The Dark Knight- A Casualty of Too Many Expectations
July 18th, 2008 at 6:34 am, 10 months agoI went and watched The Dark Knight in Evanston at midnight. Good movie. I think Ledger’s performance is a little too hyped up for its own good, and that Aaron Eckhart’s performance was way ‘under-hyped.’
I think that, had I gone into it not expecting to see a ‘great’ performance I would have probably enjoyed Ledger’s character a lot more.
I did enjoy how Nolan used Chicago in this film. He didn’t fake it up like he did in Batman Begins but rather used Chicago as… well… Chicago. I like how they took a CTA bus and filled in the C part of the logo with a G. I must have been the only person who sorta chuckled at that in the theatre.
As a whole I wasn’t all too impressed. Maybe it was just that I had been excited for so long that nothing could match my expectations. Anyone who says ‘Best Picture’ or ‘Best Supporting Actor’ is crazy. It is hardly a ‘Best Picture’-worthy movie, and as for the Ledger performance… it was good, but it was more that I enjoyed where Nolan and Ledger took the Joker character than just that Ledger was ‘amazing’ in it. I think Best Adapted Screenplay is a given for TDK, and maybe Best Director to Nolan, but to be honest I just don’t think it is worth being considered for best picture. Generally if I want something to be nominated for Best Picture, it needs to be because it has a legitimate chance at winning the damn thing, not just because they need to have x number of movies in the category.
Honestly I think the biggest disappointment I had with the film is that Ledger’s death really overshadowed so many other good things about it. I know, I know, he is dead. And that is really sad, he really was a good actor. But does that mean we should focus our attention only on his character and performance and ignore the fine performances of Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman? No.
Next up, Navy Pier IMAX… although it may take a few weeks for me to get a good seat down there.
Oh, and the joker has a good pen trick. You’ll have to see it.

