I am back home at 5 AM after a midnight, employee only showing of The Dark Knight at Silvercity Gloucester with good news that you probably already know: the new Batman film is fantastic. Truly, this is a comic book film for the 21st century. Visually sharp and precise, gritty in tone and plot, it is the new high standard in the decidedly crowded genre of the "super-hero" film.
First of all, I'll go through several minor gripes before heaping praise on this one, so here we go. First of all, the deep, growly Batman voice kinda-sorta doesn't work. Several times, the audience in my theater (which cheered and clapped at several moments and at the end of the film) groaned at its silliness. Secondly, Gyllenhaal was good, not great as Rachel. Thirdly, the pacing flags under the Hong Kong subplot. That's it. Everything else in this movie is great to excellent.
Heath Ledger's Joker is without a doubt the best performance I've seen this year, which just makes the actor's passing that much more wrenching. His little quirks and mannerisms, his twisted elocution and anarchic tendencies not only make him the most frightening screen villain I have ever seen, but also the most interesting. This performance is going to be remembered a long, long time.
The action is much better than Batman Begins' muddled work, but Nolan could take some cues from Guillermo Del Toro and zoom it out a bit more so we can see what's going on. And the IMAX, oh man. The IMAX camera just adds so much detail, especially in those wide city shots (were those IMAX? they sure looked it).
I'm very tired now, and must get some rest before maybe adding some more thoughts. I very highly recommended this film to everyone, even those who loathed Batman Begins.
Cheers!
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