Exceeding Expectations

I finally got to see this summer's blockbuster film The Dark Knight. I was preparing myself to be let down and disappointed after all the hype and critical praise it's been receiving, but thankfully, that wasn't the case at all. In fact, this movie exceeded my expectations. Wow! That's the best way to describe The Dark Knight. Props have to go to writer/director Christopher Nolan. He has managed to not only re-invent the Batman franchise, he found a way to take the Bruce Wayne/Batman character to dark and emotional places that I never thought anyone could take a comic book movie. I guess if anyone could've pulled this off, it was Nolan. If you've seen his prior work, you'll know what I'm talking about. His first commercial film was a film called Memento which is a murder mystery told backwards where the main character has amnesia and is trying to figure out how to piece his life back together after the murder of his wife. A couple of years later he made Insomnia with Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hillary Swank which is another murder mystery set in the long summer days of Alaska. Nolan's next film was his most popular, mainly because of the incredible twist at the end, The Prestige. Then the Batman franchise came a knockin' on his door and took the whole concept of the DC Comics hero and has fashioned two films that I believe make the Batman franchise more accessible to a wider audience than just the nerdy die-hard comic zealots and he still has managed to satisfy them. In Batman Begins we get to see how Bruce Wayne became what he is. In The Dark Knight we see how Wayne must come to grips with his power and how use his gifts ethically against a villain that is relentless. That brings us to the Joker played with a mix of sick humor and anger by the late Heath Ledger. This version of the Joker could give Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter a run for his money as the best screen villain of all time. Maybe there is some kind of added creepiness since Ledger wasn't able to witness the critical response he would receive for this performance. What makes this Joker scary is that he really has no agenda, financial or political. His goal is to create chaos through anarchy for the fun of it, nothing more. He forces Batman into making difficult decisions on how far he can go to stop him. All the performances are spot on. Christian Bale, the always reliable Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and new to the franchise are BYU grad Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhall. Credit has to be given to Australian editor Lee Smith who gives the picture a relentless pacing and rhythm and when it needs it, a deep breath before going into another slam-bang sequence. Longtime Nolan cinematographer Wally Pfister shoots Gotham (using Chicago) as if it were a character. If you have a chance to see this on IMAX, do it, you won't regret it.