21 July 2008

Why So Serious??


A little too much Brokeback created a madman. Health Ledger has completely transformed the joker from an inane, hysterically laughing maniac into a dark and cunning strategist, more horrific and threatening than any joker I've ever encountered in the big screen. A green sick mind puppeteering a complicated web of tactics, manipulating Gotham city and its citizens with his own twist of macabre insanity, the joker is truly Batman's perfect nemesis. As he had said in the movie, they compliment each other and are destined to chase each other off in a never ending game of cat and mouse for the rest of their tainted lives - for "What happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object?" - time stands still between the two where an everlasting but never winning tug of war would likely commence.

The performance of his life time, Heath Ledger's magnum opus as the joker is remarkable and absolutely brilliant. As licks his lips and slurs his words in a teasing but chilling sing song way, I cannot help but agree that he had completely changed how people see the Batman foe.

Contrasted against Tim Burton's surreal and fantastic production, the new Batman episodes side on a more realistic and angled edge. Jack Nicholson, the man who had played the role of Joker did not seem very supportive of the new changes, as he says in his November interview, "They kind of drove the franchise into the ground. Tim Burton's a genius. He had the right take on it. That's why I did the movie." Nevertheless, his sentiments were, thankfully, not share by the rest of the world, as "Dark Knight' sets weekend record with $155.34M".

Extremely quick-paced, the movie somehow requires audiences to be quite attentive to catch the fast scene changes, the witty conversations and discourses (most of the best lines are by the Joker) and the nerve whacking action coupled with unimaginable plot twists. Christian Bale's performance was noteworthy, but nothing compared to Heath Ledger's.There were a couple of "huh?" scenes but nonetheless, the movie was a smashing hit in my chart.

Btw, did Harry Two-Face really die?


5 comments:

Insights from the Grocery Cart said...

will watch it this weekend, if only to see how good heath ledger really is. buzz is that he's a shoe-in for an oscar next year. sayang talaga... haaay...

Belle said...

i love heath ledger.. one of da talented actor..may him rest in peace...

Neri said...

i think not. hehe. of course two face should live. ^^

love your review ;) you catched my love for joker here. he's definitely the "bida" for me hehe... perhaps nicholson is just bitter? hehe XD

Razaele said...

Yeah, I totally loved the Joker in this flick. The movie would have been a total failboat without him.

*Spoilers*

And yes, Harvey Dent did die.

Kwagoo said...

Yeah.. I believe that Heath deserves big credit for his incredible portrayal. At least he ended his life with a Big Bang - people appreciating and loving his performance. True, the movie is good, but if it wasn't for Heath's participation, it prolly won't be as entertaining..

And yes, I thought Two Face would live through the movie and that his death was be just a cover up and he'd resurrect in the succeeding movie.. Oh well..

Thanks for the comments.. I really appreciate them.. :D