Setting the Bar

I have wanted to see this movie since I saw the commercials for it on television, but having an infant really made it so difficult. So I had to wait for it to come out on DVD and when it did, I got it.  How to describe this film? It’s depressing and dark, cynical and thrilling, hard and addictive. All the things that a good action movie should be and then some.

Batman, played by Christian Bale, follows a convoluted path from the beginning to the end of the film. The plot is often confusing, with lots of twists and turns, making this a pretty intense movie that you have to watch closely without getting up to leave the room or zoning out. It was really long, too long I felt at times, but kind of interesting nonetheless. The violence did little to forward the plotline, where the plot existed.  But oh well, who needs that right?

Heath Ledger was amazing and lived up to what reviewers are calling his best performance in his so short life. What really makes his exceptional performance and subsequent death so tragic is that you could tell that his star was starting to shine much more brightly. This was the second movie that he starred in that was getting him critical acclaim and his portrayal of the Joker was bonechilling and riveting. You could not take your eyes off of him when he was on screen. He was so good that he overshadows the other actors in the flick, including Gary Oldman - who is a masterful actor in his own right. Ledger was scary and titillating at the same time.  It was astounding to watch such a young actor starting to come into his own and to have that ripped away was absolutely tragic.

There were a few other things that really irked me about this movie though. Why did Christian Bale feel the need to alter his voice so much that it sounded like he needed a cough drop every time he spoke as the Caped Crusader?  I know that Batman’s voice is supposed to be diffeent - that is only natural I suppose - but he just sounded absolutely ridiculous. I couldn’t take him seriously at all - I kept wanting to laugh everytime he opened his mouth. I didn’t like the costuming or makeup either - they weren’t particularly special. Nothing stood out.

I did enjoy the various themes playing out in the movie - the viglantism that seemed to run rampant, the hark backs to 9/11 and the apparent duality that Gotham/New York City seemed to undergo seemed to hit a note in this current age and in this political climate. I thought that the directors had a really good grasp on those themes and conveyed them somewhat appropriately.

All in all, this was a decent movie though I’m not quite sure why it was such a box office smash. Maybe it was because of Heath Ledger. I’m not sure. I’m glad that I didn’t see this in the theaters though.

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