This past Thursday night I saw the midnight showing of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. I had been psyched out of mind to see this film since the end of Batman Begins when it was hinted that The Joker was the next villian. The anticipation mounted even more with the passing of Heath Ledger (the man who played The Joker) in late January.
I have always been a huge Batman fan since my brother first showed me the original Batman movie with Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as The Joker. I had also come to the conclusion The Joker is my favorite villian of all time. With all that being said I think I have laid the groundwork for this review.
I came away from the movie feeling that all the hype was justified. I compare to that of LeBron James before the actual 2003 NBA Draft. So much hype for something that had not been seen yet. Would the movie had been this financially successful on the first weekend without the death of Heath Ledger? No. Would it had been as eagerly anticipated had Ledger still been alive? Not at all. While there was already inherent anticipation because of Batman alone, it rose exponentially with the circumstances. However, with all that being said, I love the fact that the series has gotten away from the cartoonish comic book mindset, and has followed more of a psychological thriller creating complex characters that are far more intriguing than ordinary comic book characters.
While Ledger did a great job playing his role, I really felt that Aaron Eckhart was phenomenal as Harvey Dent. The Dent character was set up beautifully and I ended up truly emphasizing with his plight.
The "Christian Bale" series has been fascinating thus far. I have made it a point to go out and buy the The Dark Knight books sometime this week. Hopefully the series will continue and writer Christopher Nolan will be able to draw villians such as The Penguin and The Riddler out of the cartoon world and into the psychological drama.
Go see The Dark Knight. It will be the best 10 dollars you spend all summer.
-Scottie
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