Movie Review: The Dark Knight

I listed The Dark Knight #1 on my list of 10 Movies To See This Summer. I predicted it would be the “biggest baddest movie of the summer”. I was wrong! It’s possibly the biggest baddest movie of the year (and it’s only July). I was torn between The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia. I think I made the right choice. The Dark Knight delivers with some good action, plus great acting from the film’s stars.

The Dark Knight begins with a different Gotham than the one we last saw in Batman Begins. The Batman has Gotham’s underworld running scared. He’s also inspired a few copycat Batmans in the process.

The city is soon shaken by the rise of a new criminal named The Joker. With the Joker terrorizing the citizens of Gotham, Batman teams up with lieutenant Gordon and DA Harvey Dent to help bring this madman to justice. Batman has to reach into his dark side to catch the maniac before he tears Gotham apart.

Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Bale is captivating as Bruce Wayne. He breathed new life into the franchise a few years ago. Surprisingly he is very believable as he’s seen exiting the helicopter with three beautiful women. He’s also able to play a darker Batman than we are used to seeing. The great performance from the late Heath Ledger may overshadow the magnificent job Bale did in this film.

When something is new, we are sometimes quick to label it “the best ever” or “all-time greatest” forgetting the work that preceded it. I will say that this Joker may be the best we’ve ever seen. Like most people I was skeptical of this role simply because Jack Nicholson played an unforgettable Joker in Batman
Ledger turned in one of the great performances that I can remember. His role as The Joker may become a benchmark for all movie villains. It wasn’t just the smeared make-up that made him crazy. It was how he constantly licked his lips, that sinister laugh, how he touched his scars, plus the sadistic rational for why he did what he did. I read one review that described him as a “homicidal comedian”. I think that’s pretty accurate.

The other great performance was from Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Eckhart plays Gotham’s White Knight, the type of hero that a city really needs. He displayed an approach to fighting crime the straddle the fence between fearless and insanity. You start to see more of the insanity when Dent turns into Two-Face. I get the feeling that he may have a few mental illness. Just a thought. Eckhart’s roughed choir boy look was perfect for both roles.

This movie so likeable because it’s not just a good comic book movie but a good film. At no point did I feel like I was watching a superhero movie. It’s the same formula that made this summer’s other hit Iron Man big at the box office. The latest batch of comic book adaptations have been as much character driven as they have been action packed. You may start to see more A-List actors sign on for these movies in the future.

My suggestion: Movie of the Year! I loved it. You will be glad you waited in line forever to see this film. It doesn’t matter if you are fan of the comics or even a fan of Batman. The Dark Knight is a film that all movie buffs will like. Great story, great characters, and a few laughs sprinkled in as well. If there was one movie to go see this year it would be The Dark Knight. If you can get to the IMAX, I would highly recommend it. I’m already anticipating the next movie.

Ten 10 List

There are a lot of movies slated to come out between now and the end of the summer. History tells us that not all of them will be good. Advertisements and trailers will label them the “Best Movie of The Summer”. This will only hold true for a few. I thought it would be a good idea to give a list of movies that I’m looking forward to seeing. Here’s my Top 10

10. Baby Mama (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear) – A single business woman decides to have a child on her own. She soon realizes that she is unable to have children, leaving her with quite a delimit. Still determined, she finds a surrogate mother. Everything is going according to plan until the surrogate shows up at her house with no place to live.

Tina Fey has been doing a wonderful job with 30 Rock. Hopefully she can snowball that success into a hit movie. Amy Poehler and Tina were great together on the SNL’s Weekend Update. The plot seems funny enough, well at least enough to make my #10 on my list. April 25

9. Be Kind Rewind (Jack Black, Mos Def) – After a man becomes magnetized, he erases all the tapes at his friend’s video store. To keep the stores most loyal customer happy, they decide to remake all of the films in the store.

