So, Sunday morning I woke up to a text message from Caleb (you know, the guy who never posts here) asking if I had seen the new The Dark Knight trailer yet. Having just seen Iron Man the night before (which was great, expect a review of sorts later), I had come to forget that Batman's new trailer was premiering that morning. After waiting 30 minutes for the highest quality download I could manage, I watched one of the most satisfying things I've ever seen.
First things first.
When Heath Ledger was announced as the man to be playing the Joker, I wasn't very happy. With rumors of people such as Crispin Glover being tapped to play Batman's iconic nemesis, I just couldn't understand why Ledger was chosen. When the first pictures were released of him in costume, I was even more bummed. I wasn't into Nolan's vision of the character at all. I think I remember commenting that he looked more like an evil transvestite than anything. It just wasn't my Joker. It wasn't the Joker that graced the pages of my favorite Batman graphic novels. It wasn't the Joker that I grew up with watching on the amazing Batman animated series. No, this Joker was something very, very different. And, at first, I didn't like it.
Then I saw the first trailer for the movie.
It still wasn't my Joker. However, it was obvious that Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan had created something very special with this character in their film. The way Ledger spoke his lines and moved around was like something I've never seen before. No, this wasn't my Joker. However, I was starting to like him. A lot.
Now, seeing the second trailer for the film, I can honestly say that I cannot wait to see a whole film featuring Heath Ledger's Joker. The way he delivers each line seems unique and spontaneous. The way he walks out into the empty streets of Gotham and pulls out a knife gives me chills. I've only seen about three minutes of his performance in these trailers and already it seems to be the performance of his career. And it makes his sudden and shocking death a few months ago even more painful.
But more Joker footage isn't all the new The Dark Knight trailer has to offer. Finally, the sub-plot of Harvey Dent, his race to become District Attorney, and his relationship with Rachel Dawes is explored. I'm really excited about this story line as the Two Face origin story is something that has never been properly explored on film (remember that quick 15 second footage of Dent getting sprayed with acid in Batman Forever? Come on Schumacher, where's the development?) I really can't wait to see how Nolan shows Harvey Dent's fall from grace. It's such an engrossing and tragic story and I can't wait to see it put on film. And yes, as you may have heard from other movie sites, you can get a glimpse of ole' Two Face at 2:03 in the trailer. That burn looks pretty bad... I can't wait.
Overall, the new Dark Knight trailer is full of great new footage, more plot points, and more intensity. It's unfair how awesome this movie is looking to be. Really, if this thing is anywhere near as good as its trailers are making it out to be I might as well stop going to the movies afterwards. I saw this trailer at the beginning of finals week and it ended up being the one thing that denominated my mind afterwards. I cannot even count the amount of people I showed the trailer to in the dorms. I just couldn't get enough. I even downloaded the Batman Begins score. I'm even listening to it right now. I just finished reading Alan Moore's brilliant Batman: The Killing Joke graphic novel, along with another Joker tale entitled Batman: The Man Who Laughs. No, really, you don't understand how excited about this movie I am right now. It's not even healthy. It's unfair that this thing doesn't come out until July. It's looking like a great summer for movies (unlike last year's awful one) and I'm sad that, even if I see a great movie leading up until July 18th, all I'm gonna think is, "Man, that was good... but I still really wanna see The Dark Knight."
Really, this movie looks like it has everything that Batman Begins didn't have. While Batman Begins was a great movie, Ra's Al Ghul was kind of a weak villain in my opinion. I know that he and Batman have a great history, but I just wasn't feeling him as strongly as I hoped that I would (although I loved Scarecrow- if only he had been given more screen time). The Dark Knight isn't even out yet and already I feel like Heath Ledger has created one of the greatest cinematic villains I have ever seen. Plus it just looks like Chris Nolan got together with his creative team and they thought of the coolest things that you could ever have the Joker do. How about we have him go out into the street with a knife and shotgun, start shooting at cars and yell at Batman to hit him? How about we give him a rocket launcher? Are you guys seeing this? It looks amazing.
Seriously, if this turns out to be like Spider-man 3, I might kill myself. Please, Nolan. You better not pull a Raimi on me. I cannot take that kind of disappointment again. Here's hoping that this is truly THE definitive Batman movie that I've always been waiting for.
To see the trailer, go here.
1 comments:
Batman is to Wesley as porn is to a 13-year-old boy. I don't believe I've ever heard of someone being this excited over ANYTHING in my entire life. Heck, I got to witness a parking-lot viewing of the trailer. That was an intense and awkward experience. But my hopes lie parallel to Wesley's... if this ends up sucking, my summer is shot. I wouldn't say I'm living day to day for it, but it's certainly something I really look forward to. I would pay the airfare to fly all the way to California to kick Nolan in the balls if it ends up like Spidey 3. So let's raise our glasses and give a toast to what looks like one of the most amazing displays of cinematic genius in the past 20 years.
Post a Comment