Matt 1Review Two: The Dark Knight
August 19th 2008 16:27
My second review is on the ever-popular new film in the Christopher Nolan Batman franchise, "The Dark Knight".
Plot Synopsis:
Batman (the returning Christian Bale) is well and truly back and the Scarecrow from "Batman Begins" is now gone. Yet within a year there returns a more violent, destructive and disturbed criminal than Gotham City has ever seen before - the Joker (played extraordinarily by the late Heath Ledger).
With a new villain however comes a new hero, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who with the help of Lieutenant Gordon uses the courts rather than his fists to rid Gotham and its people of criminals. It seems as though the lawyer is the answer to the underground crime that is tearing the city apart, and that Batman can hang up his boots and commence being only billionaire Bruce Wayne. That is until the Joker begins to test the Dark Knight's psychological mettle, leading him down a path of self-reflection. All the while the caped crusader has to stop chaos from ensuing, as Dent goes through a transformation of his own.
Matty T's Rant:
Skeptics will say that the Dark Knight's popularity is based more on the tragic death of its star, Heath Ledger, rather than anything else. They will also argue that this is the reason for the high esteem it is being held in by Hollywood and their reviewers. Yet they would only be missing the point.
The Dark Knight is not your average 'blockbuster' film. While it has gone on to smash box-office records and has been one of the most popular movies in recent times, Christopher Nolan has made a superhero movie based on a comic book dissimilar to anything you've seen before. Iron Man, Transformers, X-Men and the Incredible Hulk it is not.
CGI is important to the final product but there is never a sense that it oozes right through or takes away from how the audience sees the characters or setting, for Nolan wants to maintain them as blurring and shifting preconceived notions of reality and fantasy.
In terms of genre, the film drifts readily and regularly between action, suspense, thriller and even pure drama, with the odd dash of comedy. Christian Bale gives so much to the role and is the perfect Batman because he can sit comfortably in any of the aforementioned genres and deliver the goods. As Batman he brings his cheeky humour from American Psycho, his psychological turmoil from the Machinist, his mystery from the Prestige and his outlaw hero persona from 3:10 to Yuma to understate the famous character, which could not be said for Keaton, Kilmer and (gasp!) Clooney before him.
And while the film's supporting cast is remarkable, with the return of the charming Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and the legendary Sir Michael Caine, as well as the arrival of Maggie Gyllenhall to play Bruce Wayne's love interest - who replaces the stiff and expressionless Katie Holmes - it is Heath Ledger as the Joker that inevitably captures your attention. Ledger's accent, posture, facial expression, rage and humour are each so intricately crafted to perfection, re-inventing a character we all thought we knew. Jack Nicholson was great in the role in Tim Burton's Batman; Ledger however, is absolutely phenomenal, exploding out of the screen in each scene he is in.
Without taking anything away from his wonderful co-stars and the intense world Nolan has created in this picture, it is the late star that carries the film and makes it a truly magnificient movie.
Matty T's Recommendation
Everyone knows how good Freeman, Oldman, Caine, Bale and Maggie Gyllenhall are, but how good is/was Heath Ledger? If anyone has any doubts as to how great an actor the Australian had become they obviously are yet to see this movie. When you put this amongst his performances in Brokeback Mountain, Candy, I'm Not There and Two Hands it is clear that Ledger was a star on the rise and someone that will be truly missed.
Chris Nolan is also quickly turning into a genius. With a catalogue of work that includes the underrated Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, the magic of the Prestige and now this, he is becoming one director whose movies are entering cinemas with a "MUST SEE" tag - the Dark Knight certainly has one.
Matty T's Rating
A genuine must-see. It's power-packed full of action, yet it's also thrilling, suspenseful and dramatic. Heck, there's even a handful of hilarious moments, particularly when Ledger frolics about in nurse's uniform. At the end of the day, you couldn't want anything more in a modern-day film, let alone expect to get it in a modern-day blockbuster.
While IMDB.com fans are so fond of it that it has risen to become the third best film of all-time (in terms of user votes), there is no doubt that this film will stand the test of time. Right now it is a classic.
* * * * * ( 5 stars)
Hi again guys. I just want to apologise for a long, long absence from this blog. I've been remarkably busy with university studies, and that coupled with a bit of travel has made maintaining this site more difficult than I originally anticipated... However, I'm back and look forward to start maintaining some regularity with these reviews. As a result of my lengthy disappearance, I'm going to basically write six or seven reviews at once of a number of films I've seen in the meantime. Some of the films are older films I've newly seen, a couple are favourite films of mine and basically outline why I like them, and the others are new flicks I've seen at the local cinema.
(Plus, while I get the feeling that most of you that read this site are expecting film reviews only, you will also get regular music reviews also, following on my "Please Tell Me You Bought this Album in 2007" series - though updating it for 2008. I hope you don't mind)
Why So Serious?
