After getting home from The Dark Knight I decided that I was indeed pretentious enough to say that the most entertaining part of the experience was the trailer for the upcoming Watchmen movie. Yes, Zack Snyder is a hack, and yes, Alan Moore's obstinate refusal to participate in the project is rather darkly foreboding. But I must admit i was utterly captivated by the gargantuan gobs of CGI spunk splattered all over the screen. Enough so to ignore the niggling doubt that people who hadn't read the comic book (Graphic novel) were either non-plussed or totally WTFucked.
In other words, I may as well mail Zacky boy my ten dollars right now, because I'm already dangling off his hook and hating myself for being so mindlessly drawn to arbitrarily shiny objects.
Cock.
Anyway. Dark Knight. I guess I couldn't expect any less than blatant right-wing ideology being crammed down my throat(especially from something that nicks its name from a Frank Miller "book"), but at least The Joker kept me gleefully distracted from it until the whole cell-phone... thing. Yes, Heath Ledger's performance is the coolest thing to ever happen to the franchise, but he's only one character, and even though it wouldn't surprise me to see The Academy nominate him in the "lead actor" category, he's really just there to support the horrendously overwrought hero. It's a bit like using an expertly crafted, meticulously sharpened rapier to shish-ka-bob a polished turd with a plastic cape glued on. Not my best metaphor, but bear with me.
And speaking of overwrought-ing, don't go to Dark Knight expecting the playful caricature of reality you found in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Director Chris Nolan's vision is beyond such childish cinematic indulgences, like being "fun" or "enjoyable," and instead delivers itself like moral insight, expecting you to leave the theatre enlightened, uplifted, and voting straight down the Republican lines. The problem is, it's also about a rich white guy who dresses up in black rubber and fights a guy who, when you get right down to it, looks like a four yearold who got into mother's make-up. The juxtaposition of exaggerated action antics with morosely delivered dialogue and absolute moral evaluation end up making it all look a bit silly. ATVs transforming into motorcycles, finger prints being pried off fired bullets and sociopathic clowns successfully performing complicated surgeries require relatively light suspension of belief these days. There's even enough support left over for some cleverly slipped in analogies, and maybe a shot at big business or two, but once the heartfelt drama and relentless ideological bludgeoning starts interrupting the flow of the action, the whole thing goes to shit.
But I suppose when you've got a character as fantastic as The Joker and an actor with enough hot, glistening, throbbing talent as Heath Ledger to play him, stuff like "plot" and "cohesion" are really just distractions, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that every one of Ledger's fantastically delivered lines was worth the price of admission alone, even if you do pay for your cheap-ass girlfriend's ticket too. Though Dark Knight ties up quite neatly, the Joker's story had barely been cracked, and the fact that we'll never see what other surprises Nolan and Ledger had in store for us is a true loss for anyone who appreciates film.
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