Ford's in his flivver, and all's well with the world.
And I is sheepish.
The minute I walked into my Once-Again Favourite Café, the proprietress apologised profusely for fucking up my coffee order yesterday, and gave me another free one. I actually did half-heartedly protest, but she insisted.
Mnyes. Now I have coffee. Mnyes...
Last night, Eva and I saw The Dark Knight. I'm still not sure what I think about it. Being a huge fan of the 1989 Tim Burton version (as it managed to single-handedly destroy the terrible legacy of the Adam West campy series where Batman was perpetually dressed in pantyhose and Robin was so fucking annoying that I'd have liked someone to chain him down and have him be repeatedly molested by starving Rottweilers), and this being quite a big departure even from that, the change in the Joker's character was...startling, to state the obvious.
For once, the hype was, if not 100% accurate, then pretty bloody close.
I had thought Jack Nicholson's Joker was unsettling - and then Heath Ledger came along and made him pure, anarchic evil. Without giving too much away for those who haven't seen it, this version Joker remains an enigma from start to end. There appears to be no rhyme or reason for his evil, compared to other screen versions of Joker. I've never read the comics, so I don't know if that was the original intent of the Joker, but it worked. It really bloody worked. It was so unsettling, so disturbing, that I couldn't help but feel sorry for the little kids in the audience. To add to that, we saw it on the IMAX screens - and that is an exhilarating experience, let me tell you. From the very start of the movie, the Joker's presence grabs you by the goolies and it hardly lets up. He's always there, his mere presence giving the whole film an unholy taint.
As to the other "villain" - Harvey Dent, who turns into Two-Face. One of the best versions of Two-Face I've ever seen. Tommy Lee Jones was terrible in the role in Batman Forever, which was hardly his fault, as the writers made him campy and terribly unthreatening. However, this Two-Face was as he should be - ultimately tragic and freaky as fuck. My one gripe is that they won't resurrect him in the next movie, should there be one. You'll see what I mean if you don't know already.
Now, to the man himself - Batman. I actually was not that impressed with Christian Bale. I haven't actually seen Batman Begins, which might be why I found him underwhelming. There was just something...off about this Batman. And it's not just because I adore Michael Keaton's Batman. He seemed to have two modes - bored as hell or EXTREMELY FUCKING ANGRY. I know Batman's supposed to be stoic and at times unfathomable with a poker face that would put a card shark to shame, but he's also not supposed to be two-dimensional. The same goes for Bruce Wayne, who managed to be as boring as his alter-ego.
However, I'll say one thing about Batman - at the end of the movie he is, thank god, relegated to his original intended status - as an outlaw. This is good. This is very good. While he might be the saviour of Gotham, he is also supposed to be reviled and misunderstood, even hunted. The final scene when (REALLY THERE'S A SPOILER HERE SO DON'T READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!) he's running away from the police and their vicious dogs after he's just killed Harvey Dent/Two-Face was the real denouement of the movie, and the reason/justification for Batman's shadowy status.
I must get out Batman Begins. I can't believe I went so long without seeing it.
That was not supposed to be so long. Oh well.
The minute I walked into my Once-Again Favourite Café, the proprietress apologised profusely for fucking up my coffee order yesterday, and gave me another free one. I actually did half-heartedly protest, but she insisted.
Mnyes. Now I have coffee. Mnyes...
Last night, Eva and I saw The Dark Knight. I'm still not sure what I think about it. Being a huge fan of the 1989 Tim Burton version (as it managed to single-handedly destroy the terrible legacy of the Adam West campy series where Batman was perpetually dressed in pantyhose and Robin was so fucking annoying that I'd have liked someone to chain him down and have him be repeatedly molested by starving Rottweilers), and this being quite a big departure even from that, the change in the Joker's character was...startling, to state the obvious.
For once, the hype was, if not 100% accurate, then pretty bloody close.
I had thought Jack Nicholson's Joker was unsettling - and then Heath Ledger came along and made him pure, anarchic evil. Without giving too much away for those who haven't seen it, this version Joker remains an enigma from start to end. There appears to be no rhyme or reason for his evil, compared to other screen versions of Joker. I've never read the comics, so I don't know if that was the original intent of the Joker, but it worked. It really bloody worked. It was so unsettling, so disturbing, that I couldn't help but feel sorry for the little kids in the audience. To add to that, we saw it on the IMAX screens - and that is an exhilarating experience, let me tell you. From the very start of the movie, the Joker's presence grabs you by the goolies and it hardly lets up. He's always there, his mere presence giving the whole film an unholy taint.
As to the other "villain" - Harvey Dent, who turns into Two-Face. One of the best versions of Two-Face I've ever seen. Tommy Lee Jones was terrible in the role in Batman Forever, which was hardly his fault, as the writers made him campy and terribly unthreatening. However, this Two-Face was as he should be - ultimately tragic and freaky as fuck. My one gripe is that they won't resurrect him in the next movie, should there be one. You'll see what I mean if you don't know already.
Now, to the man himself - Batman. I actually was not that impressed with Christian Bale. I haven't actually seen Batman Begins, which might be why I found him underwhelming. There was just something...off about this Batman. And it's not just because I adore Michael Keaton's Batman. He seemed to have two modes - bored as hell or EXTREMELY FUCKING ANGRY. I know Batman's supposed to be stoic and at times unfathomable with a poker face that would put a card shark to shame, but he's also not supposed to be two-dimensional. The same goes for Bruce Wayne, who managed to be as boring as his alter-ego.
However, I'll say one thing about Batman - at the end of the movie he is, thank god, relegated to his original intended status - as an outlaw. This is good. This is very good. While he might be the saviour of Gotham, he is also supposed to be reviled and misunderstood, even hunted. The final scene when (REALLY THERE'S A SPOILER HERE SO DON'T READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!) he's running away from the police and their vicious dogs after he's just killed Harvey Dent/Two-Face was the real denouement of the movie, and the reason/justification for Batman's shadowy status.
I must get out Batman Begins. I can't believe I went so long without seeing it.
That was not supposed to be so long. Oh well.