Saturday, July 19, 2008

As Good as the Hype.....And Then Some


Was there ever a doubt that I would miss an opening of the biggest, most anticipated movie event of the entire summer?? Nope. My husband and I fell in love with Christian Bale's version of the Caped Crusader after we saw Batman Begins. On top of it, the events surrounding Heath Ledger's untimely death just makes this opening all the more mythic. After reading many articles about how Ledger's performance is Oscar-worthy, we were lined up for an early day showing yesterday.


Movie reviews aren't really my thing, so I'll make this brief. The movie is truly as dark and as phenomenal as the hype that surrounds it. Heath Ledger's Joker is truly a work of art. He is ruthless, homicidal and in a word, insane. I never thought I would consider another Joker after Jack Nicholson, but Ledger makes it his own. He takes twisted to an all new level. I have no doubts that he will be nominated for an Oscar for this performance. It was actually really sad to watch him, to be honest. I had the same feeling when I went to see "The Crow" after Brandon Lee had died. A true genius was lost when he past away.


The thing that works about Christian Bale's version of Batman is his 'humanness', if that is a word. He isn't so much a superhero as he is human, with bumps and bruises.....and a dark place of his own. The parallel between the good and evil is the core of this movie, and it works.


The most surprising part of the movie though, is Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent. As anyone who has ever read the comics knows, Harvey Dent is Two-Face, and he is introduced in this movie as well. Two-Face's coming out is possibly the creepiest scene of the movie, despite all of Ledger's great acting.


So...if you are a superhero fan in any way, you most definitely need to see this one on the big screen. It really is worth the price of admission!!


15 comments:

Literary Feline said...

I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the new Batman movie, Stephanie! My husband and I hope to see it today. I can't wait!

Unknown said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love Christian Bale as Batman, but I'm going to have to skip this movie. I'm terrified of The Joker!! I don't think I can watch it because I'll have my head covered the majority of the time!

Suey said...

Can't wait to see it! We're hoping to go to the IMAX... so we just have to find the time to get there. It's not easy. Meanwhile, I'm going crazy.

Anonymous said...

IStephanie, I agree that Two Face was the creepiest. Great Movie!

Framed said...

I am a Christian Bale fan but Heath Ledger, not so much. I may pass on this movie just because it is so dark and gothic

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Ahhhhh! I want to see this this weekend but don't know if I'll be able to squeeze it in. :( I'm glad you loved it! And Christian Bale...holy cow...is hot as Batman!! Ha ha!

Bookfool said...

Wow, sounds a little too dark and creepy for me. I really liked Christian Bale in the first movie, though. As to Heath Ledger . . . I really liked seeing him as a guy with blonde, curly hair and an Australian accent. I think I'm going to just keep that image in my head and not see him as a twisted character. Glad you enjoyed it, though! A day at the movies is so nice for a break from the humdrum.

Laura said...

I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie! You should write movie reviews more often--you are great at it! :)

Melody said...

I'm glad you enjoyed this movie, Stephanie! I'm hoping to watch this this week! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, I saw this on Saturday and I loved, loved, loved it! I was a bit apprehensive because I've been looking forward to this movie for over a year and my expectations were pretty high. Maybe a little too high, I worried. But "The Dark Knight" blew my expectations out of the water! I very rarely want to clap at the end of a movie no matter how much I liked it, but I gotta say it was hard restraining myself when the credits started to roll! In fact, I'll be surprised at myself if I don't see it again some time within the next few weeks.

1morechapter said...

I agree! Loved it!!!!

Carl V. Anderson said...

It was so great, wasn't it? It far exceeded my very high expectations for it. I am so glad that it was as good as it turned out to be considering it was Heath Ledger's last role. I am seeing it again next week with a friend and am really looking forward to a second viewing.

The Bookworm said...

I havent seen it, but I want to go. It does look so good.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

Teddy Rose said...

Bill and I hope to see it this weekend. He really wanted to see it on his birthday, but my mom was still in town. We did the dinner out thing.

Kim L said...

Couldn't agree with you more. What a great movie! It pretty much goes behind a superhero movie and just is an amazing film.

PS: Tag, you're it.