Sunday, July 20, 2008

Mini-review: The Dark Knight

You should all see this movie. Unless you are a small child who will be traumatized by people getting their faces burnt off and small children much like yourself being held at gunpoint. Then you shouldn't see this movie. Other than that, you should.
I really, really liked this movie. It works on multiple levels, and I think that's what makes it so great- you don't need to appreciate the psychological edge to it in order to enjoy what happens. But it sure as hell helps. Because the psychological edge is what makes Batman, Batman. It's what Schumacher never did get (or, at least, apply to the films) and what Burton most certainly did.
I think this is my favorite incarnation of the Joker. It's a different character from his other portrayals, that's for sure. He's less of a 'trickster' than before, but the ratcheted the 'violent sociopath' way up. And I think that makes it, in a bizzare, twisted kind of way, more compelling. At the very least, it allows the filmmakers to explore the very concept of a man with no morality, no guilt, a man who just enjoys watching the world burn. And I think that they really understood what they were working with, and that's why it works so well.
Anyway, awesome movie and you owe it to yourself to see it.

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