Movie Event Of The Year Doesn't Disappoint
"The Dark Knight" (2008)
Directed by: Christopher Nolan (Insomnia, The Prestige, Batman Begins)
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Running Time: 152 minutes
Rut's Rating: 5/5
The cinematic event of the year has arrived. Audiences have waited for it, fans have stayed up all night blogging about it, and the most dedicated Bat-fans made custom trailers and posters for it. After much hype and critical praise, "The Dark Knight" is finally here.
Here's the thing about this movie - its not just a movie. Its as much of an attraction as your favorite rock band coming to your city or the circus rolling through town. You plan for it, you make all the necessary arrangements and you don't hide your excitement. Standing in line for over 90 minutes just to get into the screening room (where you wait another half-hour) should be the norm with acclaimed blockbusters such as this, which is what I ended up doing.
I'd been looking forward to "The Dark Knight" since the ending credits rolled on the previous installment in this new, grittier Batman franchise, "Batman Begins". So, in the three years and one month since that film's release, I've been witness to - and enjoyed - all of the hype, discussion and marketing surrounding the new film. Leaked on-set photos, YouTube videos and secret web sites and games orchestrated by the studios peaked my interest and raised my excitement to near-catastrophic levels. Finally, on July 19 I was witness to "The Dark Knight".
And my expectations were blown to smithereens.
This film not only works as an incredible super-hero adaptation, its also just an amazing crime epic. Films such as "Heat", "The Departed" and even "Once Upon A Time In The West" sprang to my mind after I left the theater. If the film hadn't been about a guy dressing up as a bat to fight crime, it'd work as a simple cops and robbers flick. At a time when comic book movies are becoming the summer norm, this one has come along and set the bar to a sky-high level. And I truly don't believe another super-hero film will ever come along that matches the intensity, excitement and emotional overdrive as "The Dark Knight".
Director Nolan takes what he did in "Batman Begins" and simply turns the crank way up. He delves further into the world of Gotham City, where crime is still rampant and citizens are more scared than ever to walk the streets. Nolan has cemented his legacy with this film and I don't think another director could make a Batman film as brilliantly as he has. What I like most about Nolan's vision of Batman is his sense of reality. Things never become too far-fetched and Gotham City's decaying state and criminal masterminds are reflections of the society we live in. Its this ability that Nolan has that has made him and his films hugely popular with the movie-going public.
The dream cast that makes up the Batman universe will impress many who see the film. Too often, actors in comic adaptations don't seem to take the roles as serious as they should, but this isn't the case with "The Dark Knight". Returning cast members from "Batman Begins" include Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Lt. Jim Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, while Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes. The new players in Gotham City include veteran character actor Eric Roberts as crime boss Salvatore Maroni, Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney Harvey Dent and of course, the late Heath Ledger as Batman's most famous enemy, The Joker.
The story, inspired by events in Batman graphic novels such as "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" goes as such: With crime starting to slowly decrease after the events of "Batman Begins", Batman intends on finally ridding Gotham City of its mob bosses in order to bring peace to the streets. But when a new criminal mastermind known as The Joker begins killing crime bosses and vows to continue his slaying until Batman reveals himself, the dark knight comes face-to-face with his greatest challenge and fights to stop the psychotic clown with help from Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, before chaos breaks out in Gotham once again.
Bale's second outing as Batman really caught my attention. In the first film, we're witness to him eventually becoming the Caped Crusader. In "The Dark Knight", he's full-fledged super-hero. He cuts down thugs with a flick of his fist and outsmarts entire gangs with intimidation and fear tactics. While all of it is impressive, throwing himself into a role is normal for Bale, who pushed his body to the limit in films such as "The Machinist" and "Rescue Dawn". The action sequences and fight scenes show that Bale will do whatever it takes to make it believable and exciting for the audience, of which it undoubtedly succeeds in doing. But the emotional side of Batman was what I liked the most. There are things that happen in this film that will show another side of the Gotham defender most people haven't seen, and I was caught up in the emotion of it myself.
Gary Oldman's performance is much more noticeable than it was in "Begins". His role as Jim Gordon is a favorite of mine; he's sympathetic, endearing and so darn trustworthy. Yet at the same time, he's frazzled and almost helpless in keeping the order in Gotham City. Oldman is one of my favorite actors and too often he's cast as the antagonist of a film. Its new to see him as a respectful police officer but its an impressive performance. He sees Batman as perhaps the only person he can trust, but at the same time can't afford to rely on just one man in a costume to bring balance to a corrupt city. Gordon knows what his responsibilities are and Oldman shoots this character full of emotion.
Aaron Eckhart's performance as Harvey Dent was arguably the most impressive. As even the most casual Bat-fan knows, Dent eventually transforms into the disfigured, split-personality sociopath known as Two-Face. And from start to finish in this 2 1/2 hour epic, we're witness to his fall from grace. He goes from a public-defending, widely-respected official in the Gotham court rooms to a horribly-burned, depressed soul with violent mood swings. All of this is very believable. Eckhart gives Dent a sense of realism that's hard to avoid, and his descent into madness is heartbreaking, even though knowledgeable movie-goers know its coming.
