The Dark Knight (highly recommended)

[.8down]

Heath Ledger. I was oddly curious when I heard that he was going to play this part, as I only see him as the pretty boy actor in a knights tale, 10 things I Hate about you and, well the Broken mountain movie, which admittedly I did not see(not homo phobic just I like the cowboy genre and just could imagine Clint Eastwood macing on Lee Van Cleef in "The gay, The bad and The not so metro-sexual, but thats another article entirely).

Mildly surprised? No, more like Blown away by the acting job Mr. Ledger left behind as his legacy. He was the main focal point of every scene he was in, he would have scared Jack Nicholson(yeah even the shinny Jack). He was both comical, yet when you laughed it made you feel a little uncomfortable. From his physical presence(kind of a clumsy, psycho-path), to his inflections, he pretty much put the viewer in a place they really didn't want to be. and as the movie went on you felt the journey got darker and darker. He made sick and twisted look like the girl scouts in front of the Ralph's selling cookies. Truly a great loss to the film industry.

Story. Pretty much the entire movie is story driven. Special effects took a back seat to a plot that got thicker and thicker. Questions of humanity are raised, and the darkness that is Batman was ever present from scene to scene, this Batman made the 80s and 90's Batman seem like it was done by a bunch of nuns. Evil was evil, and good was good, and in between Bruce Wayne sat, pondering his justifications for his wanderings in the night.

Christian Bale is excellent of course, except(please do not read this section if you are easily annoyed at a way an actor delivers lines) for his voice while dressed as the caped crusader. It was overly distorted, and at points hard to understand. I never thought Batman smoked like 8 packs of smokes an hour, but he sure talks like he does. It was certainly not enough to ruin the movie by any means but I wished he toned it down a bit.

The rest of the cast was very supportive, as always Gary Oldman is excellent(best character actor of our generation), and Morgan Freedman, is the refined wine that he has always been. Even Micheal Caine was good(normally hes good to me, but he does so many movies it can kind of poke at you like the song they play too much on the radio, think Samuel Jackson). The rest are just strong members of a great cast, the Actress that played Rachel wasn't much of an improvement to Crazy Holmes, I mean Katie. If fact I don't even recall her name now...

When you are ready to look at the Dark side of Batman, and see Justice in a faded light instead of the glorious shinning star that those in authority would like you to believe in. Give Dark Night a look over. At some point you may end up rooting for the Bad guy, because of his Charisma and almost heroic manner. But while good sat on one side, and Evil clearly defined itself some where in between is a Billionaire playboy who wonders around at night beat up criminals with his bare hands. He is the double edged sword of Gotham that inspires hope in the city, but also endangers her at the same time. Complex, rich and sometimes even hard to follow this is one movie you will probably want to see again for all the little things you missed because you were so engulfed in its epic presence.

[new2mtb]

saw this today, definitely a must see !

[DownHillPhil]

Thanks! That's 2 from me.

[DISCO]

I gotta go, even though Batman is from Wales this flick looks kick ass.

[FatPossum]

and just could imagine Clint Eastwood macing on Lee Van Cleef in "The gay, The bad and The not so metro-sexual, but thats another article entirely).

That made me spit out my water on someones tax return! Guess I should get back to work and dry it off....

[OMR]

You've left just enough to the imagination to make me really want to see this. I even hear Ledger is being considered for an academy award

[leeboy]

heard it was real good.. cant wait to watch it!!

[Pain Freak]

Wow, what an endorsement.

I'm pretty shallow when it comes to movies and can only keep awake for the hard packed action ones. You talked me into it.

BTW are you on the payroll?If not they should consider you.

[.8down]

Im not worried about this movie entertaining but please go into movies with a blank slate, just because I thought it was a good movie doesn't really mean you will like it...I want it to get a fair shake, Its been a really good year for the super hero genre so this really caps it off nicely...although if you are a comic book or graphic Novel fan go to Dark Knight early enough for the previews, there is more to come.

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

Wow, what an endorsement.

I'm pretty shallow when it comes to movies and can only keep awake for the hard packed action ones. You talked me into it.

