Jar of Juice

Movie Review: The Dark Knight (IMAX)

I will tell you why I am serious.

This movie is AWESOME!

I am not a Batman fan, to be honest. The old movies sucked beyond redemption. And when this new wave of comic-to-movie flicks started to come out, I did not really have high hopes.

Spiderman was OK. Lots of swinging, and cool effects, but it looked childish and too comic-bookish for my tastes. The Hulk sucked, Electra sucked, Daredevil sucked. Most of them sucked.

The Batman Begins came along. It wasn’t a grand movie - it did have lots of comic-influence and cheesy dialogue - but the direction was a vast and welcome change from the previous Batman flicks and the other superhero action movies.

So you can say I wasn’t really expecting a lot out of Dark Knight.

Boy was I wrong.

I got to be one of the few people who were able to attend the IMAX premiere in Dubai. It was a late show and I had work the next day, but no biggie.

Boy oh boy oh boy.

The Dark Knight is a more focused film given that the characters have been established in Batman Begins. It explores the characters more and focuses on the psychological power play between Batman and the Joker as well as the other major characters.

Forget the old Batman movies and any impression you have on the Joker. After this movie you’d never want to see a clown again. His criminal mind is terrifyingly dark and one without motive. The Joker is portrayed as a symbol of all that is insane in the world - intelligence mixed with immorality makes insanity.

The storywriters did a great job in creating the disturbing character for the Joker. But what truly made him stand out is Heath’s performance. It steals the show, and even though the other actors do a decent to a solid job in portraying their characters, NONE of them is as good as Heath’s rendition of the Joker. As a note, I am still not a fan of Christian Bale’s voicework for Batman. It feels forced and at times too fake to portray seriousness.

Joker’s disturbed psychology - sick sick sick - and the makeup and the movements and the twitching and the “rationalization” of the events - is probably the highlight of the whole film. No matter how many times I repeat it, I cannot stress enough. There’s a lot to read between the lines too, if you’re not into taking the scenarios for face value.

Even though the movie is high on action, it focuses more on thought patterns and internal struggles of most of the main characters (Batman/Bruce, Harvey Dent, Joker). It takes you deeper into the sinister criminal minds, and that of the “goody two-shoes” as well.

Think of the film not as a superhero flick but rather as a two and a half hour psychological experiment. You’ll love it.

Posted in: entertainment, movie review