Forgive me, poppets. I have been moving for three days and haven't had the chance to sit and coalesce my thoughts into something coherent. I watched The Dark Knight on Thursday night after almost seven hours in line (and still not first!) with one of the best opening night crowds ever. What can I say? I love love LOVE it. Love. Instead of my normal pros and cons, I only have a list of Awesomes and Fantastics. If you are a big BatFan, you will not be disappointed. If you're a general cinephile, you will not be disappointed. If you're both, you will fall into an orgasmic stupor about halfway through, pledging your eternal devotion and first born to Christopher Nolan who has single-handedly rescued the Batman franchise from Camp Hell.
I will try to keep my general passion for all things Batman out of it, but here's Ten Scenes I Love In The Dark Knight. Also: there will be spoilers.
10) Eject Button: I so did not expect to see the damn bike eject out of the car - that was one the coolest things ever! and the end of the chase scene where the bike roars up the side of the building, swivels and slams back down on the sidewalk? Gawd. There was a collective exhalation of breath, because most people were holding it throughout the entire scene.
9) The Bank Heist: you've all seen it. It was attached in all its IMAX glory in front of I Am Legend. It was so clever and well-executed, funny and unexpected... it absolutely set the tone for the entire movie.
8) Two-Face and Gordon meet: oh, we all knew it would be gross and disturbing. We could see the burnt edges of Aaron Eckhart's nose, the look of horror of Jim Gordon's face... but did it really prepare you? The quick camera cuts that had us all hissing every time Dent turned his head just slowed the whole experience out to a tantalising crawl. Wonderfully done.
7) The Interesting Social Experiment: 15 minutes of sheer suspense. Who would do it? Would the prisoners live up to their reputations or would they redeem themselves in their final moments? Would the good citizens of Gotham succumb to their baser natures or die, tragically betrayed? ... I think, had either turned the key, they may have just blown themselves up, but we'll never really know, will we.
6) The Coin Flip: there were lots of coin flips in the movie, and all were fab without being cheesy. My favourite had to be the mob boss scene though: "Looks like your luck's changed; too bad your driver's hasn't." gold.
5) Tryouts: the entire scene with the mob boss, from "do you want to know how I got my scars" to "we're going to have tryouts" was so well played and so well acted, I could almost see it as a vignette at the Oscars next year. and tryouts? Damn brilliant.
4) You Complete Me: leave it to the Joker to quote a cheesy romantic line while describing his relationship to Batman. Honestly. "You'll never kill me and I'll never kill you" is like a marriage vow in some demented ceremony - how fitting! All these insights and promises while hanging upside down off a blown up building. Fuck.
3) Joker meets Two-Face: what a psychological little trip the Joker plays on Dent to bring out Two-Face in full. But the best part about that whole scene is the choice of Joker's wardrobe. He could have been disguised as a doctor or wearing scrubs and it would have had the same effect. But no: he wore a nurse's outfit, complete with orange wig. That right there is why the movie is brilliant - it's all about the details. Also: walking away and pressing the button repeatedly and then jumping when it actually blows up? mwahahahahah!
2) Rachel Dances with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight: if anyone needed to justify replacing Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal, all they would have to do is watch this one scene. Rachel, trying to be brave, while the Joker holds a knife to her face... the perfect amount of bravado and fear plays out over Maggie's features. Genuinely well-acted.
1) Wanna Know How I Got These Scars: this movie stopped being about Batman the minute Joker pulled that pencil out of his coat pocket, promising a magic trick. I have to admit, when I heard about Heath Ledger being cast as Joker, I was a little disappointed. Really? The sensitive Brokeback Mountain cowboy and former BOP heart-throb? No, I was not amused. But I will eat my words, with relish. Heath Ledger was just so fantastic in this role, it made me forget there was ever a Joker before him (Jack Who?). He was the perfect amount of psycho and clown, making me laugh as he did the most disturbing things (see Tryouts, Magic Tricks and Social Experiments). And you knew he held his own when he got right under Batman's skin during the interrogation. I can't even begin to express just how amazing he is in this role. I really do hope that he's given an Oscar nod and that his recent death doesn't make anyone think it's a sympathy thing. It's not. He has clearly earned it.
