A lot of times you get so worked up about a movie, only to find that it doesn't quite live up to the hype. Generally, I try to avoid reading about a movie I'm interested in, because I'm worried about being disappointed, but in this case, you couldn't avoid stories about how great this movie was.
Unfortunately, I wound up being disappointed. Just a wee bit, but disappointed, nonetheless.
Oh, it was a good movie, don't get me wrong; Calai was right, Ledger's performance was so utterly convincing that you forget that he actually did something as silly as First Knight. Ledger's Joker was funny, creepy, frightening...everything Nicholson's version wasn't. I also loved how he was prepared for everything and how Batman wasn't (thus turning the Internet meme on its head); heck, I found myself applauding how successful his plans were; if he wasn't truly and utterly amoral, I may have rooted for him to actually win over the dour and brooding Batman. I especially loved how he had a different story about how he got his scars, depending on who he was accosting at that point.
So what was the problem? I wasn't completely drawn into the movie. Part of it was my fault; I was bothered by Batman's raspy voice for one thing (get a cough drop already!), but this was due to the fact that several people had already pointed this one out. Another thing that jarred me was Richard Alpert playing the mayor--I kept thinking he needed to go back to the Island. Consequently, I saw Christian Bale playing Batman instead of seeing Batman. I saw Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gyllenhaal instead of Two Face, Lucius Fox and Rachel Dawes. Fortunately, Ledger, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine disappeared into their roles, so it wasn't a complete loss. Then there was the running time. It dragged in a couple of places, causing me to wonder when it was going to end, which is typically a bad sign for a movie.
It wouldn't be difficult for me to say that Ledger saved this movie. Without him, this would've been Just Another Superhero Movie, despite it being Batman; I actually liked Iron Man
better.
As for the third film? Well, if they could bring The Dark Knight Returns (Batman vs Superman!) or Knightfall (Azrael!) to the big screen, I would be a very happy man. It'll be hard to top Ledger's performance, though.
(oh, and that wasn't Kingpin, Calai. Kingpin is from Daredevil; I think they just wanted the image of a big, menacing figure with a conscience)
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