Dark Knight

Anton Terrell | Generation: Next

8/6/2008 - 8/7/08

I saw this movie recently, and it made me rethink every other movie I'd ever seen. It made me wonder why so many other movies paled in comparison, and at 157 minutes in the wee hours of a Friday morning, it made me wonder if there would be a part boring enough for me to rest my eyes. There wasn't.

The Dark Knight had everything except dullness. There was tragedy, comedy, thrills, chills and some awesome kills as Batman (Christopher Bale) faced two of the coolest villains in the history of cinema.

The first: a completely new, insanely psychotic take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Heath Ledger's Joker is an artistic masterpiece, taking the supervillain to a place that was previously unimaginable. This scarred, schizophrenic anarchist take on the Joker really steals the entire movie.

The character is too believable to be anything but intimidating, and in a few intense scenes, I could feel the emotion Ledger put behind it. There is already much Oscar speculation as an aftermath of the deceased Ledger's bone-chilling final performance.

Then the second: a far-less-talked-about villain. Harvey "Two-Face" Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is the ultimate symbol for the fall of man to greed and vengeance.

Dent starts off with the moniker "The White Knight." In contrast to Batman, Dent is not a vigilante. He is a district attorney, the new face of justice in Gotham City. His cause is just as noble as Batman's, but a lot more legal. Soon, because of circumstances out of his control, Dent loses it all, along with half his face.

Dent/Two-Face could have been a much larger part of the movie had his performance been more hyped and had his character lasted a bit longer. But with Batman and the Joker hogging the most climactic moments, Dent appeared to be an afterthought at times.

Despite that, what these three larger-than-life characters create is an incredible experience and arguably the greatest film of all time. Undoubtedly, the greatest of the decade.

Comic fan or not (and I'm assuming not if you've waited this long to go), you must see this movie. It's been called "The Godfather 2 of comic book movies" by Clerks director Kevin Smith, and I can't help thinking that Don Corleone himself would bow down to Batman.



Anton Terrell is a junior at Capital High School. You can reach him at antonterrell@gmail.com.