Gossip and Hearsay

Yet another The Dark Knight review? I think not, what would be the point? There have already been numerous reviews written by much better writers and more informed followers of cinema than I (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/REVIEWS/55996637). Besides, a key reason for reviews is to help people decide if a movie is worth seeing. I can help you with that without mentioning a thing that happens in the film. Go see this movie. Don’t like brainless summer action films? Go see this movie. Hate comics, cartoons and superheroes? Go see this movie. Don’t watch film at all and prefer a good thought provoking novel? Go see this movie. There is no hyperbole here folks. Its just that good. Period.

So rather than do a traditional review of the film, as in telling you about it directly. Let me just mention my impressions and reaction to it. To say there was hype and exposure prior to seeing it is an understatement. I knew going into the theater that I was going to be blown away. I knew it was going to surpass my expectations…but how could I really know what that meant? We have all had our expectations exceeded, but have you ever had them exceeded when you were told they would be exceeded? Think about what that would take to accomplish. It would mean that you would have to experience something that you had never experienced before. 

When it comes to film, being able to have such an experience just doesn’t happen very often. As you get older it becomes even more difficult. The best part of seeing a good film is the act of witnessing that the team that made it really understood the material. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was an example of that, the filmmakers of LOTR, really loved the material and it showed. What makes a great film, though, goes beyond just being a labor of love. Like great literature, it can’t just be finely crafted, it has to be able to connect in such a way that it gets inside you, the audience. It isn’t enough to just tell a good story. The best works will challenge you, make you ask tough questions of yourself, all while entertaining you. We see those sorts of film from time to time. This is such a film. It doesn’t matter that it is about comic book characters. If you let that stop you from seeing it then you are just a bigot and don’t deserve the experience anyway.

It is somewhat ironic that one of the trailers before the showing was for the Watchmen. This is another comic book, but one that has received a bit of respect, even from the more traditional critics (http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/0,24459,watchmen,00.html). I read the Watchmen in 1988 and have watched its on and off again flirtations with becoming a movie since. It is one of my favorite items of literature (yes literature) so I was indeed beyond thrilled to see the trailer. My thought was, “if they pull that movie off then it will truly be the best of the comic book films because its source material is so great.” After seeing TDK, I almost don’t even care. I have seen what may very well become the best film to ever be based on a comic book. How it will be topped I can’t even begin to comprehend. In fact, others have said it and I agree, it is in the same league as movies like The Godfather and Unforgiven. Movies that transcend their genre to become masterpieces in their own right on their own terms.