Epic...

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2008)

I just got out of an advanced screening for The Dark Knight. You may be asking yourself: but Gutterball, it's Monday and everyone knows that this movie opened on the last Friday. To that I say: with a movie of this prestige getting to see it on a SOLD OUT Monday night is an advanced screening. So, the biggest movie of the summer could be the biggest movie of the year? Well with the attention that this movie has been receiving since Heath Ledger's untimely passing one can't be terribly surprised. But did it really live up to the hype? Was it better than the very remarkable as the first installment? Yes, and yes. The Dark Knight was everything I thought it would be, and so much more. Christian Bale is Batman, this movie cemented that for me. He was the main character, but he certainly wasn't the main attraction. I don't know if you heard, but Heath Ledger is playing the Joker in this one and all too soon people are screaming for an Oscar nod. Well, I will say that Heath Ledger was remarkable. I will even admit that sleeping may prove difficult tonight, but the highly coveted Oscar for Best Supporting Actor seems, even with such a strong performance, just out of reach. You see, Ledger was a powerful actor. See: Brokeback Mountain or Candy. But at the end of the day, when Christian takes off that mask, and Ledger takes off that scary make-up it's still JUST a Batman movie. Let me show you what I mean. Could you imagine if this movie came out last year and Ledger's untimely passing happened last year? Picture an Oscar nod with last year's contenders. You had movies like Into the Wild and Michael Clayton. Could you see BATMAN up there too? I know I couldn't. It's still just a superhero movie and if Leger does get the nod I don't think he really deserves it. It was a good role, not to put the role down. But it WASN'T Oscar worthy. That being said I'll get back to the actual film. I am a big fan of dramas. Action movies never appealed to me because I think that there must be something wrong with someone who pays 10 dollars to see people beat the tar out of each other for two hours. But a film that can entertain with tar-beating and actual story line is a rare combo, especially in a superhero movie. Spider-Man was able to do it, but when Spider-Man 3 was released I think we all forgot about how good the series was and how bad it is. Batman Begins was a super movie, but it was only one. Now we can say that Batman is a DC series, and with the installation of Dark Knight it is, in my not so humble opinion, the best superhero series out in the last five or even ten years. Let's just hope that despite Nolan's hesitancy we haven't seen the end of Christian Bale donned in black.