Variety ♥ “The Dark Night”
Christopher Nolan’s complex and disturbing vision in Memento remains so enthralling that it’s difficult to remember, sometimes, that he hasn’t delivered since. I began to rewatch The Prestige recently, only to realize, twenty minutes in, that I had no real desire to see it again. Anyway, in the first major review of The Dark Knight, Justin Chang likes what he sees:
Having memorably explored the Caped Crusader’s origins in “Batman Begins,” director Christopher Nolan puts all of Gotham City under a microscope in “The Dark Knight,” the enthralling second installment of his bold, bracing and altogether heroic reinvention of the iconic franchise. An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some. That should also hold true at the box office, with Heath Ledger’s justly anticipated turn as the Joker adding to the must-see excitement surrounding the Warner Bros. release.
Business blogger Anne Thompson, however, is less than enthralled.
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Wow, I thought The Prestige was superb, and was a rare fit companion to the excellent novel (by Christopher Priest) from which it was derived.
If The Dark Knight stays true to Frank MIller’s comic book vision, it won’t be morally complex so much as morally reactionary, a return to a simple world where crime is caused by bad people and whatever means are necessary to combat it are good, and never mind all that liberal moral complexity.
I think you misremember the title of Miller’s graphic novel, Scraps–it was The Dark Knight Returns. (He’s also done other Batman work.) Nolan’s movie is not an adaptation of it.
Seriously? That makes me feel better (and shows how little attention I pay to upcoming movies). Thanks for the correction.
My pleasure. I agree with you about The Prestige, by the way.
“Batman fights for a world where he doesn’t have to exist”- Frank Miller, 1986.
“Batman is basically a terrorist who fights the right Enemy”- Frank Miller, 2002.
The irony about The Dark Knight Returns and its sequel, The Dark Knight Strikes Again is that the most papable emotion coming out of it is its author’s pathological obessison with having Batman beat up Superman.