|
|
MOVIE REVIEW The Dark Knight
by Richard Knight, Jr. 2008-07-23
|
|
This article shared 4352 times since Wed Jul 23, 2008
|
|
Is it going too far to call The Dark Knight not just the best blockbuster of the '08 summer season but also one of the best films of the year? How about one of the best action blockbusters of all time? I hasten to add that my superlatives are based on screening the I-Max version of the film.
But as Meryl Streep exclaimed in Death Becomes Her, 'Now a warning?!' Yes—because even as you take in the dark delights that director and co-screenwriter ( along with brother Jonathan ) Christopher Nolan has cooked up—be aware that this blockbuster is one that comes with a price. There's exhilaration in the spectacular action set pieces to be sure but Nolan doesn't allow his audience to savor them. The movie works on you psychologically at the same time that it's ramping up your senses—a risky combination that Nolan is able to pull off thanks to the tremendous performance by the late Heath Ledger as the villainous Joker.
The film starts where Batman Begins left off. Batman/Bruce Wayne ( the brooding Christian Bale who just gets hotter with every passing movie ) joins up with Lt. James Gordon ( Gary Oldman ) and Harvey Dent the city's new District Attorney ( Aaron Eckhardt ) to combat crime and especially Gotham City's newest villain The Joker. Dent also just happens to be hot and heavy with Bruce Wayne's unsung love interest Rachel Dawes ( Maggie Gyllenhaal taking over from Katie Holmes ) .
Most of the big action scenes are between Batman and the Joker and later, in a surprise twist, the appearance of another Batman villain, Two Face. As noted Ledger does amazing, intricate work. At times there are, as expected, homoerotic undercurrents in the character and in his confrontations with Batman which the messy clown makeup enforces. Ledger is so fun and twisted ( watch for the scene of him in drag in nurse's uniform ) , that his loss to the acting world is that much more pronounced. The rest of the cast do fine work but it's Ledger's picture all the way.
Nolan, whose dominate palette of brown and midnight blue never really diminishes—even when things get quiet the music is pulsating in the background and by the last scene I felt wrung out, my senses overloaded. I literally shook after the movie and the unsteadiness had as much to do with the 'ride' I'd been taken on as the dark emotional journey.
The Dark Knight is a sinister epic and a rare achievement in cinema—it's a film that turns its pulp, comic-book source into complex and thrilling art for the masses.
See the full review at www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=18939
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site, where there is also ordering information on my book of collected film reviews, Knight at the Movies 2004-2006. |
|
|
|
This article shared 4352 times since Wed Jul 23, 2008
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20 - Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19 - I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ film fest Queer Expression to feature Alexandra Billings in 'Queen Tut' 2024-04-12 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Pride Film Fest celebrates its second decade with a new name—QUEER EXPRESSION—and has announced its slate of LGBTQ+-themed feature, mid-length and short films for in-person and virtual events in April and May. QUEER EXPRESSI ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Jerrod Carmichael, '9-1-1' actor, Kayne the Lovechild, STARZ shows, Cynthia Erivo 2024-04-12 - Gay comedian/filmmaker Jerrod Carmichael criticized Dave Chappelle, opening up about the pair's ongoing feud and calling out Chappelle's opinions on the LGBTQ+ community, PinkNews noted, citing an Esquire article. Carmichael ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05 - For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29 Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...
|
| | WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29 - Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...
|
| | JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22 - series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...
|
| | WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21 - It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21 - Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15 - Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08 - Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01 - Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctora film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...
|
| | Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27 - February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...
|
| | SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25 - Queer entertainers made their markalthough not a major oneat the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...
| |
|
|