The Borneon Ninja

.

I marked a historic moment on my calendar. Wednesday night, 16th of July, 2008. Cathay Cinema, Kota Kinabalu. I went to see The Dark Knight, the latest movie to come out from the Batman franchise.

Ladies and gentlemen of the movie-goer community, take my word seriously when I say that this is the best Batman movie yet. Perhaps the best superhero movie of all time as well. Go watch this.

Still have doubts? Here are 6 serious reasons why this movie is worth your RM9.

#6 - Solid character portrayal

Unlike all the other superhero movies, this one boast some of movieworld’s top-of-the-line, including Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger and Christian Bale all gave their respective characters a new breath of life unlike their previous incarnations; these characters are more life-like, because the actors and actresses that played them are very good at what they do - acting. Compare them to the casts of Spiderman 3, and you will see my point.

#5 - More meat than gadgets

Batman relied on his high-tech gadgetry to save Gotham city from criminal scums, and also to protect himself from stray bullets shot by pathetic mobster henchmen. But in the end of the day, he is just one man of flesh of bone against an army of gun-totting badguys. He doesn’t have mutant powers that can heal his wounds or have the invincibility of a Kryptonian that can stop missile just by batting his eyelash. He is the most humanlike superhero there is, just like the rest of us, and that makes us root for him even more.

#4 -No funky neon lights. Just dark and gritty.

Tim Burton’s version was true to the comic book (the first movie anyway) while Joel Schumacher’s version was too kiddish (fitting for the 90’s era, I suppose). But Chris Nolan molded Batman in plain dark and gritty. His depiction of Gotham is a darker reflection of our real world, where bad guys are worse, the helpless end up dead, and the hero bleeds red. The Dark Knight had non of that neon lights crap. Just dark and gritty, the way Batman and Gotham were meant to be.

#3 - A good ending, rather than a stupid happy ending.

A lot of movie goers love happy endings, even if its a stupid one. Superhero movies tend to bend towards vanilla-flavoured happy endings, like all of Joel Schumacher’s Batman. Or Spiderman 3. Chris Nolan dared to break this age-old tradition by giving the movie a good ending rather than a silly, smiley, happy-hoppy ending. Bruce Wayne’s death was a much welcomed change in the history of superhero movies.

#2 - The Bat Cycle

Okay. This is just pure, geekhead obsession. Yes, the Bat Mobile was awesome. Yes, Batman’s arsenal of villain-chopping equipments have never failed to impress his real-world fans. Yes, his body armour was darned macho. But the Bat Cycle up that notched to an even greater heights. And if you don’t agree with me on this one, rest assured you will agree with me on…

#1 - The Joker

Dr. Doom? What a clown. Kingpin? A laughing stock. Lex Luthor? Puh-leeeese. Name me one villain who could really give a superhero a run for its money. I dare say that non have ever existed, because only supervillains have such a power. And non-other could fit the bill than The Joker himself. He is the exact clone of Hannibal Lecter, but ten times as psychotic, two dozen times more brilliant and a hundred times more charismatic. The Dark Knight taught us that a villain is truly a villain when he is truly heartless, remorseless, irredeemable and utterly vile, not some lame-ass punk from a newspaper company. The Joker is the supervillian the world has been waiting for, and I pray that Hollywood will learn a few lessons from The Dark Knight on how to truly terrify their audiences with real superhero movie badguys. Unlike a certain Topher Grace.

Be proud Mr. Jack Nicholson. Heath Ledger is your true successor by a hundred fold. And to Tim Burton - the director of the first Batman movie - Mr. Nolan has outdone you, by a thousand fold. And Christian Bale just nails it. Oh yeah, I was just kidding about Bruce Wayne’s death. Never happened.

Seen the movie? What are your thoughts?

Tags: Batman, Joker, Movie, The Dark Knight