Why hasn’t this been done already? I can see producers sitting around thinking, “why hadn’t I thought of that?” I saw the trailer a few months ago and laughed out loud at some of the scenes. I think this movie will surprise a lot of people. With all the remakes set to come out, an original idea like this is bound to be a hit. February 22

8. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Ron Pearlman, Selma Blair, David Hyde Pierce) – Hellboy is back! After a truce between humans and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, earth is flooded with all sorts of creatures bent on having hell on earth. It’s up to Hellboy to send these creatures back to where they belong.

I was pleasantly surprised by the first Hellboy. I refused to see it but when I finally watched it, I enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to this sequel. It’ll be more crazy creatures, special effects and comedy from Hellboy. July 11

7. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage, Anna Popplewell) – The children find themselves back in Narnia only to realize that a year to them is 1,300 years in Narnia. To their surprise things have changes and Narnia is now being ruled by evil King Miraz.

I read these books as a child and loved them. I thought The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe was excellent. They can pull it off again with Prince Caspian. It will be a great family movie. Every summer needs one of those. May 16

6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Paul Rudd, Kristen Bell, Jason Segel) –A man breaks up with his TV star girlfriend and heads to Hawaii for a much needed vacation. When he arrives he realizes that his ex is vacationing at the same resort with her new boyfriend.

The Knocked Up guys are back! Judd Apatow is on a roll with these movies. This movie should be one of the summer’s best and definitely one of the funniest. Anyone who has ever run into an ex at the movies or at a restaurant knows that feeling. It’ll be an easy story to tell. Funny cast plus a funny script equals funny movie. April 18

5. Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (Harrison Ford, Shia Labeouf, Cate Blanchett) – Fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series.

The studios have been very good about not giving away any information on this film. This movie is one of the most anticipated films of the summer. I’m hoping they can restore some of the nostalgia from the first three Indiana Jones moves. Harrison Ford should be able to deliver. This has to be his last one…………….right? May 22

4. Semi–Pro (Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre “3000” Benjamin) – The owner/player/coach of a struggling ABA basketball franchise competes to have the team merge with the NBA. The team must do the impossible, win games.

If you’ve seen the Super Bowl ad or even the new Old Spice ads with Tropics star Jackie Moon, you know this movie is going to be a riot. Ferrell is up to his old antics again in this sports comedy. When I heard that his character has a #1 hit song called “Love Me Sexy” I was sold on the movie. Feb 29

3. Hancock (Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron) – A misguided superhero destroys the city in an attempt to save lives. This hardened superhero doesn’t seem to care what the public thinks of him. One day he saves the life of an executive and realizes he may actually have a soft side.

Will Smith is always puts out great films in the summer. Not to mention that Smith and Sci-Fi go together like The Iron Shiek and the Camel Clutch I can’t think of the last bad movie that Smith has done. Maybe it really is the Willenium. Hancock should be full of action and well worth the price of admission. July 2

2. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr., Terrance Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow) – After surviving a kidnapping, billionaire Tony Stark builds a high tech suit of armor. With the suit on Stark becomes Iron Man. He uses his abilities to protect the world from danger.

I wasn’t sold on this movie at first. I thought it was going to be more like Daredevil than like X-Men. That was until I recently watched Dinner For Five on IFC. Iron Man director Jon Favreau discussed having quality actors/actresses in the movie. He wanted the non-action sequences to hold up making this more than just a 100 million action sequence. That was all I needed to hear. Now let’s hope Robert Downy Jr. can pull it off. May 2

1. Batman (Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger) – Batman has teamed up with Lt. Gordon and Harvy Dent to help rid Gotham of crime. Things seem to go south as a new criminal known as the Joker starts his reign of terror on Gotham. It will take everything Batman has to beat him.

I’ve been waiting for this one since the credits started rolling on Batman Begins. The first one was done so well, not to mention all of the great dialogue and action the film had. Rumor has it that the late Heath Ledger did a great job as the Joker. If you’ve seen the 7 minute seen at the IMAX, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Look for Batman to be the biggest, baddest movie of the summer. July 18