BTW are you on the payroll?If not they should consider you.

Thanks, I never considered Mr. Ledger one of the better young actors till now, when he really did shine in this movie(unfortunate we will never see his potential realized). For intensity he really did beat Nicholson by leaps. But I also think Nicholson had a weaker script to work with. Im glad my Review was enjoyable and helpful. I use to do this now and then for the forums I read back in the day, but it was only lately that Movies have been impressive and entertaining.

Originally Posted by OMR

You've left just enough to the imagination to make me really want to see this. I even hear Ledger is being considered for an academy award

coming from you that means a lot!!!!thanks very much.

[bananaseat]

just got back. EXCELLENT. and with a young son, i've seen all the comic book movies. this one blows them all away! though the second hulk was decent.

[OMR]

I also understand that the name Batman was purposely left off the marque as the producers knew that the academy would never seriously consider anyone in a movie named "Batman"...

[JoeTruth]

My son and his friends went last night to the midnight showing and he said it was sick, dope and off the hook. After hearing that, I'm not certain I want to see a movie about a sick pot smoking pirate.

[JoeTruth]

Too bad you couldn't look passed such a mental block because if you enjoyed Heath's performance as the joker, you will indeed enjoy Brokeback Mountain. I went to go see it when it first came out and left the theater in complete awe of Ang Lee's direction & cinematography, production, script and wonderfully powerful superb performances by Heath and Jake. It's art and should be judged as just that. I own the DVD and think it's a stunning movie and have no problem talking about it. No insecurities here what so ever.

Aside from that, thanks for the good review.

Originally Posted by .8down

Heath Ledger. I was oddly curious when I heard that he was going to play this part, as I only see him as the pretty boy actor in a knights tale, 10 things I Hate about you and, well the Broken mountain movie, which admittedly I did not see(not homo phobic just I like the cowboy genre and just could imagine Clint Eastwood macing on Lee Van Cleef in "The gay, The bad and The not so metro-sexual, but thats another article entirely).

Mildly surprised? No, more like Blown away by the acting job Mr. Ledger left behind as his legacy. He was the main focal point of every scene he was in, he would have scared Jack Nicholson(yeah even the shinny Jack). He was both comical, yet when you laughed it made you feel a little uncomfortable. From his physical presence(kind of a clumsy, psycho-path), to his inflections, he pretty much put the viewer in a place they really didn't want to be. and as the movie went on you felt the journey got darker and darker. He made sick and twisted look like the girl scouts in front of the Ralph's selling cookies. Truly a great loss to the film industry.

[.8down]

Originally Posted by JoeTruth

Too bad you couldn't look passed such a mental block because if you enjoyed Heath's performance as the joker, you will indeed enjoy Brokeback Mountain. I went to go see it when it first came out and left the theater in complete awe of Ang Lee's direction & cinematography, production, script and wonderfully powerful superb performances by Heath and Jake. It's art and should be judged as just that. I own the DVD and think it's a stunning movie and have no problem talking about it. No insecurities here what so ever.

Aside from that, thanks for the good review.

It is a unique concept and Ang Lee is one director I do respect, but my pickiness is random and almost a mood thing. Like was an Oscar winner, but I chose not to go see it, yet I saw Life is Beautiful. So take it for what it is, I guess when I go to a cowboy movie I want a cowboy movie. And yet I will go see movies like Amélie, yet still enjoy Mars Attacks... So I can safely say that it was not the reason one might think a hetro-male would have for not seeing it.

[lukewiens]

great movie...not as good as the first one in my opinion.

just kinda thougt,"well....got on with it!".

it seemed like he was given too big a budget or something.....maybe i am a fan of simplicity.....again, great movie!

[.8down]

Originally Posted by lukewiens

great movie...not as good as the first one in my opinion.

just kinda thougt,"well....got on with it!".

it seemed like he was given too big a budget or something.....maybe i am a fan of simplicity.....again, great movie!

I think the joy of the first movie was that there was a transformation, where as this one there was just business to take care of.