Peter Travers offers up the first review of The Dark Knight!
“Heads up: a thunderbolt is about to rip into the blanket of bland we call summer movies. The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan’s absolute stunner of a follow-up to 2005’s Batman Begins, is a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie. Feverish action? Check. Dazzling spectacle? Check. Devilish fun? Check. But Nolan is just warming up. There’s something raw and elemental at work in this artfully imagined universe. Striking out from his Batman origin story, Nolan cuts through to a deeper dimension. Huh? Wha? How can a conflicted guy in a bat suit and a villain with a cracked, painted-on clown smile speak to the essentials of the human condition? Just hang on for a shock to the system. The Dark Knight creates a place where good and evil — expected to do battle — decide instead to get it on and dance. “I don’t want to kill you,” Heath Ledger’s psycho Joker tells Christian Bale’s stalwart Batman. “You complete me.” Don’t buy the tease. He means it….”
“Bale is electrifying as a fallibly human crusader at war with his own conscience….”
“I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker….”
I cannot wait! Take a look at the full review (warning: the full review includes some spoilers).
Can’t wait to see this!! Thanks for sharing this review.
As a huge Batman fan, and someone who walked out of the theater during the abomination that was “Batman & Robin” Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have been a long time coming. I have never been so excited for a movie as much so as I am for this one. Almost as excited as I am to read Peppermint Filled Pinatas. 😉
Have you ever checked out Batman on Film? http://www.batman-on-film.com/batmovienews.html Jett started the site as a fan after the franchise went downhill and lobbied for quality Bat-flicks. Anyway, he is a pretty critical guy….here is what he had to say in the forums after seeing the movie at a press screening:
“Greatest film I’ve seen in my life….It literally blew me away. I sat in stunned silence during the entire credits.
To call this a “comic book movie” so off the mark, I can’t put it into words. As a Batman fan, this movie moved me in a way that’s indescribable.” -Jett
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6exacz
Yes, I am a huge Batman nerd. 🙂 By the way….I love your blog, Eric….you always challenge and inspire me. And I have not even read your book yet! I’ll read it this summer.
P.S. Make sure you go see THE DARK KNIGHT at an IMAX theater. Certain segments of the film were shot in 70mm IMAX film. It is the first big budget, blockbuster film to do so.