I have seen many movies this summer, but they have all been kinda eh. Nothing really begged to be written about. Then Dark Knight came out. Oh, how we had to see this one, because we loved the first Christian Bale Batman, which is what I am calling this series of Batman movies, so much.
When the Tim Burton series came out, I loved them, too. Although it was a little hard to take Michael Keaton as Batman. I mean he was okay and all, but not the brooding hotness that is Christian Bale. Tim Burton did a good job, as always, with keeping the films dark, but still in the style of the comic books. Let me say, here, that I don’t read comic books and never will. However, I did watch the Batman TV series and have ruled that they too were quirky and comic booky.
This new series of Batman is much darker than the others and we get a sense of pure evil. Batman is not the superhero, but a man trying to do good and getting caught in the murky waters of what is the outcome of his actions. Batman is flawed and he can’t always save everyone. Batman is, in a sense, human. It might be why he is my favorite of the superheros. He is not cocky, well not as much, as Ironman, he is not born of some another planet, like Superman, and his special powers come from the mortal mind of Morgan Freeman’s character. I really need to pay more attention to the names of the characters.
I will agree with others that the movie was too long. It went past the mark where I thought, “Hmmm, this is a good place to end.” And after waiting over an hour to make sure that we got seats and then dodging the running of the rabid Batman fans to get said seats, I was a little done. However, it is was not so bad that I felt I needed to walk out in protest.
There were many surprises. Characters that I thought were going to live died and others remained alive. Again, in agreement that Heath Ledger’s Joker was perfection and haunting. Frankly, this Joker made me shiver and still does. He is pure evil and evil for evil sake, nothing more. While I still enjoy Nicholson’s Joker, I think Ledger’s Joker will go down as the one that scare people shitless.
I have many questions and am anxiously waiting for the next Batman to answer them. This movie has awakened a urge to see the older Batman movies, but feel that they will disappoint. So I, along with everyone else, will sit and wait for the questions to be answered and wonder what more they have in store for us.
Also, I don’t feel that this is a Batman for the under 13 group. I question the PG13 rating, although I understand why it was set. There are no large amounts of blood, foul language and definitely no sex or nudity, but the evil (which is the only way I can think to describe it) maybe a little hard for kids. Mainly, I think because they won’t understand it. I guess it is a judge for yourself, but I know that my kids won’t see Dark Knight. They have seen Batman Begins, which I questioned because of the Scarecrow, but there is no doubt that this Joker will not be seen by my kids for a long time. I think if they are interested in Batman, we will stick to the Burton films, where Joker is simply some crazy cartoonish figure.
One last note: I can’t believe that out of all the movies we have watched this summer, I have enjoyed the comic book ones the best. They have pleasantly surprised, even Hellboy, me and made me want more. My husband has been pleasantly surprised, as well, because it has saved him from sitting through many a chick flick. I am further saving his brain cells by not asking to see Mamma Mia. Oh how I love a good ABBA song, but really the story seems a little been there, done that.
