I, like many, many others, got caught up in the buzz of the release of The Dark Knight. It was a very good movie. I won’t go so far as to say it was a masterpiece of our times as some reviewers have suggested. I like my Batman dark and conflicted; so this was right up my alley. Ledger was certainly a better Joker than Nicholson.
One of the strengths of this movie, I think, was more of a conscious recognition of the elemental natures of Batman and the Joker. The Joker is an agent of chaos, not a greedy villain, not even particularly motivated by vengeance or other common emotions. In fact, we’re never allowed to know what makes him tick, exactly — he tells various conflicting tales of how he got his scars, for example. As Lucius Alfred put it, “some people just want to watch the world burn.” I’m a nerd and grew up enjoying Norse mythology, so the Joker struck me as being like Loki, without the redeeming features.
Batman has become something like grim justice. Maybe there is a better description for him. But, he no longer seems particularly motivated by vengeance. Certainly not by any real love for his fellow humans. As a two-fisted dispenser of justice, he gets in a pickle when there is no just resolution to a problem.
It occurs to me that this reads like a 10th grade book report. Oh well. The bottom line is that it’s a fine movie to enjoy with some popcorn. And that’s really the point.
Agreed, Doug.
Batman has gone probebaly the MOST changes in any superhero (even was paralyzed when his back was broken by the criminal called BANE), and yet, through all the camp, hype and everything else attributable to Batman, the turning point had to be Frank Miller’s graphic novel set in the near future, with Batman/Wayne a bit older, a lot more cynical and still wiser than most of us regarding true justice.
Batman is like the PUNISHWER, but with ONE difference, Batman doles out JUSTICE, the Punisher – plain old punishment, not revenge, and not justice as we come to know it.
Also, tune in tonight on HISTORY CHANNEL for 2 hours of “Batman”.
9PM- Batman Tech
10PM Batman Unmasked (psychology of the Dark Knight).
B.G.
(Does it come in black?)
The real question is: movie theater or home theater?
Is it worth going to the movies anymore? I haven’t had a good experience at the movies in years. Jackasses talking, bad prints, bad sound, etc.
My home theater is pretty basic. I have a first gen HDTV, a DVD player, and a low end 5.1 surround sound system in my family room. But it still looks and sounds way better than anything I’ve seen in a movie theater in the last 5 years.
And should I ever upgrade to the 73″ Mitsubishi Laser DLP set that I lust after, I’ll never go to the movies again.
Thanks for the History Channel tip, Bob. Maybe those will be something my boy will enjoy. He loves Batman, but I think the more recent movies are a little grim for him.
I’d say this one is worth a trip to the theater; but then, I don’t have a great system at home. Of course, the behavior of other theater-goers is unpredictable.
Worth the trip to the theater, in my opinion. My husband might disagree, as he was seated next to a couple and their son, no more than 4 or 5 years old — WAY too young for that movie, in my opinion. The kid talked almost the entire time, with no attempt from his parents to quiet him. (He also laughed like a maniac whenever someone got hurt — Joker in the making?)
Give the raves, I’m glad to see someone cast a bit more critical review out there. I liked the psychological complexities, but there were definitely several anvils dropping where I thought “oh, such and such will happen here” and then it did. (I was kind and didn’t SHARE that with my fellow movie goers, though!) I wish they’d make their foreshadowing a bit more subtle.
I think I need an anvil. I didn’t catch the irony until this morning about
Lucius’sAlfred’s story about some people just like to watch the world burn. He was talking about a guerrilla or rogue colonel or something that he had to track down when Lucius was in the military. In a later scene, Bruce Wayne asksLuciusAlfred whether they ever stopped the guy.LuciusAlfred said that they did. “How?” “We burned down the jungle.” (I mean, I appreciated it at the time in a “we had to destroy the village to save it,” kind of way, but I missed the call back to the “watch the world burn” reference.)I missed the connection of burning the jungle to the fact that this guy wants the world to burn. Even when the cop was in the jail cell with the Joker talking about how some guys can be beaten into learning some manners; whereas other guys, like the Joker, would just enjoy it.
Trips to the theatre aren’t what they USED to be (even on a $.50 Saturday matinee back in “the day”), so as much as I would LOVE to go see a first run flick on opening day (always did it with the Trek movies), I’m holding out for Iron Man on DVD, as well as The Dark Knight.
And even my basic stereo system does a respectable job as far as sound quality goes.
Somehow, the “lore” of a movie house doesn’t sit as well as having popcorn at home in my slippers, shorts and t-shirt with the missus.
I will confess that seeing BEN HUR or THE GREAT ESCAPE on the LARGE screen did have it’s advantages.
Then again, if more people enacted better pediatric protocol with their young’uns, and the teens knew how to behave, it would be pleasurable for ALL once again.
B.G.
When I was living in Monticello up until 2 or 3 years ago, I still got a special vibe going to the theater. It’s not that the screen was all that special, and the kids certainly weren’t especially well behaved. But, the town was small and there was definitely a feeling of community at the theater. I really appreciated that.
Doug,
I know that I am going to sound like a nerd to be correcting you, but I just can’t let it go.
Your quotes about burning the world and the jungle, both came from Alfred not Lucius. There, now I feel better, and maybe in a few years I will even get a date.
Part of the anvil dropping for me may just have been me remembering who Harvey Dent was (and his coin!) from reading the comic when I was a kid, but I really knew what was coming a long way off on that one – especially when they kept showing the coin (for pete’s sake!). And I could tell as soon as they were loading people on the ferries both what the experiment was going to be and what the outcome was going to be, too.
And the burning the world to save it/watching the world burn; I immediately equated the Joker with bin Laden – we’ve certainly burned the world chasing him and burned our own house down as well — done exactly what he wanted us to do, because we assigned him an agenda in our own heads that wasn’t what he was really about.
Damn, you’re right. I can’t believe I got Lucius muddled up with Alfred. Thanks for the correction.
We have two reviews up: http://www.bestofluckproductions.com
Go see it at the movies. IMAX if you can. This was one of the first movies where it was filmed with IMAX in mind, so the framing differences should be taken into account. No home system can compare to IMAX…
I’ve never seen a “real” movie at Imax.
Anyone seen DK at Imax? Worth it?
I dare say that the Mitsubishi 73″ Laser DLP will give Imax a run for its money. It even does 3D!