chiaroscuro

I have been very very annoyed by all the hype surrounding The Dark Knight... that mostly focused on the deceased actor Heath Ledger's "show stealing performance" as The Joker.

I tried to avoid reading the reviews before watching the film, but through media exposure, I inevitably saw far too many Heath-led (grrr) headlines containing:

... superlatives about Heath Ledger's acting to the point of hyperbole
... feverish tittle-tattle of a posthumous Oscar win for Heath Ledger similar to Heat magazine mania
... thesaurus definitions aplenty on the malevolence of Heath Ledger's celluloid personification of the Joker
... more fucking Heath Ledger may he rest in peace

In my petulant and prejudiced response to the bastard press that ruined a percentage of the film for me, I actively wanted to fully hate Heath Ledger's acting.

But I could not, and I did not.
But I am not jumping on the Heath Ledger bandwagon of fanaticism.
I nod to Tim Teeman of the Times for writing:

"The Dark Knight will stun and surprise, delight and terrify, and it won’t be the special effects, gizmos and bat-heroics that will keep you pinned to your seat, but the moral force of the script..."

Hoorah. Someone actually mentioned the script.

Dead or alive, Heath Ledger was always going to be a talking point I guess. So I'm getting over this issue. What has truly irritated me is when people don't get the story - especially when the essence of the superhero cult is in comic books. Yes, there's the graphic design, the pictures, the artwork, but for me, reading comic books was also about the text.

Fine, Ledger makes for a superb crook clown, but I crave for the chronicles and conversations of comics.
I appreciate the brilliant contribution of the actors who were undoubtedly well-cast, because they were the vehicles of the story and they delivered the narrative credibly. I don't care much about their careers really. When it concerns the DC universe, it has to be about the storytelling.

What I saw in the film were the interplays of the black and white, the old adage that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. What scared me was the cowardice of selfish men and women who lose their humanity in their blind fear and panic, not The Joker. Gotham City continues to mirror times of the now and the real. The Batman is but a man who makes choices and sacrifices. He is a three dimensional human, not a hero like the invulnerable alien from Krypton. The Batman is only one man and yet he makes a difference.

Finally, the use of echolocation technology was totally geek awesome!

Comments

[Miel]

i watched it three times in the movie theater. Yes, i really liked how joker tested everyone from batman, the mafia, the politicians even the community itself. Of course you should never lose hope in people! Yes, i liked the script writing too. I would like to commend the repetition of some lines by Harvey Dent to drive a point. I also like Gary Oldman, i hope he is nominated for best-supporting actor. I also liked the scene with the big colored inmate showed some dignity where other innocent couldn't; "i'll do what you should have done ten mins ago!" It was a really gripping movie for me!

[Gavin Henson]

you have to give credit to the press though for keeping some secrets. There have been little direct mentions and no photos released on the arrival of one of Batman's other famous enemies during the course of the film

[eevilmidget]

Miel: Read this review from The Times by this old miserable git. The writer is an idiot and his surname, rather appropriately, is 'Cox' - Why The Dark Knight Is So Dim - GRRR. He gets on my nerves for his lack of geek IQ.

Henderson: Pfft. Fine, some credit for not completely spoiling the film with revelations. But hardly worth even the faintest of an applause.