"I Want My Phone Call"

RETURN OF THE DARK KNIGHT!








I am not a movie guy. Do not get me wrong. I love movies. There are movies I like to see over and over again. I like to tell people that all of life’s important lessons can be learned by watching The Godfather I and II very closely... and taking notes. So I see a lot of movies, especially on cable channels, sometimes years after they come out but i like movies, I just do not know shit about them. I understand enough to be pretentious about books and popular music (how limited is that in my quest to be a renaissance man?) but movies I cannot really hold up my end of a snotty conversation.


Soooo.... I snuck out of work the other day (DO NOT TELL MY PARTNERS) and saw “Batman, Return of The Dark Knight”. Now to be clear I have NEVER been a Batman fan. The TV series was an intentional bad joke and as gay as a picnic basket. The movies (and I have never even seen “Batman Begins” have been from my perspective awful. All of them. No matter who was playing Batman. Even the much revered comic book left me cold during my comics obsession phase (roughly 1974-1982 ending directly before my marriage) batman and indeed all of DC Comics left me cold. I was a Marvel Comics fan liking the brooding Thor, Silver Surfer and Conan The Barbarian. These were heroes with SERIOUS personality problems confused not only by the world as they new it but also by their own weaknesses. DC’s characters, at least their main ones, Superman and Batman were vacuous and gave me nothing.

Only later did I discover Will Eisners earlier Detective Comics versions of Batman. What a twisted guy he was, full of angst and rage and human weakness. Frank Miller took over the comic series at one point and there is a great discussion of the importance of “The Dark Knight” at:

http://www.sequart.com/articles/index.php?article=780

The Dark Knight franchise seems to bring that all home, at least in the newest movie. And lets get down to it. WHAT A MOVIE! This is the bets movie of the year and Heath Ledger will either win for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor (how about both), whichever he gets nominated for. He is awesome. It is a tour de force of talent. I always like heath Ledger. My homophobia kept me out of Brokeback Mountain but that was supposed to be awesome but to be honest, he had me at “10 things I Hate About You”. He was just an incredibly gifted guy but this...

This “Joker” puts to shame every other incantation. I mean Caesar Romero was joke in the series but the whole series was a joke. You would have expected a more nuanced performance by Jack Nicholson but... nothing. But Ledger... ledger is a truly frightening, amoral, soul-less, frightening beast. He IS the Joker. Watching him you think the same thing in every scene which is OH SHIT he is here again! His performance, right from the start of the movie would be enough but the rest of the film is pretty excellent as well. Christian Baal (who allegedly beat up his wife and sister last night in London) is a little heavy with his scowling, tight lipped lines. Some of them are very hard to take but in almost every other way the movie is awesome. If I am going to be a jerk I also have to say that Maggie Gyllenhaal is not nearly hot enough to play the leading woman but Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent (and later an unneeded “Two Face”), Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucien Fox make an impressively talented cast for a movie you would expect to be a special effect throw away. Even Gary Oldman, a great actor and a survivor from an earlier Batman movie gives us a great Comissioner Gordon. For an interesting discussion on who is a bigger problem, The Joker or Voldemort see:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hoSCGb5fJRs

Lets be clear. the special effects are awesome. The chase scenes, the explosions (so many explosions) and every other effect are awesome. The movie is lovingly filmed and there is always something happening in the background. The plot is solid though it extends too long and adds some unneeded twists BUT, I come here not to bury the Dark Knight but to praise it.
best Movie of the year and Ledger is best actor of the year. Scary and believable but even more the movie, and his Joker, along with batman, Harvey Dent, Commissioner Gordon and all the rest (including Alfred) are always asking some very dark questions about what we are willing to sacrifice.... what trade offs are we willing to rationalize so we can wake up in the morning? And these questions are not just for us and the characters but for all of society. Really troubling questions about what we are willing to risk. What are we willing to lose... and how fickle all of us are in our thought process and yet how predictable we all act when the violence and/or the spotlight is turned on...US. And they return to that theme, over and over again and they do it really well.

Highlights:

1. The Joker in prison... “I want my phone call” should be the new catch phrase.
2. The Ferry Thing
3. The opening bank robbery all the dead Jokers.
4.Harvey Dent's Fundraiser... "You remind me of my father..."
5. Every crackling moment Ledger is on camera.

I mean seriously... who cares about the Joker. I went to see this because i thought it would be a smile. I do not like Batman. I do not like the Joker but this movie and this performance make it an easy call for best Movie and best Actor. You heard it here first. “Word” says the Diner Review.

9.9 Slingers on a 10 scale.