This is spoiler free. And mostly pointless
without discussing things in depth, but I’m guessing that most of you still
have another 48 hrs to wait before you see it and thus will lap up anything TDK
related. I know I would.
A local cinema just showed The Dark Knight. They said it was
the world’s first showing for the public, I doubt that’s true but they might as
well toot their own horn whilst they can.
There was no trailer for The Watchmen. Unfortunately.
As well all know, this generation loves their top tens. So
here’s another…
TEN BEST THINGS ABOUT THE DARK KNIGHT
1. The Joker/Heath Ledger.
When people like ET or EW or whoever it was started saying
that ‘there’s even talk of Ledger receiving an oscar nomination for his role as
the Joker…’ that was in the days after his death, seven months before anyone
would see the film. What a bunch of hype-mongering, myth-creating, sympathy-selling
bullshit. You cannot claim oscar-worthy for a performance you haven’t seen. The
good news is, now that I have seen it, this is a very, very good performance. It’s
my favorite element in the film. My favorite scene in the entire film is The Joker’s
second appearance in the film, where he crashes the crime boss meeting. Fantastic,
unbelievably enjoyable stuff. This doesn’t make ET right. They’re still a bunch
of fuckwits.
2. Surprises
Obviously I won’t give them away. But it’s nice to have a
few expectations pulled out from under you.
3. The set up for the third film.
Nolan has made it so that from the first minute of the next
film, Batman will be in a certain place, certain frame of mind, with different
goals to the first two films. It promises to follow a different line of action
instead of simply having Batman remain unchanged and just throwing another
villain at him to create some conflict.
4.
Dent/Aaron Eckhart.
Interesting character, motivations, a well rounded and
believable character arc.
5. Make up.
You’ll see.
6. Stunt work
Batman’s little aerobatic displays are made more impressive
by the fact that they look real. A lot of them were.
7. Where’s the CGI?
I love CGI. Sometimes the only reason I’ll watch something
is for the effects. But not this time. I don’t want it, the film didn’t need
it, I didn’t find a single shot where my brain flicked back into ‘this is a
movie, that’s CGI, it doesn’t look real, why can’t they do a better job for
$200million.’
8. The bike.
Yep it looks like a toy, it’ll also probably sell a bunch of
toys too. But it’s cool. Sure it isn’t utilized as well as it could’ve been
(see #1 below) but it beats the Tumbler.
9. That it passed as PG-13.
Not that you needed further proof that the MPAA is a
bunch-o-arse, but this film really proves it. You can say fuck once, BUT NOT
TWICE! You are, however, allowed to have tens of people shot, brutal fist beat
downs and one hell of a make up job. This film is vicious. ‘Kids gonna get
their shit freak’d.’
10. The few instances of humor.
I really only counted two. But they were good.
FIVE WORST THINGS ABOUT THE DARK KNIGHT
1. Christopher Nolan doesn’t have action sensibilities.
Well, they’re getting better. But he’s still a long way off
making the sequences visually interesting, maintaining a sense of spatial clarity
to the action and getting interesting shots out of the actions. Car chases are
never fast enough. Villains are only there to be thumped by Batman, not to
thump him back. There are never any gasp moments, no adrenaline. Action set
pieces simply, just, happen.
2. Batman is almost
the least interesting character in it.
True. Could be worse. Could be The Hulk. I didn’t get
psyched for when Batman appear on screen, nor as Bruce Wayne. He was
just…there.
3. Batman’s voice.
As seen in Batman Begins, he has a deeper voice for when
dressed in the outfit. It works when he’s angry, but when he’s having a normal
conversation, doesn’t work at all. It’s not even necessary. I’m pretty sure he
sounded like he had a lisp at some point.
4. Repetition in dialogue.
There are themes of justice, responsibility, roles etc. But,
I’m not fucking dumb. I don’t need these re-enforced by several lines from
several characters just to make sure I ‘got it.’
5. Running time.
Not like when I was watching
in order to see some action. It’s actually the opposite, I liked the scenes
without action better. But yeah, it’s almost exhausting, and before the finale
there were people shifting about, muttering, coughing etc.
So there it is. My favorite film of the year, worth the
wait, but far from the second coming of Christ. (That would be Beavis and
Butthead Do America. The man works in mysterious ways indeed.)