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HOME/Archive/Hubbs/Books/Obits/Shorts/Links/Contact MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More Now, you might say, “M.G., if that is your real name, how can you write an article like IRON MAN VS. SUPERMAN, SPIDER-MAN, and BATMAN under the premise that SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, SPIDER-MAN 2, and BATMAN BEGINS exist as the sole crown jewels of the Super Hero film genre, knowing full-well that the new Batman movie, THE DARK KNIGHT was right around the corner?” And I might answer,“Why so serious?” But, of course my response would be way too prickish, and way too easy. Much the way writing an article comparing a few Super Hero movies would be, way too easy. And that’s your answer. Frankly, I didn’t, and rarely do, think very far in advance; in any way anticipating how anything I write will bear on the future. Luckily for me, I won’t need to go back and revise, or “update” the IRON MAN piece to include THE DARK KNIGHT. Why you say? Was it not up to snuff? Are you saying that THE DARK KNIGHT did not live up to the hype in your eyes? And I say, Goddamn you ask a lot of questions! MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More THE DARK KNIGHT is a thrilling and unexpected Crime Drama. And I think it did live up to the hype. Especially Heath Ledger’s swan song as the Joker. He plays The Joker as written by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan with Brando bravado and Monty Clift angst. A nice thick Chicago accent awash in a certain Norman Bates staccato. After his shockingly good performance in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, I don’t think it’s going overboard to wonder what the future may have held for Ledger; leading to the inevitable comparisons to James Dean. MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More THE DARK KNIGHT is a heavy film. You know, like heavy man. You hip? I mean this is Batman by way of Stanley Kramer (INHERIT THE WIND, JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG) and Oliver Stone (JFK, PLATOON). The nature of good and evil, and all that. The humor is sprinkled carefully along the way, but rather than lighten the mood, it tends to come off as awkward. The most successful attempt at levity comes when The Joker, dressed as a candy-striper, prances about a hospital merrily anticipating it’s destruction. Ledger is at his most Anthony Perkins fantastic in this sequence. MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More Maybe that’s why I’m so hesitant to compare THE DARK KNIGHT to the other Super Hero movies. It just seems so different. It reminds me more of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK than it does SUPERMAN or SPIDER-MAN. A certain dark, menacing anxiety permeates the atmosphere. As Harvey Dent, played excellently by Aaron Eckhart says, “It’s always darkest before the light.” MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More The Joker releases a video ever so often with instructions on what Gotham should do about this or that; a video showing a bit of torture in order to terrorize an already frightened city. In The Joker’s climactic speech, he explains that he has no desire for money, or blood. His intention is to create fear. To mold and develop vindictive and criminal minds, preferably out of heroic souls. The Joker can never be caught, never apprehended. The Joker will never die. The Joker uses fear as an instrument to manipulate and control an anxious populace. Sound familiar? MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More The DARK KNIGHT captures Osama Bin Laden (as in captures the essence of). Christopher and Jonathan Nolan have written a perfect parable about the times in which we live. And if it is darkest before the light, we can only hope the light is coming soon. -M.G. Wood
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