What Liz Said

This my review of The Dark Knight. There are some MINOR spoilers in this review, but nothing that would destroy someone’s experience if they have not seen it yet.  Consider yourself warned, however, if you’re a purist.  Save you’re bitching, because I don’t want to hear it.

1. Overall, the movie is wonderful.  I went in with no expectations, because I knew whatever expectations I might form would be nothing like I would see.  I was right.  For about a half an hour after I came out of the theater, every other word out of my mouth was “Wow…”
2. That said, I did have a few issues.  First of all, I don’t see the big deal about Christian Bale.  He’s a great actor, but I don’t understand the physical appeal.  Not only that, but I think the voice he adopts as Batman is… well, it’s a bit much.  I find myself simultaneously annoyed and amused. I will agree that he revitalized the role of Bruce Wayne, much in the way that Daniel Craig breathed life back into James Bond, although not to the same degree. Of course it could merely be that the franchise itself was revitalized as a whole, and it wasn’t really his doing. The fact remains, however, I felt more interested in the other players than I was in Bruce Wayne.  He was a set piece, not a character.  Like I mentioned previously, I do hold he’s an accomplished actor, but this isn’t exactly a movie for him to flex his acting muscles.  Apparently that was left to the others.
3. One of those players was Aaron Eckhart, who played Harvey Dent:
   Now, I will honestly put aside my adoration for this man.  (Hi, Aaron, you’re amazing and I love you, you sexy man!) I’m of two minds about him in this movie, which is funny since his character does turn into Two Face, the villain.  First, he was incredible.  I thought he was the perfect choice for this character, and when he made his transformation, it was incredible.  (I would post a picture of what his Two Face looks like, but it was so shocking and perfect that it shouldn’t be spoiled.)  It was incredible how he radiated pure rage and desperation.  It’s so easy to mess that up.   What was even more tragic was knowing what was going to happen to Harvey Dent the whole movie.  You know who he becomes, and as it draws closer, it is so tragic in the anticipation of his downfall.  Also, any man who could hold his own against Heath Ledger in this movie deserves a round of applause.
4. I’m going to say it straight out: Maggie Gyllenhaal, while I love her, was a bad choice in casting.
   I adore her in so many things, but she’s too soft.  They made the same mistake when they cast Katie Holmes the first time.  Her recent Scientology antics aside, she suffered from the same youthful softness that Rachel shouldn’t have.  I get the whole thing about her character being something of a metaphorical oasis for Bruce Wayne in a gritty world of darkness and corruption, but her character should have had SOME fire.  Instead she fell flat.  Completely.  Give me a Rachel McAdams, even.  Anyone!  Not these waify flowers that buckle under the weight of a role they simply can’t carry.  It’s so incredibly evident in the scene where she has a “showdown” with the Joker at Harvey Dent’s fundraiser.  We all knew that Heath Ledger was not going to be a scene stealer as he was going to be a scene demolisher, but she just withered.  She futilely tried to show spark and strong indignation, but it was outright pitiful.  Give me a power stare, Maggie!  Give me some sort of sign of life!
5. Of course I’m going to write about Heath Ledger as the Joker.  How can anyone write any semblance of a review without talking about his performance?
   I don’t even know where to begin.  He was absolutely terrifying.  Even when you were laughing, you were scared.  His performance was not overhyped in the least.  It wasn’t a performance, actually.  It was a transformation.  You could spend pages and pages and pages discussing the psychological ideas his interpretation of the character brings to the forefront.  I love how he created a singular character, who was also at the same time an anonymous physical embodiment of an idea.  He wasn’t the Joker.  He was chaos.  He was anarchy.  It was brilliant.  I know it seems as though I had much more to say about other players in this movie, but don’t take my lack of commentary as a bad sign;  he simply rendered me speechless with this role.
6. As for the controversy surrounding Warner Brothers supposedly cashing in on the death of Heath Ledger for commercial gain, I don’t agree.  After some serious thought, I think they would have marketed it the same way.  The hype surrounding the movie, due to Heath’s death, seems to have been completely brought on by the public.  At first I was a bit skeptical, but after seeing Heath’s performance in the movie, I see why his costars spoke out in favor of an Oscar nomination.  His turn as the Joker was, in a word, mezmerizing.  Alive or not, he deserved the accolades he received.  Did the viral nature of this movie become enhanced due to his death, of course, but I don’t think it was on the part of a studio.  It was the media and the public.

Go see this movie.  It’s worth the money.  It’ll be one of the few movies I’ll be seeing twice this year.  Actually the only movie, more than likely.