Of course, the thing that all the critics and fans are talking about is the late Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker. Ledger, who passed away suddenly from an accidental overdose of prescription medication last January is definitely the scene-stealer of "The Dark Knight". His interpretation of Batman's greatest nemesis is nothing short of a complete transformation and a testament to the powerful ability that the young actor had. His Joker is psychotic, intense and funny in that 'Is he joking or is he gonna kill me?' sort of way. Ledger has given the audience a gift; he reportedly checked himself into a hotel room for 30 days in order to study The Joker's character and perfect his mannerisms. The result is something that will be hard to top, if not impossible. That unstable voice, the unnerving body language, violent outbursts as sudden as a shark attack. Ledger's final completed performance is arguably his greatest, and perhaps no scene shows that more chillingly than his final confrontation with Batman, telling his foe "I think we're destined to do this forever, you and I". The Joker will always be there in Batman's mind. He's finally met his match after taking on crime bosses and gun-toting thugs. In The Joker, Batman sees the very thing that made him don the cape and cowl. With a performance that's being called Oscar-worthy, its a sad shame that Heath Ledger isn't here to enjoy his much-deserved success.
"The Dark Knight" is one of those rare gems in Hollywood. It fires on all cylinders and the resulting product is virtually flawless. An engrossing, expansive script, a visionary director, a top-notch cast, amazing cinematography, and a beautiful and sometimes haunting musical soundtrack. I bought advance tickets for the film online, waited out a thunderstorm in the theater parking lot and then sat in line for an hour and a half just to get my seat in the screening room.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
There's no such thing as the perfect film. But "The Dark Knight" comes closer than most.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Movie Event Of The Decade? In History?
Three years ago, the Batman franchise at Warner Bros was saved by director Christopher Nolan and his dream cast of actors, including Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. The previous two films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were highly criticized and even despised by moviegoers and especially by hardcore fans of the Caped Crusader. Under Nolan's vision, the superhero's origins were stripped down and brought back to its dark, tragic reality, showing us the man behind the mask who eventually chooses to defend a decaying society under a black cowl and mask.
Batman Begins, released in June 2005 was widely loved, and though its softer-than-hoped opening weekend of $48 million could have been higher, strong word-of-mouth carried it to over $200 million, a feat that hadn't been accomplished since Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. The film reinvigorated the Batman legend, and a whole new army of fans were born.
The closing moments of Begins provided audiences with a teasing glimpse of things to come. As Lt. Jim Gordon discusses crime escalation with Batman on the roof of the Gotham City Police Department, he hands the crimefighter with an evidence bag before telling him of a "bank robber, convicted of a double homicide, with a taste for the theatrics" much like Batman himself. When Batsy turns the bag over, its a joker card, in a cinematic moment for the ages as theaters full of people must've been gasping in delight and immediately discussing it with their friends. The Joker was about to have the spotlight shone on him, and Batman had met his next and possibly deadliest foe to date.
Now, three years and one month later, the most anticipated movie in perhaps the last decade or even EVER has been unleashed on cinemas across the world - The Dark Knight. Once again, Chris Nolan is the director and he brings back old faces and new ones for Batman's newest and most challenging adventure yet. Christian Bale is back as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman. A few new faces are among the players - Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes, Aaron Eckhart stars as Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent, who everyone knows will ultimately and tragically morph into the twisted, disfigured villain Two-Face, and of course, the late Heath Ledger is Batman's most famous enemy, and many have said steals the movie as The Joker.
The hype machine behind this film has been nothing short of gargantuan. It started over a year ago, when production on the film started in April 2007. Soon enough, on-set photos popped up online, shaky and far-away videos were uploaded on YouTube trying to spoil certain plot points, and much debate was discussed on characters such as The Joker and Harvey Dent. By the time an audio-only teaser trailer was released in August, the hype monster had gone into overdrive. Warner Bros engaged in viral marketing, setting up multiple websites that allowed visitors to decipher clues and play games in order to view exclusive photos from the film. The first official trailer, released in December when Warner Bros film I Am Legend came out showed footage of key events in the film, and the discussions continued. Warner also released the entire first scene of The Dark Knight, in a 6-minute prologue that showed The Joker and his henchmen robbing the Gotham City Bank.
Since then, more tireless efforts from Warner Bros have engaged thousands and thousands of fans in the film's marketing campaign. Personally, I didn't take part in any of the viral marketing, as I knew a lot more people with a lot more time on their hands would crack all the mysteries and puzzles that the studios gave them.
Doing all of this was, in my opinion a great move by the studios. It shows a real dedication to the film and gives people hope that there's still some fun to be had in the movie industry.
However, Heath Ledger's sudden and tragic passing in January of this year put a shadowy overcast on the film. The studio wasn't initially sure what to do, as Ledger's Joker was obviously a massive part of the marketing campaign for The Dark Knight. Encouragement from his family and loved ones enabled the campaigns to continue, in more of a celebration of his performance than simply showing viewers that he's "the bad guy" in the film. It was another smart move by the studio, as even Heath's most dedicated fans are anticipating his final completed performance in what many critics are already calling Oscar-worthy.
