Slackerstyle Studios™ Blog

I went into The Dark Knight expecting to see the finest adaptation of a comic book story ever created. When I left I realized I had in fact seen more. The Dark Knight lives up to every ounce of hype and more. It steps beyond a “comic book movie” and becomes and epic story of good v. evil and the truth that one cannot live without the other. The trouble with comic book movies is seldom do they truly adhere to the story presented in trade (comic talk for graphic novels). The Dark Knight does a fantastic job of keeping with story. Yes, there are a few deviations however the general mood and vibe from the film is spot on.

Batman is a dark story. It is not Adam West running around in spandex, foiling the plans of comic relief and bad actors. Batman is a tormented and dark individual who seeks to redeem himself after witnessing the death of his parents. In The Dark Knight he meets the Yin to his Yang, The Joker. The Joker’s on screen presence is nothing short of phenomenal. Heath Ledger finds a way to take a villain so sinister and so raw few thought the character could ever leave the pages of the comics books and be properly portrayed on film. He does this and more. The Joker is finally nothing to laugh and jeer about. He is a madman with no motive. No history and no goal. He is a man who just wants to watch the world burn. Unfortunately for us Heath passed away. I fear there will not be a man capable of capturing the Joker in such a way again. No matter because his acting and presence in this film deems him the greatest Joker of all time in my book. Perhaps the greatest movie villain ever? He sure is up there.

I have spent years reading the Batman comics along with my brother and old friend Greg Lifhits. We all knew it would take something out of this world to bring The Joker to life and that something happened… was it by chance? We won’t know until part three. None the less I reccomend anyone who is a fan of the trade or a Batman fan in general to go see this movie now! There is nothing I can say to make it any greater. The movie scores a 10/10 for me and that is rare. Yes Batman’s acting is a little over the top with that “deep” voice he does but I am willing to overlook that. Finally Batman is the villain, writers and comic fans rejoice! It follows the story line!

The Batman breaks his only rule in killing Harvey Dent. This is the beginning of his emotional and mental demise both in public and in private. The Joker wins no matter what because as long as Batman remains Batman The Joker will never go away, thus always getting the best of Batman. It’s all part of the plan. As I said without one there could never be the other and the movie does it’s job to get this across. In the books every time Batman had a chance to kill Joker he doesn’t, and so too in this movie. He could have hit him with the bike, but he didn’t. Joker knows this and he has his fun. Even though Joker knows Bruce Wayne is Batman he will never leak the secret. He never wants the secret out because if the world knows… then there is no one to chase him, thus no reason to play the game. Proof of this is found when he tries to kill the one man who does know (that he knows of) the lawyer kid from Wayne Enterprises.

Harvey Dent/Two Face is another acting marvel. Sorry Tommy Lee Jones… you were absolutely horrible in that trash from the 90’s. The portrayal of Dent and Two Face is spot on as well. He sticks to character and does a great job at playing two people. Most people confuse themselves and think Two Face has a split personality. He does not. Two Face is one person fighting against himself. They did an excellent job of keeping the viewer away from making that mistake.

So that’s it. I know everyone is the biggest Batman and Joker mark now but that’s ok. The point is that the story finally gets the attention is deserves. Joker was flawless and Heath will go down as the man who made the movie and the franchise huge again. I still can’t get over the pencil trick! Pure madness! There are no more words I can spit to describe The Joker. He was flawless. Go see the movie… and let’s put a smile on that face!