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 Christian
Bale once again embodies the brooding man behind the mask in "The
Dark Knight." The film reunites Bale with director Christopher Nolan and
takes Batman across the world in his quest to fight a growing criminal
threat. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and
District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman has been making
headway against local crime...until a rising criminal mastermind known
as The Joker (Heath Ledger) unleashes a fresh reign of total chaos
across Gotham City. To stop this devious new menace— Batman's most
personal and vicious enemy yet— he will have to use every high-tech
weapon in his arsenal and confront everything he believes in. "To me,
the Joker is an absolute. There are no shades of gray to him— maybe some
deep shades of purple." explains Knight Director Christopher Nolan. I
have to tell you folks— I was NEVER a fan of Tim Burton's Batman films.
In fact, let me go so far as to say I was never a big fan of Tim
Burton's. But that was before he raped and pillaged the entire Batman
franchise until all that was left was a higher end, still emotionally
vacant version of the incredibly pathetic 1960's television show
version. George Clooney as Batman? I was as shocked as anyone with a
fragment of a brain cell left. But then, much to my blissful glee, along
came Christopher Nolan, the one man who ever dared to step into Alfred
Hitchcock's shoes when he brilliantly guided us through the warped
mindset of a man with short term memory malfunction in Memento. I had no
doubt whatsoever that Mr. Nolan would successfully resurrect the
Burton-esque train wreck that Batman had become and somehow restore the
faith and hope of comic book fans everywhere. And with Batman Begins
Nolan did that and then some. I was whisked away into the painfully dark
journey of the orphaned heir to the Wayne fortune.
Christian Bale brought depth and
nobility back to a comic book character who had been stripped bare of
his last shreds of dignity. I watched in sheer awe as Michael Caine,
Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Rutger Hauer chewed up every piece of
scenery they entered. I was hooked. Nolan's vision of Batman were based
on the intricacies of the psyche captured perfectly within the realm of
The League of Shadows... the roots of Batman's true origin.
 I
heard something interesting from a close industry friend mine today,
who, for anonymity's sake we will simply call "Dark Knight Throat".
According to our own well-cloaked cool rumor crusader— there have been top
secret screenings of The Dark Knight going on in various locations
throughout the country. This came as no real surprise to all of us here at
UPBEAT— just a few months short of the release, however, what is of
real interest and concern is a disturbing scene that our "insider" talked
about, which, due to the tragic death of Heath Ledger, may never see the
light of day... primarily because of the reactions displayed during many
of the screenings. The scenes in question involve Ledger’s Joker
character pretending to be dead and being shown in a body bag.
Apparently the aftershocks of Ledger’s unfortunate death are such that
many at the screening reacted in both shock and dismay to this moment.
So, allegedly, studio executives are considering removing the scenes
altogether. This, I believe, would be a grave [no pun intended] mistake
if the rumors are true... and if Warner Bros. does indeed remove the
footage. The Dark Knight is Ledger’s articulate character masterpiece
and to go in and edit it for the sake of a few uncomfortable fans during a
screening seems like reactionary absurdity. What makes the very thought
of cutting his scenes even less palatable is that the majority consensus
from the screenings was that not only is The Dark Knight far superior to
it’s predecessor but, as promised, Ledger’s interpretation of the Joker
is every bit as chilling and brilliant as we’ve been promised.
Reports say he is the complete
anti-thesis of Nicholson’s 1988 mean-spirited clown and every bit the
show-stopping unhinged psychopath the Joker was always meant to be. It
appears as though the true tragedy will be that this may just have been
the compelling breakout role that would have put Ledger on the map and
made him into a superstar. Oscar buzz is also a factor to consider. If
the critics are indeed considering an Oscar nomination [which would be
the first EVER for a commercial super-hero film] for Ledger's haunting
performance... then why not give this stellar performance to us in its
original state? We are all hoping for the best here.
 Nolan’s
vision of Batman is perhaps following the recent trend in Hollywood
to pay closer attention to comic back stories and develop characters
slowly but effectively. Personally, I believe that Christopher Nolan is
yet again "raising the hero bar" in terms of intelligent storytelling.
He has already soundly proven he knows how to direct impressive action
sequences and, much like Batman Begins, he will be continuing the
brooding and dark style which will no doubt be delving into Bruce
Wayne’s complex psyche once again. While all of here at UPBEAT love Sam
Raimi and his resurrection of Spiderman into a respectable, fascinating
study of Stan Lee's "vision", Mr. Nolan has us far more captivated by
his psychological study of a superhero forged out of pain and despair.
Bruce Wayne represents our battle with mortality and guilt over the loss
of loved ones. The Dark Knight is all set to become another landmark
Batman film and one of the biggest summer blockbusters of the year. And
to wet our rapid palettes even more the good folks at Warner Brothers
are teasing us— they sent word yesterday that they had updated their
Summer Preview press kit, causing every Bat-worshipping editor with
press credentials to scramble over to their site to see if there was
anything new regarding The Dark Knight. Unfortunately for us, there
wasn't a new trailer waiting, nor were there any new pictures.
 The
sad shadow of Heath Ledger’s recent death will no doubt linger over
the second of Christopher Nolan’s Batman reboots as Ledger took on the
role in a way that no one in the industry could have ever expected at
all. The depraved sociopath Joker will haunt us, scare us and just as
Ledger obviously intended... push the very limits of all comic book
villains as he indeed made this monster REAL with his eerie performance.
Yet this could be a fitting tribute to all of his untapped acting
abilities as rumor is his translation of The Joker will go down in comic
book history as being more than stellar and deserving of Oscar gold. A
hit with the critics, comic book junkies and regular movie-goers seeking
nothing more than a thrill ride, Batman Begins effectively
re-established the DC Comics superhero as a major box office draw,
earning a whopping $375 million worldwide.
 With
Bale and Nolan teaming up again, it is very much a case of "more
please" and the supporting cast is as strong as ever. Michael Caine
returns as Bruce’s butler Alfred, Gary Oldman is back as the
newly-promoted Lieutenant Jim Gordon and Morgan Freeman as on hand as
the weapons expert Lucius Fox. The latter will be equipping Batman with
a rather tasty Bat Bike to match his stealthy Bat Mobile from the first
outing for more destructive action. Cillian Murphy will also be
reprising his role as the evil Dr. Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. The Scarecrow,
however the additions are where the real story lies. For those not up on
their Batman trivia, Harvey Dent is the politically-ambitious district
attorney who eventually transforms into Two Face (played by Tommy Lee
Jones in Batman Forever)— so expect to see his carefully orchestrated
rise to power here, not his corruption into another of Batman’s enemies.
Dent will be joining forces with Gordon and Batman to help capture The
Joker. Another new cast member is the talented Maggie Gyllenhaal who
takes over from Katie Holmes as love interest Rachel Dawes and will
hopefully inject some life into the role. While we do recognize Katie
Holmes as an up and coming actress, the challenge of playing opposite
Christian Bale was more than a tad bit challenging... Gyllenhaal is much
more up to the task.
UB
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