The Dark Knight (2008)**
Not an enjoyable experience. I admired the cinematography, the stunts, the special effects up to a point. It does get repetitive especially in a 2.5 hour comic book movie. I just think the film takes itself way too seriously and is so unrelentingly dark and grim that the humongous gaping plot holes and ridiculousness gets to be too much to ignore. Plus the moral of the sordid tale is that absolute power must be given to certain individuals in order to protect us, but if they have it too long they will become the villain. And in such a twisted and heavily one-sided tale it makes all kinds of sense. In the real world though, it's poppycock.
Heath Ledger does turn in an interesting and mesmerizing performance, fully deserving of all the accolades. The role is big and juicy of course but he nails it. I am hopeful that Christopher Nolan is over his comic book phase and can get back to his "Memento" roots. I'm afraid with the success of this film though, he may be compelled to make another and complete the trilogy. Ugh.
3 comments:
Buck T, you have had too much sun...in your movies that is. Some of us revel in darkness and cynical comic book commentary that exploits and mimics human nature at its best: with all its base greediness and lust for power, evident all over in our society. I also see a thread that binds Ledger, Bale, and the protagonist in Momento. Those characters they play are not all that different from one another...each beautifully polished by Nolan, all suffering because of their human flaws and limitations that everyone possesses in their own ways. I say: Turn out those lights more often. ;)
You might be right. Way too much sun for ol' Buck as of late. Yet be careful, Dear Anonymous. Being dark does not equal being good. No Country For Old Men is about as dark as you can get and it was an exhilarating and enjoyable movie-going experience for me. I need at least an attempt at plausibility I suppose to make it worthwhile.
Just as the dark ink of a pen brings words to life or the dark inky canvas of the night sets the stars on fire, so is my hope in dark movie-making. We all look better in the dark.
Turn off the lights Buck; )
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