Go Watch This Movie. Trust me: even if you know nothing about Batman, it's still one hell of a ride. 5 out of 5 stars.
PS: I toyed with the idea of making this the Burj-Dubai of movies, giving it 6 out of 5 stars, but that would ruin the integrity of the scale.
I will try to keep my general passion for all things Batman out of it, but here's Ten Scenes I Love In The Dark Knight. Also: there will be spoilers.
10) Eject Button: I so did not expect to see the damn bike eject out of the car - that was one the coolest things ever! and the end of the chase scene where the bike roars up the side of the building, swivels and slams back down on the sidewalk? Gawd. There was a collective exhalation of breath, because most people were holding it throughout the entire scene.
9) The Bank Heist: you've all seen it. It was attached in all its IMAX glory in front of I Am Legend. It was so clever and well-executed, funny and unexpected... it absolutely set the tone for the entire movie.
8) Two-Face and Gordon meet: oh, we all knew it would be gross and disturbing. We could see the burnt edges of Aaron Eckhart's nose, the look of horror of Jim Gordon's face... but did it really prepare you? The quick camera cuts that had us all hissing every time Dent turned his head just slowed the whole experience out to a tantalising crawl. Wonderfully done.
7) The Interesting Social Experiment: 15 minutes of sheer suspense. Who would do it? Would the prisoners live up to their reputations or would they redeem themselves in their final moments? Would the good citizens of Gotham succumb to their baser natures or die, tragically betrayed? ... I think, had either turned the key, they may have just blown themselves up, but we'll never really know, will we.
6) The Coin Flip: there were lots of coin flips in the movie, and all were fab without being cheesy. My favourite had to be the mob boss scene though: "Looks like your luck's changed; too bad your driver's hasn't." gold.
5) Tryouts: the entire scene with the mob boss, from "do you want to know how I got my scars" to "we're going to have tryouts" was so well played and so well acted, I could almost see it as a vignette at the Oscars next year. and tryouts? Damn brilliant.
4) You Complete Me: leave it to the Joker to quote a cheesy romantic line while describing his relationship to Batman. Honestly. "You'll never kill me and I'll never kill you" is like a marriage vow in some demented ceremony - how fitting! All these insights and promises while hanging upside down off a blown up building. Fuck.
3) Joker meets Two-Face: what a psychological little trip the Joker plays on Dent to bring out Two-Face in full. But the best part about that whole scene is the choice of Joker's wardrobe. He could have been disguised as a doctor or wearing scrubs and it would have had the same effect. But no: he wore a nurse's outfit, complete with orange wig. That right there is why the movie is brilliant - it's all about the details. Also: walking away and pressing the button repeatedly and then jumping when it actually blows up? mwahahahahah!
2) Rachel Dances with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight: if anyone needed to justify replacing Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal, all they would have to do is watch this one scene. Rachel, trying to be brave, while the Joker holds a knife to her face... the perfect amount of bravado and fear plays out over Maggie's features. Genuinely well-acted.
1) Wanna Know How I Got These Scars: this movie stopped being about Batman the minute Joker pulled that pencil out of his coat pocket, promising a magic trick. I have to admit, when I heard about Heath Ledger being cast as Joker, I was a little disappointed. Really? The sensitive Brokeback Mountain cowboy and former BOP heart-throb? No, I was not amused. But I will eat my words, with relish. Heath Ledger was just so fantastic in this role, it made me forget there was ever a Joker before him (Jack Who?). He was the perfect amount of psycho and clown, making me laugh as he did the most disturbing things (see Tryouts, Magic Tricks and Social Experiments). And you knew he held his own when he got right under Batman's skin during the interrogation. I can't even begin to express just how amazing he is in this role. I really do hope that he's given an Oscar nod and that his recent death doesn't make anyone think it's a sympathy thing. It's not. He has clearly earned it.
Go Watch This Movie. Trust me: even if you know nothing about Batman, it's still one hell of a ride. 5 out of 5 stars.
PS: I toyed with the idea of making this the Burj-Dubai of movies, giving it 6 out of 5 stars, but that would ruin the integrity of the scale.
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