Jo and I went and saw The Dark Knight at the cinema yesterday. Although I’m not a huge fan of super hero movies I thought this was worth seeing. Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker was particularly brilliant and thought provoking – the baddie even other villains are wary of.
The story, like the title, is dark. Batman and the Joker are two of a kind at opposite ends of the morality spectrum. Both outside the system of law and order that holds back a reign of chaos. Each character is grotesque in his own way – Batman will do anything to preserve the system, the Joker will do anything to bring it down.
Sound was an effective device used in the movie – when Batman landed a punch you could almost hear the villain’s bones crunching. The thing that most struck me though was the vocal change when Bruce Wayne (played by Christian Bale) switched to his Batman persona. When he donned the batsuit, Wayne put on a deep, husky voice with menacing undertones.
Jo reckoned this was a big improvement on the old TV series, where Batman and Bruce Wayne spoke exactly the same way (bit of a give away to his secret identity). However I couldn’t help seeing this Batman being turned into a parody of TV ads for Fisherman’s Friend and Butter Menthol throat lozenges.
A nice surprise in the movie was Michael Caine as Alfred, Wayne’s faithful butler and “accomplice” – a far abler assistant than Robin could ever be.
Hi Liss,
Enjoyed reading your review of the Dark Knight.