As for myself, I've been waiting for this film the moment that the ending credits rolled on Batman Begins. When I read in 2006 that Ledger was chosen as The Joker, it caught my attention and I knew right away he'd be a great choice. Then when I heard that Harvey Dent was included in the story, I became excited to see the events unravel that transforms Dent into Two-Face.
Through every photo, trailer and TV spot, The Dark Knight has fast become a priority in my life. Which is why I bought advance tickets online on Monday for Saturday's showing at Galaxy Cinemas in Saskatoon. I am absolutely ecstatic and the fact that the film's running time is 152 minutes almost makes me salivate in anticipation.
To celebrate, I plan on watching all 3 of my favorite Bat films - Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992) and Batman Begins (2005). That's over 6 hours of Bat-tastic action and I'm definitely lazing it up tonight.
Yes, its excessive.
Yes, its even a little insane.
But dammit...
IT'S BATMAN!!!
Keep 'em laughin',
- Derek
Batman Begins, released in June 2005 was widely loved, and though its softer-than-hoped opening weekend of $48 million could have been higher, strong word-of-mouth carried it to over $200 million, a feat that hadn't been accomplished since Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. The film reinvigorated the Batman legend, and a whole new army of fans were born.
The closing moments of Begins provided audiences with a teasing glimpse of things to come. As Lt. Jim Gordon discusses crime escalation with Batman on the roof of the Gotham City Police Department, he hands the crimefighter with an evidence bag before telling him of a "bank robber, convicted of a double homicide, with a taste for the theatrics" much like Batman himself. When Batsy turns the bag over, its a joker card, in a cinematic moment for the ages as theaters full of people must've been gasping in delight and immediately discussing it with their friends. The Joker was about to have the spotlight shone on him, and Batman had met his next and possibly deadliest foe to date.
Now, three years and one month later, the most anticipated movie in perhaps the last decade or even EVER has been unleashed on cinemas across the world - The Dark Knight. Once again, Chris Nolan is the director and he brings back old faces and new ones for Batman's newest and most challenging adventure yet. Christian Bale is back as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman. A few new faces are among the players - Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes, Aaron Eckhart stars as Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent, who everyone knows will ultimately and tragically morph into the twisted, disfigured villain Two-Face, and of course, the late Heath Ledger is Batman's most famous enemy, and many have said steals the movie as The Joker.
The hype machine behind this film has been nothing short of gargantuan. It started over a year ago, when production on the film started in April 2007. Soon enough, on-set photos popped up online, shaky and far-away videos were uploaded on YouTube trying to spoil certain plot points, and much debate was discussed on characters such as The Joker and Harvey Dent. By the time an audio-only teaser trailer was released in August, the hype monster had gone into overdrive. Warner Bros engaged in viral marketing, setting up multiple websites that allowed visitors to decipher clues and play games in order to view exclusive photos from the film. The first official trailer, released in December when Warner Bros film I Am Legend came out showed footage of key events in the film, and the discussions continued. Warner also released the entire first scene of The Dark Knight, in a 6-minute prologue that showed The Joker and his henchmen robbing the Gotham City Bank.
Since then, more tireless efforts from Warner Bros have engaged thousands and thousands of fans in the film's marketing campaign. Personally, I didn't take part in any of the viral marketing, as I knew a lot more people with a lot more time on their hands would crack all the mysteries and puzzles that the studios gave them.
Doing all of this was, in my opinion a great move by the studios. It shows a real dedication to the film and gives people hope that there's still some fun to be had in the movie industry.
However, Heath Ledger's sudden and tragic passing in January of this year put a shadowy overcast on the film. The studio wasn't initially sure what to do, as Ledger's Joker was obviously a massive part of the marketing campaign for The Dark Knight. Encouragement from his family and loved ones enabled the campaigns to continue, in more of a celebration of his performance than simply showing viewers that he's "the bad guy" in the film. It was another smart move by the studio, as even Heath's most dedicated fans are anticipating his final completed performance in what many critics are already calling Oscar-worthy.
As for myself, I've been waiting for this film the moment that the ending credits rolled on Batman Begins. When I read in 2006 that Ledger was chosen as The Joker, it caught my attention and I knew right away he'd be a great choice. Then when I heard that Harvey Dent was included in the story, I became excited to see the events unravel that transforms Dent into Two-Face.
Through every photo, trailer and TV spot, The Dark Knight has fast become a priority in my life. Which is why I bought advance tickets online on Monday for Saturday's showing at Galaxy Cinemas in Saskatoon. I am absolutely ecstatic and the fact that the film's running time is 152 minutes almost makes me salivate in anticipation.
To celebrate, I plan on watching all 3 of my favorite Bat films - Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992) and Batman Begins (2005). That's over 6 hours of Bat-tastic action and I'm definitely lazing it up tonight.
Yes, its excessive.
Yes, its even a little insane.
But dammit...
IT'S BATMAN!!!
Keep 'em laughin',
- Derek
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