I've been looking forward to The Dark Knight ever since they announced the sequel to Batman Begins, but I spent last week dodging spoilers while riddled with a virus. So I was gibbering with excitement when The Ours and I finally headed out to the cinema last night.
And I'm delighted to say that it lives up to the almighty hype surrounding it. It's satisfyingly spectacular in its cinematography, stunts and effects but, unlike the usual blockbuster action film, the characterisation is excellent.
It is so well cast. I've enjoyed all the Christian Bale films I've seen so far and I've been a fan of Aaron Eckhart since the brilliant Thank You for Smoking, but Heath Ledger’s performance steals this show. Gone is Jack Nicholson's campy, greedy and elegant villain; this Joker is an amoral psychopath with a sense of humour that is blacker than black.
When I was reading up on editing I came across a piece of advice about writing villains; give them an off-putting mannerism to drive home their unattractive nature. I won't tell you what it is but Ledger's The Joker has a mannerism which is both repulsive and hypnotic. I was utterly taken in by his performance.
It has violent scenes that may not entice everyone but it is worth a look for the personal struggles, motivations and moral dilemmas that the characters experience and endure. And from a purely non-writerly perspective it is just a brilliant film!
One of the trailers last night was for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the animation looks absolutely beautiful. A vast improvement the overdone live action CGI of the newer Star Wars films methinks (one of my pet hates, don't get me started...)
I'm off to Birmingham for the weekend - have a great one.
Friday, August 01, 2008
The Dark Knight
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11 comments:
Glad you enjoyed it. I thought it was a bit long and Batman endured a bit too much! But HL performance was amazing and can I just say the pencil scene - ouch!
Have fun in Birmingham.
Sounds good and glad you enjoyed it.
Have a good Brummie weekend:-)
Glad you enjoyed the film, I know my two are desperate to go and see it and I think Christian Bale is a wonderful actor. So tragic that this was Heath Ledger's last film too, so young.
Hope you have a lovely weekend.
I agree, this movie was fantastic, and I too was taken with Ledger's dark portrayal of the Joker.
It me sad too - it's hard to watch his performance without remembering his loss. There's a lot of speculation that this performance drove him to depression because he got inside the character's head too deeply.
Anyway, depressing comment aside, have a great weekend.
I agree, this movie was fantastic, and I too was taken with Ledger's dark portrayal of the Joker.
It me sad too - it's hard to watch his performance without remembering his loss. There's a lot of speculation that this performance drove him to depression because he got inside the character's head too deeply.
Anyway, depressing comment aside, have a great weekend.
I loved Heath Ledger's Joker -- and you're right, it was simultaneously mesmerizing and horrifying.
Have a great time in Birmingham.
oh, I might go see that... but then there's the X Files too... decisions decisions.
Can't beat a good film. Made me smile that you were considering your editing techniques in relation to the film. What are we to do with you?
:0)
X
Never has a movie lived up to its hype as mucha s the Dark Knight. Just brilliant!
Have a good weekend!
I am not going to let Graham read this post, as it will only add fuel to his expectation that I will go see this with him. I don't have the urge to go see it and keep telling him to go with his brother or one of his friends. Glad you enjoyed it though!
I blogged about it last week too - it was a mesmerising performance but you're right that habit of the Joker's - yuk!
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