Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Dark Knight




Runtime: 152 minutes

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal

From: Warner Brothers

Here we go, talking about a much-beloved film that I certainly enjoyed at the time but hadn't really watched in full since then. Some people at the time bashed the movie for various foibles; when it came to plot contrivances and how things seemed to have been convenient in how elaborate plans happened to prograss and how many things needed to happen in a row and they did... that is understandable. Some things after the big hospital explosion are kind of dumb.

But you know what, after seeing it on the big screen again, I still dug it a lot. The story is rather mature and complex in dealing with such things as crime, morality, unpredictibility, luck, corruption, and what have you. I am (mostly) able to excuse the dumb stuff as I so enjoy the ride. From the awesome bank robbery at the beginning to the big showdown at the end, much of it is quite entertaining. There's high drama, some comedy, and some thrilling action scenes. The general story is pretty great in all the things it discusses, including Batman hiding behind an identity and how the psychopathic Joker has such an issue with that.

All in all the performances are at least good. The regulars in the series are cool, and so is Maggie replacing Katie Holmes. Eckhart is underrated as Harvey Dent, a guy who should have been the true hero of Gotham but he was brought down by The Joker. And while I expected this going in, Ledger's performance as The Joker was still awesome as when I saw it four summers ago. Who knows what could have happened had Heath not OD'ed a few years ago and he could have returned to the role in The Dark Knight Rises. If only...

What else can I say about a film that everyone has seen and is beloved by many? I am happy that I was able to see it again in a theatre and I did not end up turning against the movie. At least in my opinion it holds up and it's clearly the best of the Nolan trilogy. Who knows where the Batman series will go now. Of course there will be a new one without Nolan involved. Will it be wackier? If so I hope it's not too cartoony; we don't need another Batman & Robin.

I'll be back Wednesday night with something completely different.

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