This movie rocked my socks off!
It made $155M it’s opening weekend, more than Spiderman 3.
And I know why.
Maybe partly due to Heath Ledger’s critically acclaimed portrayal of the maniacal villian The Joker. This was his last completed film before his untimely death in January. But it was more than an action packed comic book flick, it was deeper and more character-driven. Please go watch it. It is worth the 2 and a half hours.
I have heard that Heath’s performance is worthy of a Oscar nod, but I was very skeptical, thinking that it was only because he died that people would say this. But after watching this movie, I think he should receive a nod. Most definitely.
Here’s a eerie poster of The Joker…

Heath was not one to choose roles that showcased Heath the bod or Heath the face. He chose roles for the challenge. I read that he totally immersed himself in the portrayal of his characters. I can only imagine the struggle in his mind as he played this character.
And, really, he acted his butt off, because, for me, I forgot about Heath at times watching The Joker. This dude is C.R.A.Z.Y. He makes crazy seem mild. And his laugh. omg. It’s spine-tingling….

On grounds that “he didn’t care for comics” and that it “would be stealing someone else’s dream,” Ledger refused to be Spider Man. Ironically, his last role would be the Joker in the “Batman Returns” sequel titled “The Dark Knight.” He refused to be part of the ambitious Hollywood circle, not caring for more money or blockbuster films. He chose to make his way around different genres and chose roles that would stretch his acting capabilities.
His acting career began in Australia and eventually lead him to the United States upon his role as a young warrior in the TV series “Roar.” His first feature film was a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew,” “10 Things I Hate About You.” Ledger didn’t want to be typecast. In a period of six years, he played in romantic comedies (“Casanova”), epics (“The Patriot”), action (“A Knight’s Tale”), and drama (“Monster’s Ball” and “Candy”).
Here’s some reviews from Rolling Stone that I totally agree with…

“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.

…I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker. Miles from Jack Nicholson’s broadly funny take on the role in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, Ledger takes the role to the shadows, where even what’s comic is hardly a relief. No plastic mask for Ledger; his face is caked with moldy makeup that highlights the red scar of a grin, the grungy hair and the yellowing teeth of a hound fresh out of hell. To the clown prince of crime, a knife is preferable to a gun, the better to “savor the moment.”

…It’s enough to watch Bale chillingly render Batman as a lost warrior, evoking Al Pacino in The Godfather II in his delusion and desolation. It’s enough to see Ledger conjure up the anarchy of the Sex Pistols and A Clockwork Orange as he creates a Joker for the ages. Go ahead, bitch about the movie being too long, at two and a half hours, for short attention spans (it is), too somber for the Hulk crowd (it is), too smart for its own good (it isn’t). The haunting and visionary Dark Knight soars on the wings of untamed imagination. It’s full of surprises you don’t see coming. And just try to get it out of your dreams. “

-Peter Travers

Go watch this movie. You’ll love it.

Oh, by the way,

This dude…

Who plays this dude

Will be this dude in this movie

TERMINATOR!

Coming 2009. Official title: Terminator Salvation: The future begins. Interestingly, the preview for this movie was shown right before The Dark Knight movie started.

Coincedentally, that dude, was this dude

In this movie by Steven Spielberg

I loved that movie. You can watch the trailer on Youtube. The trailer made me cry.

-L