Monday 13 October 2008

Batman: The Dark Knight

I enjoyed The Dark Knight and I thought it was good, despite being at least half an hour too long.

Of course, all the talk is about Heath Ledger, and he is very good, although it is a gift for an actor to play someone totally insane without any necessity to pull it back for realism, and there is no question that his death added to the hype.

People seem to have forgotten Jack Nicholson in the 1989 version, although I thought his joker was equally good, if not better.


Batman is still my favourite of all the superheroes - probably because he's not actually so super. He doesn't have any special powers, can't turn into anything else, and doesn't come from another planet. He has to rely on gadgets, guile and an innate sense of morailty.

He doesn't work entirely alone either; Albert knows who he is and in various versions there are Robin, Batgirl, and the man in the cave who makes stuff.

He's dark, moody, and obscenely rich, yet he battles on the side of good. And, as he says, 'Chicks dig the car.'