The Dark Knight

Luke Leslie Friday 15th June 2007

Batman has always been my favorite comic book hero, I didn't use the word super-hero since neither he nor the villains of his world have any superpowers onto themselves, that said Metropolis and Superman lie on the opposite side of the Gotham Bay. I have always loved Batman, I was drawn to the notion of real man in a real universe fighting crime, to combat his grief of having his parents murdered in cold blood, and in an attempt to find meaning in life. When I first moved to Ireland aged 4 my uncle exposed me to Tim Burton's dark, gothic rendition of the Caped Crusader in the 1989 film Batman, and cartoon that Tim Burton produced in the early 90's with its own unique noir art deco style, whilst still utilizing the same Danny Elfmans theme song.

I was 8 years old when Batman forever came out, and although I enjoyed it, I could see even as a child that my hero was slowly loosing his edge, the serious demeanor of Tim Burtons films had gone, the series was becoming an in-joke and everyone was in on, expect the audience, the sets became more important then the plot, design changes were made to facilitate toy sales, and re-watching it now, Tommy Lee Jones and Tim Carray made for a pretty lousy pair of villains.

When a film depicting a high concept idea such as this, doesn't take the subject material seriously, how can they expect the audience to do so? I was once again reminded of what its like to have your favorite heros potential pissed all over by poor direction when I saw Spiderman 3, I was there, I saw my good friend David Kennedy who loves that spiderman with all his spider-might, I was reminded of how much i wanted to see a great conclusion to a trilogy when I went to see Batman Forever, it was effectively Batman 3, I was reminded of my hopes were dashed as I saw Dave near break down to tears as Toby Maguire tap danced his way across the stage... much as I cried as gratuitous shots of Batman's ass, 50's tv show banter, and camp camp villains were reintroduced into what was supposed to be a reimaged version of the Dark Knight.

I won't even mention the name of the film that followed Batman Forever...

In 2008 Christopher Nolan will bring us the continuation of the story set up in Batman Begins. In 2005 Nolan was expertly placed to once again re-imagine the Batman series, and with him at the helm, the series was steered back towards its origins, a new tone was established, and an overall level of senserity, realism and maturity, shook up the comic book genre. Perhaps it took a full 4 films for a studio to learn what not to do in a Batman film. But lest we forget how Fantastic 4 spat in the face of Batman Begins' example of treating the subject matter with respect, and instead unveiled the utter farce that people dragged me to.

The Dark knight (2008) for those who don't know will be the continuation of Batman Begins, which has now being dubbed the origin to a new Batman series, all ties to the original Tim Burton Batman are now cut, bar the odd creative nod. Nolan's treatment looks to be continuing the themes established in Begins, but adding a new subtext of malevolence and malice, in the form of the Joker, a character fans are all looking forward to seeing on screen as much as the reimagned Batman of 2005...

This just in: All adults should be able to enjoy a comicbook film, its not just for kids, in-fact all the best children's films have extra content for adults, I find I enjoy films I watched when I was young even more now as I pick up on things I would never see at age 4, and I know Chris Nolan gets this.

Harvey Dent is also to make an appearance in his role as District Attorney to Gotham City, in the film Batman is said to team up with Lieutenant Jim Gordon and Dent to combat the Joker. Dent is understandably being introduced to set up a slow transition into Two Face and as a villain for part 3...

Intricate speculating aside I really feel this is going to top Batman Begins. This time, we can finally move past the origin story which was re-hashed time and time again in the Burton-Scumacher series. This film is set to be 2 hours of full-on Batman treatment, no more wisdom to be dispensed, no more origins, and most importantly the film is tackling the Joker, the anti-Batman the man with the dark-twisted version of an alter-ego story which is a mirror opposite to Batman. In many respects the Scarecrow was one of the final villains that the fans had yet to see, so it really is a full reversal to see the villain from Tim Burtons film making a reappearance.

I have nothing additional to add other then this is the only film officially announced in the next year that I cannot wait to see Bring on July 25 2008 (UK release, USA release on the 18th)

This just in:

(Right click to enlarge the pictures)

my fan poster (check out the new suit)

Weird? - It's now all over the net google Dark Knight

Heath Ledger - new joker

Aaron Eckhart a future two-face

online since Jan 06

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