The Dark Knight+

So this week's review is suspended due to the very legitimate rumors of Robin appearing in The Dark Knight Rises. Let's have a moment of silence for the death of Christopher Nolan's trilogy.

Test. Test.

The Dragon's News Update

Ladies and gents, our favorite coin-tossing villain is slated to have a starring role in BOND 23.  No, not Harvey/Two-Face.  All right, our second favorite coin-tossing villain.  Mr. Anton Chigurh himself, Javier Bardem!

Deadline posted the news yesterday that Bardem was offered a high profile role in the upcoming Bond flick.  He hasn't accepted yet, so nothing is official, but let me just say that this news makes me more excited than Michael Jackson in Toys 'R Us.

I'm sure Bardem is pretty stoked with how busy he has become.  Hell, he was offered a high-profile role in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and he turned it down.  How awesome do you have to be to have a role like that offered to you and you say: "Nah, I've got better things to do."?

However, I have to wonder...with the news that Rachel Weisz was wanted for this movie as well, have they scrapped that idea and replaced her with Bardem?  Or are both of them going to be in the fray.  Hmm...something to think about.

The First of Many

As this is the first blog in my new series, I will say WELCOME!!!  I'm excited to be here.  This blog will be (mostly) movie reviews, as well as a few choice ramblings and rants of mine.  So, without further ado...

The Movie Dragon in the cave of The Dark Knight:

This movie is probably the wrong movie to review. Ever. 


The Dark Knight is a movie that, even in spite of its flaws, I still recommend it to everyone I meet. I have a reputation downtown for that very thing. The movie pulled off several things perfectly. Nearly every character in the film was dynamic and believable. The scope of the movie was perfect. And there were some worthwhile surprises as well.

One thing that always gets to me is how people seem to forget about how important things like cinematography and musical score is to a film. I feel the need to mention these things before getting too far. Director Christopher Nolan flipped my switches with his use of the IMAX camera. The opening shot of the film literally took my breath away. A slow tracking shot that tightens onto the building across from the bank The Joker robs was perfect to set the mood. Then, as we see Mr. J. just before he puts on his clown mask and jumps into the van, the piercing violin of his theme starts. It's enough to give me shivers just thinking about it.

As great as The Dark Knight is, the plot makes very little practical sense. The Joker shows the mob bosses of Gotham that Batman needs to die so that he can swindle them out of their hard-stolen cash. He then tries to lure Batman out by killing people. But Harvey Dent takes Batman's place. That leads us to the nigh impossible-to-follow chase scene that culminates in The Joker's capture. A capture that he seemed to anticipate and foil with a well-placed cellphone bomb. At the same time, he anticipates Harvey Dent's continued involvement, captures his fiance, assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes, and 'sets them up the bomb,' as kids say these days. Like old soup, the plot thickens as Joker then accurately foresees the creation of Two-Face. Oh, let's face it! The Joker's superpower is his ability to see the future. It has to be, right?

Speaking of Mr. J, let's not ignore the elephant in the room. One cannot talk about The Dark Knight without mentioning Heath Ledger's interpretation of The Joker. No, seriously. I tried writing this without either of those names and it turned out like: “Um...this movie rocks?” Can't do it. The late (and dare I say 'great') Mr. Ledger left behind a heck of a legacy with this movie. It is his finest performance. One that takes a mildly menacing merchant of mayhem and transforms him into a creepy psychopathic serial killer. I loved every moment Ledger was on screen. However, I don't think he was the best character in the movie. Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent takes that distinction.

For all of Ledger's scene-chewing goodness, The Joker has never been a character that is easily identified with. He has no real back story. Aside from general crime and havoc, what are his motivations? To screw with the Batman? I don't buy it.

However, Harvey Dent is a character whose motivations are clear, especially in this movie. I cannot imagine any other actor portraying Harvey Dent. Aaron Eckhart absolutely nailed it. I believe in Harvey Dent because I believed Aaron Eckhart. Here is a man with all of Gotham on his shoulders. He has taken on the task of cleaning up the city he loves by any means necessary.

But with for every hero, there is a tragedy. When one of the criminals he tries to thwart causes him to lose his fiance (and half of his face), he snaps under the weight of it all. He then becomes a crusader of sorts. One who begs the question that serves as one of the themes of this film. Whereas Batman Begins asked “What is fear?” The Dark Knight and Harvey Dent asks “What is fair?” So when Harvey/Two-Face flips his coin, it isn't because of a neurotic need to make decisions with a coin toss. He does it because he believes everyone involved with his downfall should get a fair, unbiased chance to live or to die. I buy it.

The rest of the characters are pretty much window dressing. Batman is nothing without his Rogues Gallery, and the movie reflects that. Christian Bale brings the laryngitis needed to pull off his Batman voice, but he doesn't bring much else to the character. Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman all turn in admirable performances, but ultimately performances that get lost in the Joker/Two-Face duo. Maggie Gyllenhaal was fine as Rachel Dawes. I believed her performance over Katie Holmes' turn as Ms. Dawes. That's really the best thing I can say about her, though.

After all is said and done, though, I love every bit of this movie. It, along with Iron Man, showed the world that comic books can be taken seriously as movies. That's why Toothless Joe downtown knows the best places to go for a free meal and the plot of The Dark Knight. In one summer, they undid all of the evil that Joel Schumaker did. Now, if only someone could write a decent video game adaptation and erase Uwe Boll from my memory...

And as promised, “Knot Yo' Yo-Yo” rules: This game is to be played with two or more people. Each player starts with a yo-yo (preferably a Duncan brand yo-yo, but any will do). The object is to be the first player to do one trick with the yo-yo, knot the string in one place, do another trick with the knotted string, un-knot the string, then do one final trick. Of course, for the skilled player group, this game can be played for points to a total of 100. 10 points for knotting and un-knotting the string while the yo-yo is still 'sleeping' at the end of the string. 20 Points for knotting the string in several places then un-knotting it in order. 50 points for tangling your yo-yo with your opponent's. However, this move can only be done once per game.