Plot Synopsis:
Batman (the returning Christian Bale) is well and truly back and the Scarecrow from "Batman Begins" is now gone. Yet within a year there returns a more violent, destructive and disturbed criminal than Gotham City has ever seen before - the Joker (played extraordinarily by the late Heath Ledger).
With a new villain however comes a new hero, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who with the help of Lieutenant Gordon uses the courts rather than his fists to rid Gotham and its people of criminals. It seems as though the lawyer is the answer to the underground crime that is tearing the city apart, and that Batman can hang up his boots and commence being only billionaire Bruce Wayne. That is until the Joker begins to test the Dark Knight's psychological mettle, leading him down a path of self-reflection. All the while the caped crusader has to stop chaos from ensuing, as Dent goes through a transformation of his own.
Matty T's Rant:
Skeptics will say that the Dark Knight's popularity is based more on the tragic death of its star, Heath Ledger, rather than anything else. They will also argue that this is the reason for the high esteem it is being held in by Hollywood and their reviewers. Yet they would only be missing the point.
The Dark Knight is not your average 'blockbuster' film. While it has gone on to smash box-office records and has been one of the most popular movies in recent times, Christopher Nolan has made a superhero movie based on a comic book dissimilar to anything you've seen before. Iron Man, Transformers, X-Men and the Incredible Hulk it is not.
CGI is important to the final product but there is never a sense that it oozes right through or takes away from how the audience sees the characters or setting, for Nolan wants to maintain them as blurring and shifting preconceived notions of reality and fantasy.
In terms of genre, the film drifts readily and regularly between action, suspense, thriller and even pure drama, with the odd dash of comedy. Christian Bale gives so much to the role and is the perfect Batman because he can sit comfortably in any of the aforementioned genres and deliver the goods. As Batman he brings his cheeky humour from American Psycho, his psychological turmoil from the Machinist, his mystery from the Prestige and his outlaw hero persona from 3:10 to Yuma to understate the famous character, which could not be said for Keaton, Kilmer and (gasp!) Clooney before him.
And while the film's supporting cast is remarkable, with the return of the charming Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and the legendary Sir Michael Caine, as well as the arrival of Maggie Gyllenhall to play Bruce Wayne's love interest - who replaces the stiff and expressionless Katie Holmes - it is Heath Ledger as the Joker that inevitably captures your attention. Ledger's accent, posture, facial expression, rage and humour are each so intricately crafted to perfection, re-inventing a character we all thought we knew. Jack Nicholson was great in the role in Tim Burton's Batman; Ledger however, is absolutely phenomenal, exploding out of the screen in each scene he is in.
Without taking anything away from his wonderful co-stars and the intense world Nolan has created in this picture, it is the late star that carries the film and makes it a truly magnificient movie.
Matty T's Recommendation
Everyone knows how good Freeman, Oldman, Caine, Bale and Maggie Gyllenhall are, but how good is/was Heath Ledger? If anyone has any doubts as to how great an actor the Australian had become they obviously are yet to see this movie. When you put this amongst his performances in Brokeback Mountain, Candy, I'm Not There and Two Hands it is clear that Ledger was a star on the rise and someone that will be truly missed.
Chris Nolan is also quickly turning into a genius. With a catalogue of work that includes the underrated Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, the magic of the Prestige and now this, he is becoming one director whose movies are entering cinemas with a "MUST SEE" tag - the Dark Knight certainly has one.
Matty T's Rating
A genuine must-see. It's power-packed full of action, yet it's also thrilling, suspenseful and dramatic. Heck, there's even a handful of hilarious moments, particularly when Ledger frolics about in nurse's uniform. At the end of the day, you couldn't want anything more in a modern-day film, let alone expect to get it in a modern-day blockbuster.
While IMDB.com fans are so fond of it that it has risen to become the third best film of all-time (in terms of user votes), there is no doubt that this film will stand the test of time. Right now it is a classic.
* * * * * ( 5 stars)
Hi again guys. I just want to apologise for a long, long absence from this blog. I've been remarkably busy with university studies, and that coupled with a bit of travel has made maintaining this site more difficult than I originally anticipated... However, I'm back and look forward to start maintaining some regularity with these reviews. As a result of my lengthy disappearance, I'm going to basically write six or seven reviews at once of a number of films I've seen in the meantime. Some of the films are older films I've newly seen, a couple are favourite films of mine and basically outline why I like them, and the others are new flicks I've seen at the local cinema.
(Plus, while I get the feeling that most of you that read this site are expecting film reviews only, you will also get regular music reviews also, following on my "Please Tell Me You Bought this Album in 2007" series - though updating it for 2008. I hope you don't mind)
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