It’s been several weeks since I watched The Dark Knight on the big screen, and I couldn’t help but notice that my initial review, which I posted less than 24 hours after said viewing, could use some touching up. As it was, the review consisted of half a dozen paragraphs of gleeful gushing. Mind you, this review isn’t going to be any less positive, but at least it will be more informative.
Now that the origin story is out of the way, The Dark Knight is free to spend a whopping two hours and thirty two minutes on the villains. That’s right, I’m in it for the bad guys. Christian Bale does a great job as Bruce Wayne, and he’s okay as Batman as well if you’re willing to forgive the “scary voice” that he adopts, but he had his time in the spotlight back in Batman Begins. As far as I’m concerned, The Dark Knight is all about the Joker and Two-Face.
Metaphorically speaking, Heath Ledger has bitch-slapped Jack Nicholson, thrown him to the ground very roughly, and usurped his throne as the Clown Prince of Crime, forever. That’s my opinion, anyway. His portrayal of the Joker is chilling; the trademark suit is disheveled, the make-up is sloppy yet sinister, and he’s absolutely bat-shit bonkers to boot if you’ll pardon the weak pun. Basically, the movie revolves around his rise to power amongst the criminal element of Gotham City and the havoc that he begins to wreak immediately thereafter. I found myself laughing at his antics several times, much to the bewilderment of the people around me.
In regards to Aaron Eckhart’s performance as Harvey Dent, the man is just perfect for legal roles. First Thank You For Smoking, now this. He’s very likable as Harvey Dent, Gotham City’s white knight district attorney. As Two-Face, he’s perfect. Anyone who has been subjected to Tommy Lee Jones’ portrayal of Two-Face might think that there’s nothing more to the character than a burnt face and the occasional coin toss. It just goes to show that a little character development can make the transformation from average person to villain so much more satisfying.
In closing, my entire reason for seeing The Dark Knight was, and still is, the Joker. It really does feel like he steals the entire movie from underneath Batman. I honestly don’t know if this would be considered a bad thing to anyone else, as I can only speak for myself. All I can say is that there never was a point in The Dark Knight where I thought that the movie was going on too long, which to me is a sign that they’re finally doing things right.
Speaking of which, I decided to watch Batman Begins again, and I was able to appreciate it for what it is the second time around: an origin story. The villains almost had to take a backseat to Batman, although I still maintain that Ra’s Al Ghul is a boring nemesis. The scarecrow bits were okay, albeit short-lived. I even went out and bought the single-disc DVD because I found it for roughly nine dollars.