeeds. This movie takes the concepts of the one-dimensional villain who blows crap up for fun, or the murdering psychopath who enjoys killing, or the greedy bastard who's in it for the money, and turns them all right on their heads without a thought. We've seen those villains before. We've seen them and I retroactively remain unimpressed. Look at Iron Man's villain: A greedy, Machiavellan parody of a father figure. That's... that's not a villain in the sense of true, palpable evil.

Let me say this in the most certain terms I can use. Let me say this in a way that throws down the glove in a way that I haven't seen anyone else make this statement.

Ledger's Joker gives Darth Vader a run for his money as the greatest movie villain of all time.

I am dead serious. In the first thirty seconds the Joker was on-screen he did something so unexpected, so gruesome, suddenly and without hesitation, something in short so unabashedly evil that he had me whispering "oh fuuuuuuuuuck" in total awe.

And I stayed that way for the rest of the movie.

Out of Ten Stars: GO SEE IT TWICE.

You've changed things... forever. There's no going back. Eso es lo que le dice The Joker (Heath Ledger) a Batman (Christian Bale) y bien podría decírselo ahora a Christopher Nolan, ya que The Dark Knight está rompiendo records casi a diario. En su noche de esteno en EE.UU. recaudó 18 millones de dólares en las funciones de medianoche. En su primer día en EE.UU. logró llegar a los 66 millones de dólares. Se piensa que llegará a los 200 millones este fin de semana, sin contar aún las enormes ganancias internacionales. El 17 de Julio, un día después del estreno en Chile, The Dark Knight alcanzó sorprendentemente el 4to lugar en el Top 250 de las Mejores Películas de Todos los Tiempos de IMDB, lo cual consigné en la crítica, justo por detrás de The Godfather 2. Pensé que bajaría paulatinamente a un puesto medio, sin embargo a 3 días de su estreno en Chile, día del estreno en EE.UU., la película llegó al tercer lugar. Pues bien, hoy, a 5 días de su estreno en Chile y 3 en EE.UU., The Dark Knight logró lo impensado, desbancó a The Godfather del 1er lugar que ostentaba desde mediados de los 90's, algo que jamás había ocurido.

The Godfather de Francis Ford Coppola llevaba más de una decada en el primer lugar de la IMDB, luego de desplazar a Star Wars, ahora ubicada en el 12º lugar. En 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King casi acaba con el reinado de la cinta de Coppola, al entrar en el ranking en el 2do lugar, sin embargo, bajó paulatinamente hasta quedar de forma definitiva en el puesto 14. The Dark Knight, tuvo una entrada un poco menos brutal que The Return of the King, aunque, luego de desplazar a Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (El Bueno, El Malo y El Feo) al 5to lugar, hace lo suyo con The Godfather: Part II, y ahora deja a The Shawshank Redemption en el tercer lugar y a The Godfather en el segundo. De todas formas creo que The Dark Knight bajará algunos lugares con el paso de los días, sin embargo, este logro solo viene a ratificar lo indicado por muchos que han salido sorprendidos del cine, que Christopher Nolan preparó una obra maestra de niveles épicos y aquí están los resultados. Y por lo menos para mi, si esta no es la mejor película de todos los tiempos, se acerca muchísimo a ella... bah, para mi lo seguirá siendo aunque baje en el ranking. Siempre he dicho que el valor de una película se lo damos cada uno, pues bien, en mi lista mental The Dark Knight está en la punta porque me generó tantas emociones, que puedo decir, honestamente, que ha sido la experiencia más fantástica que he vivido en el cine.

The Dark Knight was an excellent movie.  The movie was so good, that I was only aware of my problems with it after the fact.  Let me say that again: I was certain that I was going to be let down by this movie all the way through, but I never was, even though I had problems with it.

And interestingly?  The problems were exactly what I predicted.  Naturally, Spoilers follow.

And no, not Stephanie Brown.

My primary problem was with The Joker.  Heath Ledger's performance was uncanny, and fantastic.  I don't know if they give post mortem Oscars, may he rest in peace, but I think he deserves a nomination.  He was fantastically creepy, scary and insane, all of which are necessary for a good Joker.

