Even as I sit here with my black Count von Count t-shirt, which I proudly wore to the screening that I attended today for
The Dark Knight, I can honestly say that this is the greatest movie (not
comic book movie) I have ever seen in my whole life!
It might've been just the special IMAX screen that we saw it on, but the movie just thrilled me from start to finish in so many ways. It was quite a heart-pounding experience that I won't forget anytime soon. I was engulfed in the action, as my seat literally shook from all the explosions, gun blasts, and even the fierce blows exchanged by Batman and his foes.
And Heath Ledger...OMG! Wasn't that just the BEST performance you've ever seen? I mean I was practically rolling on the floor with laughter over his Joker (it was a million times more brilliant than Jack's, Mark Hamill's, and even Caesar Romeo's 60s performance combined). I share a lot of displeasure with most who praise his performance on the fact that this will be unfortunately his final acting job as not only the Joker but any other role he steps into. I felt a great deal of loss at the end of the movie, watching him get the last laugh (literally). This was the best d**n performance ever, Heath. Thank you.
Okay. On a brighter note, Christian Bale's performance as Batman this time around was absolutely better than the first. He definitely brought more maturity to the character--more so than he did for Bruce Wayne, which he kept the funny playboy attitude from
Batman Begins to hide the darker side that is "The Dark Knight" (brilliantly done, in my opinion). The exchange between him and Alfred (Michael Caine's still got it down flawlessly in this one) was fun (I love how in the scene where Bruce is considering revealing himself, he says to Alfred, "I'll tell 'em the whole thing was your idea." LOL!). Bale is officially my favorite Batman, with Keaton at a close second and Kilmer on third.
And where do I begin with Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent (a.k.a. "Two-Face")? Throughout the film, I'd been bracing myself for when this man would make the turn--I'd seen the photos ahead of time to see how "far" he would transform into the half-flesh/half-scarred vigilante. And my goodness did he ever bring the character to life in such a "vonderful" way. It almost reminded me of how deep his character in
The Black Dhalia was--it was just about the same performance, only a lot deeper and much darker. Eckhart was just as frightening as Ledger, but not nearly that much. It was a huge shame to see what happened to him at the end, but it was for the best. Man! It sure as heck was "The Long Halloween" all over again!
And let's not forget Gary Oldman's return as Jim Gordon. I was cheering when I finally heard that famous name come out of the Mayor of Gotham's mouth: "Commissioner Gordon"! He deserved it, after coming up with such a masterpiece of a plan for the Joker's capture. Watching that entire chase scene in IMAX was awesome (seriously, if you haven't seen this film in it, find the nearest theater it's playing in that format and see it--I promise it's worth every penny you spend). The last confrontation between him, his family, Dent, and Batman was one of the most intense scenes in the film (and it didn't even have the Joker in it, haha!).
Seriously, I'd almost forgotten that this was a comic book halfway into the film. My mind had already processed all of the characters to distinguish them from the comics to the film. But the performances made me realize that this was
not your average comic book movie. Christopher Nolan brought so much on the table for this one that it has undoubtedly surpassed even the first film, which I didn't have the great pleasure of seeing back when it came out in 2005.
Be warned, the critics, fans, and stars alike are not kidding when they say this film is not for kids. They are much better off watching the Batman cartoons or Adam West show until they're old enough to see this marvelous movie. Haha!
EDIT: I meant to also add that it was fun seeing Cillian Murphy back as Jonathan Crane (a.k.a. "The Scarecrow"). Something told me that guy wasn't completely dead--I mean all he got was a tiny shock to the face. LOL!