Juh....
The Dark Knight is ten kinds of awesome. So, I give you ten semi-intelligent observations, cut for potential spoilerage:
1) This movie is long, but in a good way. You just don't want it to end, and when you think you see the end coming, it just keeps going onto ever greater heights of awesomeness. To wit, I thought that this movie was supposed to set up Two Face as the next movie's villain, but no...they plowed right through the Harvey Dent arc, coin and all, and it was all neat and tidy without detracting from the Joker. I had to pee half-way through, and I refused to leave the theater for fear of missing something.
2) The Two Face makeup/CGI/whatever the hell that was was supremely fantastic. It's all about the eye, man.
3) Heath Ledger owned as the Joker. Simply. Owned. Total embodiment of this reboot, taking the spirit of the original and twisting it in an intriguing and unique manner. Crazy, chaotic, ambiguous...I'm not convinced he's as random as he claims to be, and that's what makes the character all the more delicious. It is a damn shame and tragedy that we won't be seeing him in this or any other role again. He'd better get an Oscar nod for best supporting role, or the Oscar itself. His performance was that freaking amazing.
4) The pencil trick. Completely sick, yet with a hint of humor. The audience reaction was just great. Note, this bit is not for Nessa, nor are quite a few of the Joker's antics ^.^
5) One thing that keeps bothering me is why the hell the Joker got paid when technically, his contract hadn't been completed yet. Minor nitpick of a minor plot point, but it's been bugging me. Still, seeing what he did to that huge pyramid of money was great, so I suppose I can live with the plot hole :D
6) The scene with the detonator at the hospital was...yeah. Funny and disturbing. Especially with the pink dress. Bravo again, Heath. You made the audience laugh at wonton distruction.
7) The audience reaction to the part with the copycat and the window was absolutely perfect. I think everyone jumped about ten inches out of his or her chair. There were other similar moments, but this one just stood out for its sheer "BOGGEDYBOO!" factor.
8) Even if you've seen all the trailers and whatnot, you'll find yourself so sucked in to the story that you don't see the plot points that you should have seen coming, like the smashing of the Bat Signal. By the time that part of the movie had come around, I'd totally forgotten that it was coming up ^.^
9) Yanno, this is a Batman movie, but it's really all about the Joker and Harvey Dent. When it came down to it, I really didn't much care about Bruce Wayne and his angsty angst with Whatsherface. And that's okay :D It was there, it was important, but easily overlooked if it wasn't your cup of tea. Harvey and Whatsherface were much more interesting anyway.
10) When you can make a superhero movie deep, disturbing, and morally engaging, you have a winner. When you do it like The Dark Knight, you have the best superhero movie of all time. Easily.
Go see this movie. Now. Then see it five more times. It's that fan-freakin'-tastic.
P.S. I thought we were going to be hurting for comic movies next summer, but lo and behold, Watchmen comes and slaps me across the face. I'm ashamed to say I only know this particular comic by reputation, but I think I will go out and buy it today just because of the beautiful preview I saw last night :)
1) This movie is long, but in a good way. You just don't want it to end, and when you think you see the end coming, it just keeps going onto ever greater heights of awesomeness. To wit, I thought that this movie was supposed to set up Two Face as the next movie's villain, but no...they plowed right through the Harvey Dent arc, coin and all, and it was all neat and tidy without detracting from the Joker. I had to pee half-way through, and I refused to leave the theater for fear of missing something.
2) The Two Face makeup/CGI/whatever the hell that was was supremely fantastic. It's all about the eye, man.
3) Heath Ledger owned as the Joker. Simply. Owned. Total embodiment of this reboot, taking the spirit of the original and twisting it in an intriguing and unique manner. Crazy, chaotic, ambiguous...I'm not convinced he's as random as he claims to be, and that's what makes the character all the more delicious. It is a damn shame and tragedy that we won't be seeing him in this or any other role again. He'd better get an Oscar nod for best supporting role, or the Oscar itself. His performance was that freaking amazing.
4) The pencil trick. Completely sick, yet with a hint of humor. The audience reaction was just great. Note, this bit is not for Nessa, nor are quite a few of the Joker's antics ^.^
5) One thing that keeps bothering me is why the hell the Joker got paid when technically, his contract hadn't been completed yet. Minor nitpick of a minor plot point, but it's been bugging me. Still, seeing what he did to that huge pyramid of money was great, so I suppose I can live with the plot hole :D
6) The scene with the detonator at the hospital was...yeah. Funny and disturbing. Especially with the pink dress. Bravo again, Heath. You made the audience laugh at wonton distruction.
7) The audience reaction to the part with the copycat and the window was absolutely perfect. I think everyone jumped about ten inches out of his or her chair. There were other similar moments, but this one just stood out for its sheer "BOGGEDYBOO!" factor.
8) Even if you've seen all the trailers and whatnot, you'll find yourself so sucked in to the story that you don't see the plot points that you should have seen coming, like the smashing of the Bat Signal. By the time that part of the movie had come around, I'd totally forgotten that it was coming up ^.^
9) Yanno, this is a Batman movie, but it's really all about the Joker and Harvey Dent. When it came down to it, I really didn't much care about Bruce Wayne and his angsty angst with Whatsherface. And that's okay :D It was there, it was important, but easily overlooked if it wasn't your cup of tea. Harvey and Whatsherface were much more interesting anyway.
10) When you can make a superhero movie deep, disturbing, and morally engaging, you have a winner. When you do it like The Dark Knight, you have the best superhero movie of all time. Easily.
Go see this movie. Now. Then see it five more times. It's that fan-freakin'-tastic.
P.S. I thought we were going to be hurting for comic movies next summer, but lo and behold, Watchmen comes and slaps me across the face. I'm ashamed to say I only know this particular comic by reputation, but I think I will go out and buy it today just because of the beautiful preview I saw last night :)