Movie Review: The Dark Knight

Posted by pixie | Filed under Uncategorized

I feel like I lost fangirl points by not seeing this movie until this afternoon, but there is only so much a girl can do. I headed down to the theatre for a 2:30pm showing, expecting a great movie. After all, two of my closest friends gave it rave reviews, and I hadn’t heard a bad thing about the movie.

However, I went in with reservations. I’m a comic geek, for one. I considered Batman Returns to be the pinnacle of Batman movies, largely because of my love for Tim Burton. And to be honest? I am was never enamored with Batman Begins like so many people were — it took me three attempts to get through that whole movie, due to the pacing.

But The Dark Knight? This movie is… transcendental. It is probably the best comic book movie of all time, but I don’t like saying that because I keep thinking of the wisdom of one of my college professors. He taught a class called “Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror,” and was adamant about how people treated our writing and ideas as if they were in some sort of literary ghetto. That being a great fantasy or horror author was almost like being called the fat girl who has “such a pretty face.” A back-handed compliment, at best. I always respected that man. His name was Terry Bisson.

So, moving on to The Dark Knight. As I said, I went in with fairly low expectations, despite recommendations. First off, I’m hesitant when movies get a ton of acclaim. It makes me a bit “on edge,” because I tend to watch horror movies and have a deep love of random Japanese gore as well as Troma movies. I’m a picky movie viewer.

But holy shit, EPB readers, The Dark Knight is probably the best comic book movie ever, but it goes beyond that, because it belongs on the list of the best movies ever, period. And it takes a lot to get on that list, considering I watch, on average, 1-2 movies a night. [It’s amazing to be as embedded in movies and music as I am.]

I have a confession: despite my movie obsession, and possibly due to a couple of years old idea Matt and I came up with — which was “watch every horror movie ever made,” I have never seen another movie starring Heath Ledger. I thought nothing of his death, really — I had no real idea of who he was. But the man was clearly an amazing actor who threw his everything into the character of The Joker, making it enthralling, amazing, and unbelievable. I was enthralled and captivated by the character and the movie. At about 2.5 hours? I wanted more. I wanted more Joker. I wanted more Batman. I just wanted more. I could have watched the screen for hours and not noticed anything else around me. The movie is that good.

And I would be renege if I did not mention how perfect the casting of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. He brought everything that was needed for the role — and more. While it is clear that Heath Ledger stole the entire movie by being the perfect, psychotic, awe-inspiring Joker, Aaron Eckhart also delivered an amazing performance that would probably get more credit if [as much as I hate to say this] Ledger had not died.

The movie has phenomenal pacing — it pulls you in from the first second. It has amazing acting. In a vaguely unfortunate sense, Christian Bale [amazing] is overshadowed by his [psychotically amazing] supporting cast. It doesn’t matter, though. At almost 2.5 hours The Dark Knight doesn’t focus on Batman, but that’s great! I think of the Spider-Man franchise, and how bored I was with his internal struggles and love life… and realize how amazing this really was. I’ve read a review that complains about a lack of Batman… but I think it was just the right mix.

This movie is phenomenal. I hope it isn’t thrown in the “comic book” or “fantasy” ghetto — as much as I hate that such a ghetto exists — because this is nothing more than a great movie. I can’t recommend it enough.

And thanks to Christian Bale being amazing, I am watching American Psycho on HBO right now, just because I wanted more Batman. I never thought anyone would beat Tim Burton, but Christian Bale is incredibly better than Michael Keaton, and as mush as I hate to admit it? Christopher Nolan gets Batman better than Tim Burton did.

To sum: go see The Dark KnightI.

P.S. Ignore anything that might look remotely promising about the Watchmen trailer that accompanies the film. It made me facepalm muliple times, and while I am admittedly a fangirl for Alan Moore [who thinks V For Vendetta was a decent movie] — this movie’s reels may as well be loaded on to the failboat, alongside The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or From HellI…

But that’s not the point. The point is The Dark Knight is amazing and you should see it.