A couple days ago, I predicted that Batman had a great chance to break Spider Man’s 3 record. Today reports are coming in that, it indeed break the box office opening weekend with around a $155 million opening.
I go to about 3-4 movies a year in theaters and usually catch another 30-40 on Vudu or Blu Ray. I had no plans to see Batman this weekend because I knew it would be an ordeal dealing with the crowds. But thanks to some solid planning and nagging by one of my friends, I saw Batman in all its glory yesterday (perfect team execution, great parking maneuvers by myself, tickets waiting at will call, seats saved, sat down 5 seconds into the first preview, no hassles what so ever).
No Spoilers review:
This movie was not good…it was great. It moved fast, had great action, great camera angles, compelling cinematography and soundtrack, and best of all a well crafted story. I usually try to praise indies as they fly under the radar, but The Dark Knight lived up to its expectations and then some.
Many have suggested that Heath Ledger’s performance maybe worthy of an Oscar. Its too early to tell as its early in the movie year, but he was absolutely brilliant in his portrayal of the Joker. For some reason, the Joker has never really scared me as a half clown/ half psycho and I didn’t think Ledger would change that. However, Ledger really gave the character edge and credibility as a villain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ddxgLL5gPs&hl=en&fs=1
Maggie Gyllenhaal did an okay job replacing Katie Holmes as Batman’s love interest. Aaron Eckert 2 part role in the movie was really solid, although he seems to always play the same type of character every movie.
The pace and action really drove the movie. My only complaint is that they seemed to jam another movie/storyline/adventure into the last 45 minutes of the almost 3 hour movie. At about 2 hours through, I thought the movie was ending and that an awesome sequel would follow in the near future. However, the movie kept going launching into a some what rushed and forced final 45 minutes. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the home stretch of this movie, but it seemed some what disconnected from the the first 2 hours.
Overall, it was damned good and really entertaining. I rarely see movies multiple times in a given year, but can say I will probably check out The Dark Knight again once it is on Vudu, as I likely missed some things due to the chaotic pace and plethora of characters and storylines.
