BAT-FRACK CRAZY!

The next week or so is going to be pretty busy for me, so I just had to log in here and tell you about THE best movie of the summer.

Now, I've seen Indy, I've seen Iron Man, I've seen Hellboy, I've seen a slew of really fun, geek-lovin' movies this summer.  I loved every one of them.  There was not one that I was disappointed in at all.  But, I have to say that Batman: The Dark Knight has found it's spot at the top of my summer movie list!

View the trailer HERE!

Note:  There may be things in this review that are considered SPOILERS.  Do not read if you haven't seen the movie!!!!  I would have blackened them out but for some reason Blogger isn't cooperating with me.

I went with my friend Spanky on Friday night.  It was a 10:15 PM showing at a local entertainment center located on the second level of a town mall.  The theater was slightly more hoity toity than others as it was smaller, had a digital projection screen and you could bring your beer from the bar in there.  Very nice.  Plus, there was a frell of a lot of eye candy there also.  Another bonus to the evening's Bat-festivities.  I, being a geek, had on my Batman T-shirt a bought umpteen years ago when the Batman hype was going nuts before the opening of the first Tim Burton Batman movie.  So the geek flag was indeed flying.

This sequel to Batman Begins, the film that rebooted the Batman Franchise, is far better than it's predecessor.  That's a huge feat since Batman Begins was an incredible film in itself.  Dark Knight is darker, more action packed and the acting performances go beyond being top notch.

I have no clue as to where to start with this film.  There's so much about it that I loved.  I guess we'll start with the obvious and most hyped of the movie... The late Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker.  

I will admit it.  I wasn't too thrilled when I heard he was cast as Batman's most diabolical arch-nemesis.  I felt that it was simply due to his Oscar hype from his work on Brokeback Mountain.  Not a movie that a lot of us closed minded, heterosexual geeks were flocking to see.  But,  I was put out of my worries about Daniel Craig being Bond when Craig kicked immense amounts of ass in the role. Ledger's performance of the Joker does the same for me.  It is THE ONE Joker that will go down in Bat-history as being the most disturbing.

Unlike the past Jokers (Nicholson, Romero, Hamill), this is the first one where you feel a real sense of pure dread about him.  He's out of his mind nutters.  You have no clue as to what he's going to do to his intended victims.  What you can bet on is that his victims will have a nasty, untimely demise.  He's up there with Hannibal Lector when it comes to unpredictability.  He doesn't do it for the money.  He doesn't do it for the power.  He seems to do it because he likes to watch people suffer.  And that, folks, is messed up!  You'll certainly feel very uneasy when his character is on screen menacing people.

The little freaky nuances he brings to the character make the Joker all the more creepy.  The lip smacking, the eye rolling, the constant lying about how he got his smile scars.  It's all just disturbing and Ledger pulls it off wonderfully! SPOILER BELOW...........

One thing that both disappointed me while, at the same time added to the freakiness of the Joker, was the fact that his origin is never explained in the film.  He just starts to make big trouble in Gotham City one day.  I was expecting, and maybe hoping for an origin story in the same vain as Alan Moore's "Killing Joke" graphic novella.  But, by not explaining where he came from and why he is the way he is makes it even more disturbing.

In any case, Heath Ledgers performance will go down in history as being one of the greatest film villains of all time.  Sad that he's gone.

All the other perfomances are spot on.  Especially Gary Oldman as Detective / Commissioner Gordon.  I wouldn't be surprised if he sat and read every DC Batman comic that Gordon ever appeared in.  He really gets the heart and soul of the idealistic and driven Gordon, the one good cop that truly wants to make a difference.

Christian Bale is every bit as good as Batman as he was in the last film.  He has a lot more to chew on with his acting chops in this one also.  Morgan Freeman, Michael Cain, Aaron Eckhart,  and Maggie Gyllenhaal round out a phenomenal ensemble cast.  There's not a bad apple in the bunch.  Special kudos go to Aaron Eckhart's role of Harvey Dent, Gotham's Kight in Shining Armor D.A.  SPOILER......

I thought his character/s were going to survive this movie so as to set up the inevitable 3rd Batman movie of the Bale era. But, I guess it's not to be.  Too bad as Eckhart did an excellent job in the role.

Though this movie is seeped in lots of drama filled dialog, there's also lots of action to boot.  It is well crafted and quite brutal at times.  The violence that the Joker puts Gotham City through is pretty destructive to say the least.  Though, it's not gory violence it is pretty non stop and, as I said before, BRUTAL.  Every punch has a jaw being broken and every explosion causes more damage than one would believe.  At the same time, it's all well shot and pretty awesome.  There's a chase scene through the streets of Gotham that involves a semi trailer that is full on ass-kickery!  I shat you not!!!!

Another cool thing about this movie is the fact that it's not just a costumed super hero movie.  It's mostly a crime drama with a little Mission Impossible and James Bond put in also.

Did I have any issues with the movie?  Very few indeed.  It does run a little long.  There were parts that could have been condensed.  And Harvey Dent's role towards the end of the movie could have been saved for the next Batman movie rather than strapped on to this one.  And now that we've seen the legendary Heath Ledger performance of the Joker (who sadly will not reprise the role), where the frell are producers / writers / actors going to go from here????  Any performer who will have the daunting task of being the next Batman villain will have to step up their game several notches to parallel the performance Ledger gave.

Which makes me wonder who will be the next villain?  The Penguin?  The Riddler?  Perhaps a darker version of Catwoman (NOT BERRY!!!!) is in order to fill the villain shoes for the next movie.

The movie isn't just about great performances and action.  There are a few morality issues that are investigated here.  How far are the powers of good going to go to fight evil?  Are they going to have to go to the same level as evil and fight fire with fire?  Something to think about when walking out of the theater.

In a nutshell, Warner Bros. succeeded in giving us one of the greatest Batman/Joker stories ever told, on film or anywhere else for that matter.

I'm going to go out and have a beer and cigar before diner.  Until next Bat-time, stay Bat-vertical!

Zangz.