I went to see the Dark Knight over the weekend and I will not spoil anything here.I just want to say that this movie blew me away. It has a great plot, some great twist, it was not done cheesy, it has some great cinematography and it has (since Gangs Of New York) some of the best, most enjoyable acting I have seen in this lifetime.
First, the plot: Without spoiling it, I have to say the story was fantastic. It picked up where it left off and continued in a smooth way. What I really enjoyed was that this was the first big picture (millions to make) that was not done with ugly CGI and high tricks to sell. Basically, the story of the joker did not require any animation done over the film to sell it. You look at things like The Matrix, Spiderman, Superman....they all had these ugly, computer animation that is so easily noticeable that it takes away from the reality and authenticity of the films. Dark Knight on the other hand limited themselves with the cheesy computer needs and (atleast to me) seemed like they used real explosive, stunt people to do big stunts instead of computerize a person, and used a real city streets to blow up shit. Here is the thing, the fact that this movie takes place without computer animation to show explosions and such, it makes it feel really authentic. It makes it feel...real.
The Twists: This movie had some great stuff. I will not go into it, but overall it was enjoyable to be shocked over and over. It was written very well and it was fantastic to see every actor (and their story) get equal amount of camera time.
Extra Cheese: Movies tend to be cheesy these days. I remember watching the new Die Hard movie and seeing the whole "Bruce Willis jumping on the F-16 off the freeway and climbing it to beat the pilot and take the plane" scene and I remember thinking "ok. That was too cheesy".
Blockbusters tend to try and please everyone. Problem is, those who like good movies, tend to hate cheesy things. Cheesy things are usually either written by really bad writers and/or directors or forced by studio suits to be able to market it to younger audiences. I hate cheese.
The Dark Knight lacked cheese. Heck, it was lacktose intolorent. Cheese was not even in the theater. This is fantastic since when you strip the cheesy lines (like in Sex in The City), and the cheesy action scenes (Die Hard) and strip away the cheesy love story (Iron Man) then you are left with real emotions, real problems and real people dealing with shit. Thats what this movie felt like. Everyone in the film was dealing with shit, and no cheesy solution to complete those issues.
The Pictures: I have great appreciation for the way shots are made. Cinematography is such a beautiful thing that most of the time goes unnoticed. Unless you look for it. First, some of the shots were made for IMAX and while I have not seen it in IMAX, I heard that it looks amazing. But, besides that, what was done really well is the fact that the film was shot like a comic book. Here is the thing: If you ever read comic books as a kid, you know that they followed a certain flow. Shadows on the faces, random shots of feet walking, or a cigarette hitting the floor. Comic book square boxes had beautiful angles of the people from different views. Comic book boxes placed the person speaking to the left or to the right so that the speaking bubble hung over their shoulder. Lighting was important in the books, for it was the only way to "reveal" a character for the first time in between the shadow of the window screen or the smoke from the gun. Every single shot in this movie was done to the perfection of a comic book. The way each shot was captured, made me feel like I was reading a comic book. If you were to color the shots in solid colors in photoshop, it would be the perfect comic book. The shots were visually stunning. The angles were moving. The lighting and shadows were just perfect to leave you feeling like you were watching a film that never revealed itself to its fullest. It always left you wanting to see a bit more in the shot, without giving it to you. Absolutely amazing.
The Actor: I called this section "The Actor" instead of "The Actors" for a reason. Every once in a while a movie comes out that is absolutely carried throughout by a single performance. I can say that Daniel-Day Lewis made Gangs Of New York. His performance in the film as The Butcher made the movie from a long, 3 hour film into a movie that I will remember forever. His performance alone in it is something that made the movie a time piece. This is the same with Heath Ledger and the Dark Knight. I remember when the film was over, the first words out of my mouth were "What a fuckin' shame" because I realized that this man had achieved what every actor wishes they could....to be EPIC as a person. Movies can be epic. Empire Strikes Back for example. You mention Star Wars to anyone on the face of this planet and they know what it is. It is a movie that has become a legendary film. My grandkids will know of Star Wars, just like I did and just like my folks did. Heath, literally has made himself a legendary EPIC performance. Something that will not soon be forgotten. The shame is that he will never have the chance to out due it. Which may be a great thing. Every actor in hollywood at the moment will have to work very hard to out-due his performance. I can say that his performance sold the movie. I don't mean as in numbers. We all know this movie broke records this weekend because of his untimely death. Not in a bad way but people are inspired to go and watch someones last performance. I think he sold the movie in the sense that this movie, with any other actor playing the joker, could have failed. He was the Al Pachino of Scarface, the Marlon Brando of The Godfather, the Daniel-Day of Gangs. He became the character so much, that it seems like it was a different human being all along.
At times I felt the hairs on my arm stand up. At times I felt scared. Literally. The guy got so deep into this character that when you see him play the Joker, you see The Joker. You don't see Heath playing the joker (like you would see George Clooney as Daniel Ocean). Heath did not exist in this film. Talent existed and somewhere, deep inside the Joker, was Heath. But it was not seen on screen. All I saw on the screen was a performance that made me get the chills during certain moments. His acting skills have surpassed every actor I have seen thus far. He made it a craft and made it his life. And with him gone, so is this ability to sell a movie to the viewer by an outstanding performance.
Overall: So, in conclusion, I recommend to go see this film. I will go see it again (and possibly try to see it a third time if necessary). This is a movie that while, I can not claim to be my "favorite film" (cause as a whole, it wasn't), I can say, it is a movie I enjoyed the most. Watching all the above things gave me a satisfaction that blockbusters can still be moving and exhilarating and wonderful, without destroying the beauty of what a film should be.
I give this film a 10 out of 10, or the two thumps up, or the 5 tomatoes or whatever your rating meter is. This film was "it" for me.
It is perfectly clear that this film will be remembered as Heath Ledgers greatest performance and will take some really amazing skill to out due his performance to impress me in any film I will see the rest of the year.
Rest In Peace Mr. Ledger.
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