Best.Movie.2008.

I probably should wait for Wall-E before prematurely declaring that but… I could not stop raving about the movie hours after I watched it, just like I couldn’t stop ranting about that stupid movie I ‘reviewed’ in my older post which I’ll not even NAME for fear of inadvertently making it more popular on Google search hits. Lol. Not that that many people read this blog. Not that ANY people read this blog, heheh.

Anyway so the Joker totally blew me away, even though I was already expecting a very unique portrayal of the character just by watching the trailers. RIP Heath. You wouldn’t be able to tell by movies like 10 Thing I Hate About You, or A Knight’s Tale, where he seemed like just another pretty boy lead, that he would be capable of pulling off such a stellar performance. I haven’t watched Brokeback Mountain yet, perhaps his talent was more apparent there. In any case, we won’t ever see him on screen again and that’s a shame. Rumours are circling that he might nominated for the Oscars. I don’t think that’s entirely too far fetched, because what he did was freaking awesome. If awesomeness is not a requirement to win, I don’t know what is.

Everything! From the way he limped to his smirk to his quips to that almost-nasal voice showed an individual completely unhinged, yet believably so. Jack Nicholson’s Joker is almost too cartoonish in comparison.

Heath Ledger overshadowed Christian Bale as the Batman at quite a few points, actually… but not for long. Mr.Bale managed to hold his own well, and there’s something sexy about a gruff-sounding Batman that speaks right to your crotch heh heh. What, I can’t help it if the guy is hot, especially in a tux and also in his Batty suit.

But great characters alone wouldn’t have been able to save a bad movie – which it wasn’t. Farrr from it. It’s hands down the best superhero movie I’ve seen. I think it’s one of the very few that realistically portrays a true vigilante, who’s alone and doing what needs to be done, and living almost outside the law. There are consequences and moral implications for the decisions he needs to make, and for those that all the other characters make.  

You see him at his breaking point, pushed to commit the things his principals won’t allow. No one is spared from making a choice, not even the good citizens of Gotham. Would you kill another person if it meant saving yourself? Saving someone else? Who deserves to live or die? Could you make that decision if you could?

Post 9/11, the allegories to terrorism are obvious. Also, in retrospect, privacy/private surveillance which is a big issue in the States, and even torture. That this movie about a guy in a bat costume forces its audience face these issues in the midst of fast-paced, adrenaline-filled action is no mean trick. The real star really is Christopher Nolan, for pulling off a movie this tight.

In an apparent contradiction in terms, it’s an intelligent action crime drama! It stands head and shoulders above its superhero counterparts and as such, shouldn’t even be compared with them.

Hokay enough raving. The most MEMORABLE elements were *SPOILER ALERT*:
- The bank robbing scene, where we get a first taste of how chillingly evil the Joker is
- The magic pencil trick (Sigh, who can ever forget? The entire theatre gasped!)
- Gotta love “WHY SO SERIOUS???”
- Christian Bale in a tux  
- Crashing the party
- The freakin’ Bat Pod thing
- Morgan Freeman! He was a surprise to me.
- The long trailer truck flipping over and crashing down
- The Joker staggering to his feet after that and his machine gun lets off randomly; you could truly see how freakin’ crazy he was
- A very freaky looking nurse
- A very freaky looking nurse punching at a remote control and legging it as the explosions go off
- Hope and goodness prevails in that morality scenario on the ship. It’s a dark movie, but optimistic – I love its contradictions.
- The really cheesy bit at the end where Gordon’s voiceover explains the dark knight. (Memorability can be for different reasons)
- This little chilling bit below, where, if I remember correctly, everything was silent. In what seems like a little reprieve from all the action, it’s actually a truly terrifying moment when it can really sink in what this man is capable of doing.

Just…go watch it. Lol.