The Joker Scores
I'm still trying to take in all of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight -- a movie I watched just a few days ago in IMAX -- and this is a good thing. A very good thing. The movie sticks with you, gets under your skin in ways that surprise you hours later and, even better (or worse, depending on your mood) makes you ponder everything from the hypocritical nature of mankind to current politics to...ah yes, the tragic loss of Heath Ledger -- something that's even more potentely poigant while watching this wonderfully dark picture.
As I had mourned earlier in an essay on Ledger, we've lost one of the greats.
(So be warned, this isn't exactly a strict movie review, but a celebration of Ledger's performance. I keep recalling James Dean's brilliance in his last movie, Giant, a picture in which he too revealed his transformative powers by going from gorgeous young man to bitter, old drunk....my god...the loss.)
The usual suspects are present of course: a fantastic Christian Bale -- one of the greatest actors working -- as Bruce Wayne, the legendary, sweet Michael Caine, the wonderfully understated Gary Oldman (playing a nice guy -- I love it) and the always perfect Morgan Freeman (can that man possibly achieve a bad performance?). Also appearing is Maggie Gyllenhaal, who replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes (Gyllenhaal is a vast improvement -- intelligent and slinky -- you totally understand why a guy who can get whatever he wants, wants her). There's also Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney Harvey Dent -- primed to become Two Face and again, a brilliant, crazed and yet, oddly soulful Ledger.
Which brings me to the heart of the, at times, sublime The Dark Knight -- as Ledger's Joker shows us (and forces upon Harvey Dent), the world is a place of two faces, of darkness and light, of organization and chaos. Gotham City's criminal underbelly is a reflection of a world we sometimes walk through with willfull ignorance, not realizing we are part of such chaos and destruction. Or, at the very least, we allow it to happen around us -- as long as we're warned.
The Joker doesn't want us to be warned -- he thrives on chaos, cannot be bought and has no glorious plan. He's the Tyler Durden of Super-villains and, as such, will become something of a cult figure with this character. His philosophy isn't exactly a new one (watch some film noir for prime examples) but Nolan and Ledger make it fresh and inspired. And since these ideas are universal, it's hard to not understand where The Joker is coming from. At times (and this might be a stretch for some, but not for me) it's even hard to dislike him. At times I fought the urge of punching my fist in the air in anarcharic solidarity -- Ledger's Joker is my new evil hero. He's a psycho sexy beast of destruction. Believe the hype -- he's that great.
Bale is terrific in The Dark Knight, but this is Ledger's movie all the way. Watching him watch the world burn, I couldn't help but think... damn if he couldn't have returned to burn it down a little more.
Read more Kim Morgan at Sunset Gun.
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Why are the comments still pending? What could HuffPost POSSIBLY be afraid of? Why so serious???
Going to see it tomorrow, but I can understand what you mean just by reading the advance reviews. The (very few) negative write ups seem very uncomfortable with how attractive (or at least accessible) the film portrays society's anarchic tendency. Is it possible this generation's Network has arrived in the guise of a Batman movie? As a lifelong fan of the medium, that does my heart much good.
Wait until Watchmen (March '09). If done right, the axis of the planet is about to change.
Watching him watch the world burn, I couldn't help but think... damn if he couldn't have returned to burn it down a little more.
He was a bright flame that flickered for an instant before going out.
Like James Dean, River Phoenix, Montgomery Clift...all those handsome, aspiring actors -
Live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse.
And a lot of family and friends left to mourn their loss.
One of the more ignorant soundbites we've manufactured.
"the always perfect Morgan Freeman (can that man possibly achieve a bad performance?)" ...ummm, did you SEE Wanted? Not really Freeman's fault, but yeah, he can be bad. Real bad. OK the entire movie was puerile, adolescent masturbatory, loser-boy fantasy crap, with the stupidest "shocker" ending imaginable, but Freeman's performance was a sleepwalk.
On the other hand, I'm really looking forward to catching Ledger and the rest in Dark Knight.
Sometimes bad is bad.
When will writers other than the Postmodernist sect (and I'm convinced it's a sect now) show up here and be allowed to post?
Please?
The Norse sagas had Loki. Native American legends had Coyote. Burgess/Kubrick gave us Alex in 'A Clockwork Orange.' Alan Moore wrote the definitively twisted Joker in 'The Killing Joke.' And now, Heath Ledger. Looking forward to it.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is an exquisite actress. She captivates the camera. Her performances are always compelling and indicative of a flawless craftswomen who is profoundly dedicated to her medium. Thanks for the review Kim. I will go and see the film this weekend.
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