by EDWARD SZTUKOWSKI
Intern News Reporter
“Why so serious?”
The Regal Boone Cinema 7 was anything but serious at midnight on Thursday. People were wrapped around the movie theater, laughing, smiling and waiting to be let into “The Dark Knight,” the hotly anticipated sequel to “Batman Begins.”
“The Dark Knight” has already shattered box office records. It made $18.5 million the first night, usurping “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” the previous record holder. It made $66.4 million opening day, beating “Spider Man 3,” which had made $59.8 million its opening day.
“I’m very excited about the new movie. I just hope it doesn’t let me down. This movie has been hyped so much,” said Joseph T. Moyer, a senior history major.
“The Dark Knight” begins a year or so after the events of “Batman
Begins.” Batman and Harvey Dent, the new district attorney, have done a
good job cleaning up the streets. The mob no longer rules the city as
they had in the past, and there are no major villains left.
A psychotic killer known as the Joker approaches the mob bosses with an
offer to kill Batman. After some persuasion (watch for the pencil
trick!), the mob agrees to give the Joker half of a large sum of money
to kill the Dark Knight, and the Joker begins a string of killings to
lure Batman into the open.
On the other side, Dent has become a rallying point for good in the
city, the “White Knight” as he puts it. Dent is characterized by his
tendency to leave certain things to chance at the flip of a coin
because he feels it is “the only reality in this cruel world.
Unprejudiced. Unbiased. Fair.” Dent is one of the most intriguing
characters in the film, and ultimately, the most tragic.
Viewers that haven’t seen “Batman Begins” will likely be lost, as “The Dark Knight” offers little in back story.
The movie kicks off very quickly and doesn’t stop for you to catch up.
Older crowds may find “The Dark Knight” much darker and depressing than the 1960s TV show and comics.
The Joker that director Christopher Nolan envisions is an insane killer
who takes joy in watching people die. “I use a knife because guns are
too quick. Otherwise, you can't savor all the emotions. You know who
people are in their last moments,” the Joker says in one scene.
“The movie was more violent than the first, but it wasn’t ever
unnecessary violence. Whenever they do show violence, it’s fairly
quick. They don’t really glorify it,” said Taylor M. Minton, a senior
hospitality and tourism management major.
Actor Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker has already become one of
the most talked about features of the film, with the Joker sharing
nearly as much screen time as Batman himself.
“I’m usually very critical of performances and I was really impressed,”
said Minton. “He put so many subtle traits into the role, the accent,
the facial traits, even the way he walked. I really liked how in the
beginning of the movie you don’t realize how evil the Joker is. Over
the span of the movie, you realize just how much he likes chaos,
destruction and evil.”
Some viewers are already calling for Ledger to be nominated for an Academy Award for his posthumous role.
“I think its
possible he could get the nomination, but I don’t think it would be
fair to say he got it just because he’s passed away,” said Minton.
Ledger died Jan. 22 due to a prescription medication overdose. He was taking medicine to combat insomnia.
The changing face of the Joker:
Batman
#1, released spring 1940, features the Joker for the first time. The
Joker is depicted as a mass murderer who almost didn’t make it to his
second issue. At the last minute, the editor decided to let the Joker
live instead of killing him off.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, the Joker became a more whimsical character, due to backlash toward comic books.
In
“Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” released in 1986, the Joker is in an
asylum but convinces his psychiatrist he is cured. Once he is released
he goes on a television show and kills everyone in the studio. He plans
to commit more mass murders but Batman defeats him.
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