Liz and I were able to catch the latest installment in the Batman series over the weekend. We’re both glad we were able to catch it on the big screen. After all the buildup, hype, and raving reviews, we finally got to see what everyone was talking about.
I was very impressed with Batman Begins and I wasn’t in any way disappointed with The Dark Knight. I’m already looking forward to the next one. Heath Ledger did an amazing job with The Joker. I was reading someone’s comments somewhere and they were talking about how they’ve never been a Ledger fan until now. They also never realized how menacing and diabolical the Joker could actually be, and after thinking about Jack Nicholson’s portrayal from 1989, they realized that Nicholson was just delivering the same role he had been for the previous 20 years or so. You may or may not agree with that, but it was a little mind blowing to me. Maybe I haven’t seen enough of Nicholson’s films, but I’ve never quite understood why people are so enamored by him. Yeah, he has some good films out there with great performances, but I’ve never been that impressed. It’s really too bad Ledger isn’t with us anymore for any follow-up films.
Often times in sequels, it’s hard to make something that lives up to the original. I think Christopher Nolan did a good job in raising the bar by bringing in the Joker, but there’s always room for some improvements. I don’t think Christian Bale had to really act that much this time around. The gutteral “batman voice” got a little annoying and old, but it makes sense he was talking differently to try and hide his identity. Aaron Eckhart did a decent job. I’ll always remember him as Nick Naylor from Thank You for Smoking. It’ll be interesting to see if he makes a comeback in the future.
I think Gary Oldman had a much more active role this time around. He’s such a great actor and it’s nice to see him able to spread his wings a bit. I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal more than Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes. She also fit in pretty well. It wasn’t like some films where actors change for a particular character and the whole time you’re confused as to who exactly that person is. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were wonderful as usual. Some friends of mine complained after the first film that they were grossly underutilized. I kind of agreed, however, it was nice to actually have a “real” actor play the role of Alfred for a change. I was just happy to have a live body in the role.
Some of the scenes with the Joker are a bit disturbing, but this is rated PG-13, so there’s not a whole lot to worry about. They cut away at just the right moments in certain scenes. Liz and I both said we got a little bored in the middle, but overall we thoroughly enjoyed it. I would highly suggest getting out and seeing this one before it leaves the theaters. You won’t be sorry.
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