The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger's Joker

The Dark Knight has been at the center of a frenzy of praise. I've seen blurbs calling it "a masterpiece." Likewise deceased actor Heath Ledger's performance has been called "Oscar worthy." The movie itself is not a masterpiece by any means, but Heath Ledger's performance deserves a standing ovation. He completely stole the show, even if in at least one scene he seemed to be channeling Beetlejuice. I would have rather have been watching a movie called The Joker and forgotten all about Batman.

The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan who along with Jonathan Nolan wrote the screenplay. Giving specific plot details isn't really necessary, it's a comic book movie featuring Batman and thus full of talk about identity crisis, justice, and morality. It stars Christian Bale once again as Batman, Heath Ledger as The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart is Harvey Dent aka Two-Face. Also, on board is Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes and Morgan Freeman has returned to his character along with Gary Oldman and Michael Caine doing theirs.

The first thing to talk about is the acting. Heath Ledger is phenomenal and the main reason to see the film is indeed The Joker. On the opposite side of crime is Batman and Christian Bale talking in a very over-the-top gruff voice. This silly sounding voice when he is Batman compared to the voice he talks with as Bruce Wayne was one of the things that bugged me about Batman begins. However, it is not a gripe to really complain about and anyone doing such should probably just settle for this explanation that I thought up while watching the movie; rather than letting it ruin it for you. I figure Bruce Wayne is having mental issues in dealing with all of his different lives and like a skitzo he becomes someone else, literally, when he becomes Batman and thus a new voice. Naturally it must be a intimidating, "sounds like he means business" voice. All of the acting was decent, but who really cares? Heath Ledger stole the show! The Joker s dark and twisted, yet will make you smile and ultimately may bring a tear to your eye.