There were many things he was not, however.  He wasn't zany or whimsical or even all that clownish apart from his white skin (the movie never said his skin was bleached, everyone just kept saying he used paint.  This was never confirmed or denied at any point, so who's to say?  I'm falling in the "his skin was bleached" camp.)  He was funny, sure.  He was hilarious at times.  But this was not a Joker who would wear a flower pinned to his coat for the purpose of spraying acid.  This wasn't a Joker who would orchestrate ludicrously complicated song and dance routines to break into while evading police and/or Batman.

The ideal Joker is dark and menacing, sure, but he's also playful.  The Joker presented in The Dark Knight was dark through and through, and he only rarely chuckled mindlessly (he never cackled, either.  I want my Joker to cackle.)

Now, I want to reiterate: I loved this film.  I'll probably see it again.  I went in expecting to be the harshest Joker critic imaginable, and in retrospect I'm still coming down pretty hard on this portrayal.  But even so!  This is a movie worth watching, a movie that every self-respecting Batfan needs to see.  If you liked the first one, then you should like this one as well.

Now the tough question for myself is whether I liked this more or less than Wall-E (which I should also review soon, despite it being so late after its release.)

The following is my review of The Dark Knight, there will be some spoilers - if you do not wish to be spoiled, do not keep reading.

You have Christian Bale - one of the industries secret gems until a few years ago. Who while he may pick some questionable roles to play on the screen, always gives a stellar performance. In truth, I think Steven Speilberg was genius and psychic when he picked this young actor to be the main character in Empire of the Sun. Alone, mysterious and intense from the beginning. Then you add in Heath Ledger, another gem of the industry but not so secret. He rampaged onto the US movie scene with his teen romance flick - 10 Things I Hate About You (one of my fav mind candy movies) and into the hearts of teenage girls in America.

Both of these actors have a precesnce of the screen that is undenable when they are seperated. Bring them together and its a rocky roller coaster you can't look away from. Especially when they are playing against each other.

"You Complete Me"
While I watched the movie I could not help but realize, the best scenes in the movie were when these two were on the screen together. Fighting one another. Being the two sides of a coin (oh! Maybe there was another reason to bring that 2nd villian into the movie... hum, smart Mr. Nolan very smart). The director was smart that most of the time when they were on the screen together - no one else was present. It was smart because anyone else who happened to be there seemed to lack where the other two shined. I think they brought out the best in each other as much as the Joker and the Batman bring the worst out of each other.

"Question First, Agree Later"
I was kind of doubtful when Ledger was first cast. Could he handle the Joker? The character, as my mom so kindly put it is the opitime of evil and insanity. So, when he was announced I sat down and re watched every Ledger movie I could think of. And they were right. Last night confirmed it. Heath Ledger was the Joker in this movie. Where he was solemn and stoic in Brokeback Mountain - he was the complete opposite as the Joker. You could see the joy in his eyes when the Joker set Gotham on their toes during the film. Not because he was Heath during this time but he was truly the Joker. Or at least he made me believe it and I could not help but shed a few tears that he is gone.

And for me, it was one of the best performances by Ledger to date and if the Oscars will finally recognize the honesty in comic book movies and the acting that is in them... Ledger will once again be nominated for an Oscar for his performance in a film.

"The Toss of a Coin"
I mentioned earlier about Nolan using a second villain to be tied into the epic story of the Joker and Batman. For those versed in the comic book world, its widely known that without the Batman, there is no Joker. And without the Joker, there is no Batman. They are equals on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Just as Lex Luther is as smart as Superman is strong to balance the hero with his nemesis. Thus you have the Joker to the Batman... One wants order and justice, the other the complete opposite. Both seemingly the opposite sides of one coin. And they both consider Gotham their city.

I found it interesting that the extra villan that Nolan thru into the mix is the one Batman villain who stands in the middle of the Joker and Batman. Two Face.. now, I love the character of Two Face, he is one of my favourite villains and I always wondered why and now I understand a little bit more then why. Here is a man who starts out in the Batman saga as the shining beacon of hope for Gotham City. The unmasked man who can bring true justice for its citizens without fear. Only to be turned into what he hates. Constantly at odds with himself. Making his own destiny or chance with a flip of a coin. And with that same coin choosing the fate of those he hates and his enemies. There is something balanced with his character. And he is a wonderful tool in this film.

But what about the actor who portrays him in The Dark Knight? Aaron Eckhart? Does he pull it off? Yes, yes he does. Brilliantly. He plays the dashing, charming DA who has no fear when he faces evil very well. And you can slowly see him breaking down