The time has almost come friends and the anticipation is reaching a fever pitch. I can feel the intensity as the Emo fanboys salivate. The Dark Knight has overtaken Indiana Jones (a film many people saw but no one cares about or remembers) as the must see movie experience of the year. Heath Ledger’s death has contributed to an almost insane amount of hype, publicity, and genuine excitement and interest in the film.
Early reviews report that the film is spectacular, more a crime epic like Heat than just another comic book film. The film has a lot going for it including a terrific cast led by arguably the best Batman of all time, Christian Bale, and a terrific supporting cast including Gary Oldman (so restrained and believable as Gordon in Batman Begins), Michael Caine (a warm Alfred), Lucius Fox (the witty and excellent Morgan Freeman), and Maggie G (taking over for Katie Holmes) as Bruce Wayne’s love interest Rachel Dawes. New addition Aaron Eckhart should be a good Harvey Dent, after the pathetic campiness and homoerotic prancing of Tommy Lee Jones (usually a fine actor) in Batman Forever. Re-watching Batman Forever recently, basically all Jones does is scowl and cackle under his ugly makeup for almost 2 hours.
The main event though is obviously seeing Heath Ledger tackle a role that many felt has never been properly inhabited, The Joker. Ceaser Romero was campy and fun on the show but lacked any sense of menace. Jack Nicholson was a fan favorite for his performance of Joker but was saddled with a lame backstory where he was a mobster named “Jack Napier” who shot and killed Bruce’s parents. The major problem with this backstory was that none of it was in the comics. Batman Begins had a much closer rendering of the comics with Bruce’s parents being killed by a common hood named Joe Chill. Timmy Burton also saddled Jack with a ridiculous sidekick named “Bob the Goon” (seriously!) and their relationship was so weird and borderline homoerotic that I wondered if Burton was medicated when he decided to go with that whole idea. The Killing Joke came after Batman but if that was the best Timmy could come up with, I’d rather he’d have no origin for The Joker.
Tickets for The Dark Knight are selling like the bloomin onion appetizer at Outback Steakhouse, they are going in record time. Presale looks like The Dark Knight is headed for the biggest opening of all time (over the much-maligned Spidey 3) and this time the film may be well worth the hype. The commercials are compelling and Ledger’s line readings are nothing short of spectacular. There’s a theatricality and menace behind his laugh that I’ve not seen before and I spend nights in a movie chatroom typing out those wonderful one-liners with my fellow movie fanatics and exchanging homoerotic emoticons while we attempt to discuss other films (like any other film around matters, HA). So I say it’s just about time to get this show on the road, fanboys. Pull out your batman t shirts and HIM CD, bring a change of undies and moist towelettes, and remember that the 1 seat buffer zone rule is in effect. Make sure you sit at least one seat away from your Batman-obsessed pals and get a nice cold coke and some pretzel bites and cheese and I’ll see everyone at the movies.
Official Dark Knight Site:
http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/
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