Going Batty

Got to catch a special screening of The Dark Knight last night, with free popcorn and iced tea, to boot! Joel Schumacher, pay attention. This is what you do with the Batman franchise! (Tim Burton's off the hook--I liked what he did with the first one.)

Yes, the movie was awesome--it was a little unsettling because I felt like I got sucked into Gotham (a brighter, cheerier Gotham than I'm used to. I just realized that when I think of Gotham, I think of night). But I wouldn't count it as one of my Favorite Movies of All Time. I wouldn't mind watching it again though.

Yes, I preferred watching Maggie Gyllenhaal over Katie Holmes, but I think they still could've picked a better Rachel Dawes. Maybe Rachel McAdams? (Brunette, of course. Batman with a Mean Girl just doesn't seem right.)

And yes, Heath Ledger was really good. But is his performance Oscar-worthy? To be honest, I don't think so, and apparently, all the award talk is just if-you-build-it-they-will-come hype. A nomination, sure, it's possible. But I'm guessing people (including myself) are willing Heath to win a posthumous Oscar more for sentimental, rather than thespian, reasons. I'd love to be proven wrong though. (P.S. Jack Nicholson's Joker is one of my all-time favorite movie villains. How does Heath measure up? It was...different. And he did make me laugh. But I can't decide just yet whose performance I preferred.)

I was quite happy with the plot--it wasn't mind-numbingly simple (like a lot of other superhero flicks), but it wasn't so serious that it ceased to be entertaining. ("Why so serious?" indeed.) And it was cool going in there not knowing what to expect. I heard Aaron Eckhart was playing Harvey Dent, but it was only at the beginning of the movie when I remembered his significance in the Batman world. And I realized that I would love to have Michael Caine as a butler. Haha.

Hmmm, yeah. I would see it again.