Dave continues to boast that he has read everything about The Dark Knight, so he claims to be ready to write his damn review.
That, with some minor spoilers (that won’t spoil the movie) under the cut.
Dave here, wondering what I can say about The Dark Knight that hasn’t already been said a thousand times by critics I admire and critics I strongly dislike (I’m talking to you, Star Magazine).
Sitting in a room full of people last night really brought the whole Dark Knight experience full circle. There’s something about a crowded theater that can boost your film going experience. I probably wouldn’t have liked Transformers last summer if I didn’t end up seeing it opening day deep in Brooklyn, where a group of intoxicated 20-somethings sitting in front of me kept turning around and slapping my knee, saying things like: “Fuckin’ robot fight, man!” Large crowds put summer movies into perspective, cheering at the spectacle and soaking it in.
The person sitting next to me spoke up right after the Righteous Kill trailer ended: “Interesting trailers: comic book movie, comic book movie, comic book movie…crime drama?”
Little did he know how fitting those previews were.
The Dark Knight isn’t only a landmark superhero movie, perhaps the best of the genre, but it’s also the best crime drama of the year thus far, and it looks like it will remain at the top of the cops-and-robbers heap until Oscar season starts knocking this winter.
If I have to complain about something, and I probably should, it would be Maggie Gyllenhaal. But I’m not going to harp on Maggie as much as I want to poke at Nolan for not giving his Batman series a strong woman character. Gyllenhaal seems like she’s playing Katie Holmes playing Rachel Dawes. I can’t think of a less-intimidating Assistant DA, and when she’s supposed to be interrogating a suspect, she ends up sashaying out of the room.
Luckily, we don’t have to deal with much girl power this time out, unless you count the Russian Ballet.
And, the obligatory mention of Heath Ledger’s performance: Yeah, it’s really good. It’s deserving of an Oscar nod, for sure, but that doesn’t mean we should be talking about it now. We’re only talking Oscar during an opening July weekend because Ledger died tragically. He’s unrecognizable as Heath Ledger otherwise, thanks to a little good make-up and a – ahem – killer performance. When I see this movie for the fourth or fifth time, I’ll still be watching Ledger’s monologues because they are ridiculously layered and nearly perfect. I remember being pissed off when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker (I was hoping someone would call Crispin Glover), and in hindsight I have to tip my hat to Nolan who saw more than a gay cowboy in the actor, even before he was turned into The Dark Knight’s biggest marketing asset.
The Dark Knight matters, and not just because it is a good film. It’s a summer superhero movie in a summer dominated by superhero movies (and a little animated robot), and based on the pre-sale numbers and the astronomically high weekend gross estimates, it’s likely to be one of the most watched movies of the year, perhaps of all time.
People say that Johnny Carson was the last communal television experience we had as a nation. The man formed an audience when there wasn’t a butt-load of cable channels and stayed consistently entertaining for decades. If Carson was on, chances are that people you knew were watching it.
These days, 24 fans talk to 24 fans, Heroes fans run to Heroes forums, fans have been separated from the greater audience in search of an active community. This movie can change that. The Star Wars prequels gave us all something to talk about for almost a decade, Pirates of the Caribbean excited pop culture so much that Jack Sparrow Impersonators are now fixtures at local Renaissance Fairs. Thing is, the most watched of those trilogies (Revenge of the Sith, At World’s End) weren’t HALF as good as The Dark Knight it.
Nolan continues to treat Batman with respect, treat his audiences like adults and if people keep lining up to see it, Nolan might drag superhero movies to the next level they desperately need: character driven, action packed, well written with career-making performances.
Expect to see Aaron Eckhart get more starring vehicles.
Gary Oldman is used here much better than he was in the Harry Potter Series.
Christian Bale is willing to take a back-seat, but manages to squeeze in some “Oh Shit” faces in the Batman mask that don’t come off as hokey or fake. Bats comes to terms with what it means to be a hero, a real one, and what that means in the eyes of the public.
And in the eyes of the public is where The Dark Knight is. It’s not just a great film or a great sequel that will be joining the second parts of Spider-Man, The Godfather and Terminator in the improved-sophomore-effort category, but it’s the new benchmark for summer superhero cinema at a time when over saturation of the genre is making it stale.
It’s ironic that DC and Marvel’s biggest non-powered billionaires were the ones to offer up good movies this year, but Iron Man was the best superhero movie that could have been done with the old formula, and The Dark Knight is now what the public expects.
Game on!
