I saw the Batman. And I was worried. A firm 9.5 on IMDb. Big-name critics like Roger Ebert bestowing four-star reviews. The box office insanity. I had my doubts it would live up to the hype. I mean, I yawned my way through the bland Batman Begins and overall, I'm not a huge Nolan fan at all. I wanted to like it. I wanted to avoid being an outsider, the loon with a pole up his buttocks that thinks a "masterpiece" is dull. But, oh no. Not so, me friends. I'll be surprised if 152 minutes flies by in 2008 like it did while I watched this film.
Entertaining, creepy, incredibly acted (and that is %100 true; ensemble award anyone?) and hey, very well directed. What more could you want? The story just keeps chugging along, never stopping for a breath. Every line of dialogue, every action, all the parts, had a purpose and they pushed the story forward.
Luckily -- this is good for dumb people like me -- the story is relatively simple. Not extremely cut-and-dry, but for the most part it revolves around Batman joining forces with Commissioner Gordon and the new DA Harvey Dent to take down the, no words describe him better, tortured and insane Joker. The tactics of the Joker are simple: no scheming, no planning, just destroy. The Joker is not just a brilliant villain, but a brilliant character. Every time he was on screen I would get excited because when he steps in frame something is going to happen. Whether he urges Batman to hit him with a motorcycle ("HIT ME!") or he's chatting with Two-Face in a nurse's get-up (personally, my favorite scene; hilarious and nightmarish)
Kudos to the writers (the Nolans). They weren't afraid. As good as it was that they didn't just hand the movie to the Joker character and let it revolve around him and not the real story at hand, they also didn't pull many punches. They let the Joker, or maybe Ledger, just tear it up, go completely WACKO. He freaks you out consistently. Every scene he's saying something bizarr-o, doing something only a freak would do. And with that, Ledger and his Joker stole the damn show.
So to make it simple, it's Batman and a litte help from his friends that try to take down the man tearing Gotham City apart. Now there is a whole finance scheme with the mob that really is mainly in the first hour of the film. That's a big subplot, but goes unnoticed as the film draws to a close. That's no trajedy, whatsoever. That's not the fun part of the movie.
As stated earlier, the performances are truly great (none quite in the same league as Ledger's but eh..). I like Bale as Batman. Matter of fact, I dig the Bale Batman. And not all do. I mean, he may come across a little bland in some ways. But he's cool, rich and pissed off. Isn't that Batman, basically? Then there's the Caped Crusader's partners in crime, Oldman and Eckhart. And I declare: after Ledger, Oldman gives the second best performance in the film. You just like him, I don't know. It's sort of a subtle performance, yet he does a good job pulling off a multi-dimensional character that has quite a crucial role in this film. Eckhart, I believe, was perfectly cast. He's sort of a politician, man of power, type thing, so leading man looks were needed. He also, simply, did well. He played a brave, gutsy character with flash, and it all worked out nicely. But, he's not that good in the last, say, hour of the film. His character, as you may know, let's just say changes, and it doesn't quite work. I don't buy him as the bad guy.
The boring ones: Gyllenhaal. Fun..? I don't know, I mean, she's a very minor upgrade from Holmes who I didn't think was that bad in Batman Begins. Maggie's fine, but the character doesn't have tons to work with. Caine and Freeman (they count as one), were both effortlessly good, yet I prefer Caine any day of the week.
Then there's Ledger. Don't think all of his hype is just hyperbole. He's simply amazing. Every mannerism, line, expression is so consistent. He really is the Joker. I saw a thread on IMDb (yes, I read the boards..just a lurker) that was the toss-up of Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood versus Ledger as the Joker. I laughed. DDL was TWBB (omg lol). But now it isn't a laughing matter. There is a serious argument for both. At the end of the day? Probably Daniel. Ledger had a much more exhibiting performance. Flashier. Day-Lewis's performance was mainly that he was the plot, and he was pretty freaking amazing. It's close (and maybe I'll have to post about it). I didn't want to make the whole review about Ledger, because I'm reviewing a film not a performance, but Ledger was really great; show-stealing. I don't want to wonder what he could have been. He played a marvelous Joker and that's that. It's deeply sad, but I'll always remember Ledger fondly with this legendary performance.
Am I getting ahead of myself when I say that Nolan should be considered for a Best Director nom? He succeeded in making, basically a crime drama with Batman. And it worked. As realistic as it was, the crazy gadgets, and kind of the fantastic Joker character came across normal, and you never kind of laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. It's been advertised to us as a Batman flick. It is. But this film is more than that. I'll say, three scenes stick out in my mind that are true ethical dilemmas. And in a way, that adds to the suspense of this film. Smart suspense.
Also, Nolan created a great Joker (as if I haven't said that already). The character is perfect, maybe it's only flaw being he's too fun to watch at times.
So, yeah, it lives up to the hype. Best film ever? Eh, not a shot. Really good film, though? Sure.
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