Archive for July 6th, 2008
It is not too common that I wish my summer days would just zoom by already. In the case of this summer, July 18 cannot seem to come any sooner. It is the day that The Dark Knight opens in theaters. I have been looking at 40 to 50 second spoilers on YouTube, but none have really spoiled anything for me. On the contrary, the teasers have only amped up my anticipation—as if that was even possible. When it comes to The Dark Knight I know nothing more than the basics from the comic, trailers, and what has been written in papers about it. So there are no spoilers here.
With the recent passing of Heath Ledger, I have noticed that much of the audience is looking forward to the character of the Joker. I have no doubt that the Joker is going to be an exquisite character reminiscent of the psychopathic mind-trip of A Clockwork Orange. I too cannot wait to see how the Joker turns out. However, the character I am most excited about has to be Harvey “Two-Face” Dent. Harvey Dent is the Gotham City hotshot prosecutor who locks up criminals by the dozens. While the Joker is a static yet puzzling character, Harvey Dent is one of the most dynamic and relatable ones. We all (should) know what happens to Harvey Dent—he becomes the infamous Two-Face. This is in part why I look forward to him. I enjoy the character development of the “fallen hero”—if done right, of course. Unlike Spiderman 3, I suspect that turning to the dark side is going to be anything but funny for Harvey Dent, whereas Sam Raimi turned evil-Spiderman into a joke.
Christopher Nolan, the genius behind the reinvention of Batman, has worked to ground Batman in reality—pushing his audience to question the morality of vengeance and taking the law into one’s own hand (The League of Shadows). It is precisely the multiple dimensions and moral ambiguity of characters like Bruce Wayne, (hopefully) Harvey Dent, and Ra’s al-Ghul in contrast with the moral righteousness and idealism of Rachel Dawes, and complete absence of morality in the Joker that force the audience to actually think during the movie rather than just absorb superfluous comic-book clichés.
If it is anything like Batman Begins, I have a feeling The Dark Knight will live up to my high expectations.
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