BATMAN-DARK KNIGHT

When the audience is knocking down the doors to get into the theatre, a negative review is pointless.
Thanks to the efforts of Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Arron Eckhart and director Chris Nolan, this is a superior film. Don't bring the children; this is an adult tale about moral and ethical ambiguity. Good and evil fight it out for two and a half hours in this drama of right and wrong gone mad. Ledger will win the Academy Award and his death won't be the reason; credit fine writing and dynamic acting for his triumph. Maggie Gyllenhaal is the only sore spot, she has no chemistry with her two lovers and she is a little too old for the role. The “ferry boat dilemma” is worth the price of admission and was the high point of the entire film for me personally.

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George:

Well, I cannot stop talking about The Dark Knight. First let me say I feel very sorry that the toy makers are NOT GOING TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY ON THIS FILM …. TO BAD, THIS FILM IS FOR ADULTS ONLY.

Sitting on the edge of my seat every time The Joker was in frame got to be not tiring but, an adrenaline rush.

From the outset, our very first encounter on screen with The Joker, we the audience were held captive by his presence. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat waiting, dreading almost, wide-eyed and bushy tailed to see what addition cruelties and psychopathic episodes The Joker would force us to watch. YES, I said force us to watch. I could have gotten up and walked out, I could have closed my eyes but this is the very thing that The Joker was trying to say to us through the film. If it is not happening to us personally, we do not feel a thing, we are callus.

We as a society have no concept what our troops may be going through in Iraq or Afghanistan; most of us do not know what it is to lose our Fourth Amendment Rights. Surveillance, who cares I have nothing to hide.

We treat this war thing, which for most of us is far away, as a video game. Dying, what does that mean? We can always replace troops in our WAR GAME scenario. We can always get fresh equipment we have unlimited bombs and ammo and we can always STOP to get something to eat and take a nap.

The Joker reminds us it does not matter how many of us die everyday shot or killed on our streets, but just let it happen to a Mayor, oh boy, look out then.

The scope of this project, along with the psychotic and complex elements of this monster, The Joker, is defined by a character so intense that it defies imagination. Yet there are many times when The Joker’s seemingly irrational statements all come to home with a major slap to all our faces.

Those of us old enough to remember the original film The Kiss of Death and the Richard Widmark’s portrayal of Tommy Udo, (“You know what I do to squealers”),
The Joker is Tommy Udo a million times over..


MICHAEL A. LAWSON
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GAFF-
The Dark Knight IS the BBME! Had the good fortune to see a special screening last night with Eileen at the IMAX theater in Manhattan. Seeing it on the IMAX screen was awesome (always sit in last row-middle for best effect) and it was one of the best movie going experiences ever- the place was packed-the film is just- well.............any adjectives i can come up with on Ledger's performance & others will not do them justice. The best supporting Oscar is his & NO sympathy vote need apply.

The movie in NYC is SOLD out till next Tuesday at the IMAX theater and they're showing it ALL night with shows at 3 a.m. & 6 a.m.!

When we came out, the line for the midnight show took up a whole city block on west 68th!
Enjoy your experience!

Richie K.