Dark Knight
Jul. 20th, 2008 07:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariOther Kenjari and I went to a late show of the Dark Knight yesterday, and we thought it was really great.
I just have to say though, damn you, Heath Ledger, for dying. He was a brilliant actor, and you can really see it in his take on the Joker. His portrayal of the Joker is completely different from anything else put on screen, and thoroughly riveting. Ledger's Joker is a strange and capricious man who relishes cruelty and chaos; he's gritty and off-kilter rather than suave and swaggering. His goals are not easily grasped. You're never quite sure whether or not he is truly sane.
In fact, I pretty much loved all the performances in this film. I've always liked Christian Bale, and I think he make a great Bruce Wayne/Batman. He gives the role the proper level of intensity and angst. Dark Knight expands Lieutenant Gordon's role, and Gary Oldman does a terrific job. He's much more understated and subtle here than in many of his other roles. Maggie Gyllenhall is much better as Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes was. Gyllenhall's got more fire and presence.
I was also delighted by a nicely done reference to one of my most favorite movies, Wings of Desire.
My preference for Maggie Gyllenhall made Rachel Dawes' death just that much more tragic. We won't get to see her in that role again. However, I think the death works nicely from a dramatic standpoint. The whole situation was rather heart-wrenching, which serves to both make the Joker even more horrifying and to give Harvey Dent's slip over the edge more depth and bite. After all, one of the questions the film explores is just what it takes to twist a genuinely and deeply good person.
I deeply appreciated the way that Dark Knight did not shy away from looking at the deeper and thornier aspects of its characters and story. It wasn't content with a Joker who was simply an entertaining villain, instead giving us one who was complex and troubling. It doesn't settle for easy cops-and-robbers or good vs. evil dichotomies. Instead, we get a story that examines the questions about where and when to compromise on rules, what it takes to make people cross lines and what it means when they do so, and the nature and role of symbols (particularly heroic ones).
I just have to say though, damn you, Heath Ledger, for dying. He was a brilliant actor, and you can really see it in his take on the Joker. His portrayal of the Joker is completely different from anything else put on screen, and thoroughly riveting. Ledger's Joker is a strange and capricious man who relishes cruelty and chaos; he's gritty and off-kilter rather than suave and swaggering. His goals are not easily grasped. You're never quite sure whether or not he is truly sane.
In fact, I pretty much loved all the performances in this film. I've always liked Christian Bale, and I think he make a great Bruce Wayne/Batman. He gives the role the proper level of intensity and angst. Dark Knight expands Lieutenant Gordon's role, and Gary Oldman does a terrific job. He's much more understated and subtle here than in many of his other roles. Maggie Gyllenhall is much better as Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes was. Gyllenhall's got more fire and presence.
I was also delighted by a nicely done reference to one of my most favorite movies, Wings of Desire.
My preference for Maggie Gyllenhall made Rachel Dawes' death just that much more tragic. We won't get to see her in that role again. However, I think the death works nicely from a dramatic standpoint. The whole situation was rather heart-wrenching, which serves to both make the Joker even more horrifying and to give Harvey Dent's slip over the edge more depth and bite. After all, one of the questions the film explores is just what it takes to twist a genuinely and deeply good person.
I deeply appreciated the way that Dark Knight did not shy away from looking at the deeper and thornier aspects of its characters and story. It wasn't content with a Joker who was simply an entertaining villain, instead giving us one who was complex and troubling. It doesn't settle for easy cops-and-robbers or good vs. evil dichotomies. Instead, we get a story that examines the questions about where and when to compromise on rules, what it takes to make people cross lines and what it means when they do so, and the nature and role of symbols (particularly heroic ones).
