The Dark Knight

Just came back from the new batman movie...that is -

THE DARK KNIGHT (spoken in a hoarse creepy voice to add the effect).

Yes, in all the dark splendor that Hollywood has to offer...but not to be confused with the other dark (k)night -

M.Night Shyamalan

Ok, So I go to the movie plex...get a seat for 110 bucks and expect the normal "Yaaay! Hero saves the day stuff." that all the recent superhero movies are cliche'd with. But remember this is the "dark" knight...so things would tend to get creepy, right? And they do.

I have admired Christian Bale for his acting mainly for his role in 'American Psycho' (creeped the shit outta me), and here he comes with the sequel looking 'batty' as ever. But what ho! There's a showstealer here...Heath Ledger as the joker that is. And oh my holy dog! he's defined the qualities of a villian. Makes Jack Nicholson Joker look like a chimpanzee wearing a pink tutu and frolicking around. Yes, I do agree Jack Nicholson was creepy as the joker...but it was just the face. And frankly he needs no make up to look creepy, The Shining and A few good men was a proof of that. But Ledger whirrs past way ahead of him, scoring somewhere near Hannibal Lecter.

Now there's this thing about batman which other superheroes dont have. He wasn't bitten by a radioactive bug, wasn't from some faraway planet, wasn't involved in a toxic waste accident. He's a normal guy, like you and me. So there's this thought that I could also become batman someday. But first I'll have to become a millionaire. Ummmm...build an underground batcave. Have the US military R&D working under me...etc etc. You get my point...possible stuff you see.

And here the batman doesn't locate a crime and exclaim - "To the Batmobile!".
Tho' that was Robin's dialog...and there are some batman expressions which suggests he does miss his partner.

"We are sooo gay!"

But the prequel did show how he evolved to become a trained vigilante warrior of justice. Realistic explanations for the weapons he used and the "batmobile" too. And in this sequel he whips out a "bat-bike" or whatever its called.

Through all these years we have seen batman evolve-

From Adam West's horrifically hilarious hand made haloween costume

"I beat bad guys by the mere stupidity of this pose!"

To the more superior and far more cooler Christian Bale version -

"Okay! this isnt funny, who stole my pants!"

And thats what makes you think...aesthetic appeal does matter when it comes to kickin' badass villains.

And the movie triumphs on this occasion too, since there are many scene's where you go...."Whoa!! that's freakin awesome!". But apart from the ass kicking its the plot and the situations where the viewer gets engrossed. Its a wild goose chase where you'll have to figure out who's chasing who. Anarchy and chaos at its best!!
And with a 152 minute runtime, you wont come out complaining "Man! that could've been longer!". Yes! It is the best batman movie ever for now, but what makes it more interesting that its one of the best movies you'll get to see too.

I did follow a lotta batman through the cartoon's when I was a kid. So Harvey Dent's character as 'Two-Face' seemed just okay for me. The only disappointment in the movie was Nestor Carbonell as the mayor of gotham with a coal black eyeliner(Now thats funny!). And a pleasant thing to see that the plastic Katie Holmes was booted out and exchanged for a better Maggie Gyllenhaal, tho she barely gets much screentime. Michael Caine is well all Caine-like and patches up with Christian Bale after their showdown in The Prestige acting all wise old manlike...well if you were so smart then why didnt you put the batsuit on eh, alfie?

So there you have it. No homoeroticism(link) in this episode of the bat crusader. All you have is kick ass action, a well enough runtime, the joker, and en expression that makes you ask

" Why so seriousss??"

4/5 for me on this movie.

Thats all.
For now.