The Dark Knight

[Twin-Skies]

I think it's safe to say that this movie will rank up there with the greatest movies of all time. It starts out as a superhero movie and ends up so much more. As in really, really more.

This Batman is like the grit and brooding to Iron Man's flash, flair and flamboyance. Christian Bale was solid as the Dark Knight. I realized the raspy voice which I didn't like in the first film was an aural manifestation of the very idea of Batman: he was a character distinct from Bruce Wayne, and his main tool, at least in this series, was the fact that he could intimidate greatly. The Batman had to be dark, scary. He had to bark at his opponents, and when needed, bite.

But as everyone says, this was Heath Ledger's movie. Of course his recent death increased the publicity of the role, but even if he was still alive now I would say that this is one of his best performances ever. In fact, I would say that this is the best Joker, ever. I don't get why some people said Jack Nicholson would have done a great job, either - his Joker was not dark and twisted enough for the film. While Mr. Nicholson was all comic-booky and fantastical in the original Batman, Heath Ledger's Joker was real. He's the reason some people are afraid of clowns. You could feel that his Joker could really exist in real life, and that's scary for the audience. Everything about him was there - he had the disheveled hair, the running makeup, the scars, the mismatched clothes, the tongue mannerisms, the pinched voice, the insane laughter, and the frighteningly real conclusions. And he pulled it off so, so, so well. Just... wow. I have no more words.

What I think was overshadowed by Mr. Ledger's death was Aaron Eckhart's performance. He was really good as Harvey Dent, and you could feel the transition from himself to Two Face even before the physical transformation took place. The anger was there, it was building up.

Like my former teacher said, this movie had the layers which all successful movies have. There was so much meat to the story, so many themes that were explored (justice, duty, the almighty gray area in morality), and I think each one was given enough exposition without it being too contrived. Definitely a well-done script.

The score was fantastic too. It really heightened the tension even more, especially in the scenes where a character was about to make a big decision.

I find it hard to think of any way in which Christopher Nolan can outdo himself with another one. With Heath Ledger's recent immortalization by the movie and his subsequent death, will there be any actor brave enough to take on this performance of a lifetime? That actor would have a LOT of people to convince. Also, I can't really see any more possibilities to go on from here story-wise (flashbacks will seem kind of backward at this point). Add to that Mr. Nolan's tendency to focus on things that could happen, that could be reality (meaning no super/subhumans or overly-sci fi stuff), and you wave goodbye to the Penguin, Tempel Fuget and Clayface.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind if this did turn out to be the last Nolan Batman film - it's shaping up to be so legendary, waaaay beyond the levels of 300 and Iron Man, that anything following it could be disappointing.

If I could cry over just one film for the year, I definitely would on this one even if there weren't any tear-jerking scenes, just because it's that good.

Bravo Nolan. Brave Bale. Bravo Eckhart. Bravo Ledger.

Now that I think about it, when I look back at all the previous portrayals of Joker in the cartoons, comics (barring Miller's works), and TV series, I found it hard to believe that such a comedic character would have given the bat such much trouble.

I mean C'mon! He felt more like a washed up comedian than a real criminal mastermind. To quote Terry from Batman Beyond:

So you fell in a tank of acid, got your skin bleached and decided to become a supervillain. What? You couldn't get a job as a rodeo clown?

Then came Ledger's Joker. Sure he's still funny, but that's only the icing to a sick, twisted yet brilliant mind. In short, The Dark Knight's version of the clown feels like a genuine archnemesis for the caped crusader.