Film Review by Michael Parent |
| The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) 9.1
Blockbuster, mediatic circle, Ledger’s death & #1 spot on imdb.com on the first month of its release. Everything was in place to make it a complete fiasco and/or a complete commercial success. Cause in my opinion commercial success often = cinematic fiasco. First of all I liked but not loved Nolan’ Batman Begins and I was still heart minded with Tim Burton’s two fantastic and amazing Batman films. Nolan’s approach is more on the psychological side of Cinema and less on the special effects. It’s something that I have great respect for. In superhero movies most of the people are looking for the good hero, charismatic, strong but loveable man who will save the world. Batman is no ordinary man but he can’t fly, throw fire or make a web. He has the powers of a man with lots of money. This makes this hero more believable. Anyway, I’m not here to say who his stronger than who I let this one to the Comic Book fat guys. In a superhero movie I look for the vilain, and the Joker (Ledger) demonstrated what it should be about to be the bad one; it is evil, madness and immorality. Ledger’s performance is haunting and he scared the hell of my girlfriend and even a little of me! I won’t repeat all that’s been said about Ledger The script is tight and the direction is heavy as ten mammoths walking on Broadway at 5 PM. Every moment is well calculated and the dramatic effects are very poignant. My only negative comment will be on the music, I found it unpersonal and not emotive at all. The Sound is very well mixed and the effects are well executed. With The Dark Knight, Chris Nolan executed something I call a « tour de chef ». What I’m saying by that it’s he made the Blockbuster the studios asked for. He brought the money in the bank and satisfied most of the connaisseurs of Cinema. Especially me who thought I’d be disapointed and chocked. |