As a lifetime movie lover, I find it a rare occurrence that a movie lives up to my expectations. Even rarer does it surpass them even after years of waiting, and The Dark Knight does this as a sequel. It is a well known fact that sequels are often crap, and The Dark Knight seemingly had all the chances to be so: Batman Begins was a new breed of superhero movie, TDK's main villain passed in real life, and there was an actor change from the now infamous Katie Holmes to the blockbuster virgin Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Instead, TDK surpasses your expectations. I say your because there is no way, no comic book or movie nerd who exists, who could have had higher expectations than me. I had been looking forward to this movie since Batman Begins ended, and my anxiety reached a fever pitch once it was announced that Heath Ledger was to become the Joker. All in all, about three years of waiting.
The actors are so good in TDK that Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne seems almost a supporting character in the rich plot of twisting evil: creating evil vs. becoming it. As always, it seems, his skills shine as he creates a flawed and impossibly righteous man who creates a superhero and skirts the line of right and wrong; justice-server and vigilante.
Gary Oldman as Gordon plays a larger role in the movie and it serves him well- at points he reminded me of Ian McKellan in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he continues to be the moral center of the movie. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles as Alfred and Lucius Fox respectively, and they are fabulous as always.
The replacement of Ms Holmes with Ms Gyllenhaal does not amount to as much as I had hoped for, because as with all superhero movies it seems, the lady takes a backseat to the plot and the action. She does have the advantage, however, of creating, in my humble and correct opinion, the most interesting, real and strong female character to support a superhero in a movie, thereby cinematically kicking Gwyneth Paltrow in the face.
I was most surprised by the performance of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, Gotham DA. I believed in Eckhart as an actor, but he truly transformed himself into the righteous a-hole who is twisted away from his goals both by himself, circumstances out of his control, and his drive for true justice. Because while Batman is righteous as well, he has the luxury of public apathy, while Dent lives his life totally in the public sphere with no secrets.
You know that a movie is something special when even the smallest of supporting roles are meaty: William Fichtner as the mob bank manager turns his image 180 degrees around by kicking butt, and Eric Roberts, brother of le Julia, is surprisingly controlled, convincing, and dare I say perfect as the mob boss Moscone.
Finally, there is the late Heath. I have been parasocially in love with him since I was approximately 12, or whenever 10 Things I Hate About You came out. I thought he was something special back then, and he truly delivers on all of the hoopla surrounding his final completed role. He is intense, intelligent, brutal, and hilarious, the latter being the main case in proving his humanity- that he actually is human, and not just a total monster. When I saw La Vie En Rose after Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Oscar, I said that without her extraordinary makeup and lip-synching there was something missing in her performance. What she was missing Ledger owns. He becomes the Joker to a chilling degree, and while he is not so charismatic as to have the audience cheering for him, no one wishes him a quick and unsatisfying death either. My main goal for the movie season will be to see the other four movies that will contain his competition for Best Supporting Actor, to prove that it is his performance that deserves the award, not the sadness so many felt from an actor being taken before his time.
Overall TDK delivers on all and any promises, and I give it
/5 Stars for Entertainment Value;
/ 5 Stars for Goodness/ Award-worthiness.
Penelope Cruz, Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Heath Ledger, Best Supporting Actor, The Dark Knight
Dustin Lance Black, Best Original Screenplay, Milk
Kate Winslet, Best Actress, The Reader
Sean Penn, Best Actor, Milk
Slumdog Millionaire, Best Picture
PSH plays Father Flynn, the priest at the center of the scandal and accusations of pedophilia who is challenged by Meryl's Sister Aloysius. I truly believe he was miscast in this role- I never bought him as a priest and he does not have the acting acumen to go head-to-head with Meryl yet. He is still a wonderful actor, but in the scenes with just the two of them it became painfully obvious how out of his element he was. Even in his scenes at the pulpit preaching, I did not think he had enough power in his voice to command the attention that is necessary for a priest with an audience of hundreds. While I was watching him I was imagining what actors would be better in the role, and that is never a good thing (I settled on Liam Neeson for his voice and stature but am still unsatisfied).
RDJ plays Kirk Lazarus, an Australian hardcore Method actor who undergoes skin pigmentation surgery to become the African American seargent of a Vietnam platoon for a movie. Robert is amazing in the role and it is very different from other characters I've seen him play. Frankly, I'm still amazed he was actually nominated, because Academy members do not love comedies, and it shows you how much they loved RDJ this year to award him for such an unlikely role. Any other year I might be rooting for him simply because it is an outrageous role in an outrageous movie but this year I will try to pick based on merit. He gets to act in a movie within a movie and does it convincingly while wearing blackface, which is nothing short of a miracle. Still, just because he was the best actor in a comedy this year does not make him the winner of BSA, because unfortunately for him this was a great year for dramas and there are three other gentlemen ahead of him.
Michael plays John Givings, a mentally challenged neighbor of Kate and Leo in the movie who injects the sole hilarity to the otherwise bleak movie. He was much needed relief, and I wish he was onscreen more. In fact, that is my only problem with his character and the only reason he is not number two, is that he is onscreen for less than twenty minutes in two scenes. During those two scenes however, you forget that this is a movie about Kate and Leo's characters; in fact, you forget altogether that they are in the movie. He steals the scenes with flying colors and I look forward to seeing him in more movies.
Josh plays Dan White, the assassin of Sean Penn's Harvey Milk in the titular movie. Josh has had an incredible two years, and I am still miffed he was not nominated last year in this category (or lead, who knows) for No Country for Old Men. He plays this role quietly but with visibly bubbling aggression and frustration- over not being the star of the city council and not being able to be the man he thinks his family needs. Brolin is perfect for the role and is a near doppelganger for the actual man, but at this point either he needs a strong lead role to win an Oscar or I am afraid he will become the new Johnny Depp or Christian Bale, who consistently turn out incredible performances but rarely are awarded for them. This is not the role he will win an Oscar for, but I am excited he was nominated just the same.
Heath plays The Joker, who menaces Batman and Gotham City through utter chaos and anarchy with no real plan or weaknesses in sight. I've already shared my thoughts about Heath's performance and my parasocial history with him as the first post on my blog here, but I really cannot say enough about this performance. That he erased Jack Nicholson's performance with a single photo is nothing to sneer at, and that he has redefined the popcorn summer blockbuster also helps. Of all my choices, his win is most important to me and likewise his is the only one that will affect me adversely if he loses.
