You Know It Was Shot in Chicago?

...Well it was, as my sister pointed out to me when I told her I saw the new Batman movie. (Go Cubbies!... but not really) today I saw it for a second time, and man was it awesome. I'll get this out of the way now. Heath Ledger's performance was good, maybe even bordering on great. To me he wasn't the best part of the show, and people can judge me all they want, but I feel like there would not be this much buzz around his performance had he not died recently. Sure this might sound harsh and blunt, but it's kind of true. I mean I remember reading this blog and they were talking about the new trailer, this was before he died, and they thought there seemed to be something off about his performance, and they weren't sure if they were sold on Ledger as the Joker. Sure, this was just based off the trailer, but it's like suddenly, after he dies, it like, "Genius!", "Amazing!" blah blah.

And I couldn't disagree more with people who think that they should never have the Joker ever again in a Batman movie, out of respect to Ledger, and how no one else could play the Joker. Well guess what people, someone else has already played the Joker, a small unknown guy by the name of Jack Nicholson, maybe you've heard of him? Plus who's to say that Heath Ledger would have even wanted to do another Batman movie? I guess what I'm trying to say is that Heath Ledger is part of an amazing ensemble, where all the characters are equally balanced, and it not all about Ledger. I mean Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal (who is a def step up from Katie Holmes, who really sucks ass), Aaron Eckhart, and Gary Oldman, who are all equal parts good. I especially enjoyed the transformation of Aaraon Eckhart's white knight, Harvey Dent, into the twisted revenge seeking Two Face. They set this transformation up early with Harvey saying, "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Perfect. And I really didn't mind when (spoiler alert) Rachel dies, you have to figure she had to go at some point, I mean in all the other Batman movies (which are supposed to have taken place after this movie) Bruce Wayne is a bachelor on the prowl and not hung over some gal. And come on, Christian Bale, who I normally don't really like, is totally hot. I would totally do Bruce Wayne, and not just because he's a billionaire. Also, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine are all so good in this film, so good. One of the reason this film works so well is that all the characters get just enough screen time that we really care about them, but not so much that is bogs the story down.

For me though the real mastermind behind the film is the director Christopher Nolan who, in my opinion, is nothing less that a genius filmmaker. He will always hold my highest regards after Memento, one of my, maybe, top ten favorite films of all time, at the very least top twenty. Memento is one of those movies that just makes you look at movies in a whole new way, it was one of the first to really start the trend of having a not-so-obvious narrative, while at the same time really getting you in to the mind of the character at hand. I could, and have, write papers on how awesome this movie is. No matter what Nolan does, he will always be up there with the filmmakers I admire.

Anyway, back to Batman. To me it is Nolan that really grounds the movie in reality. The environment and the "world" he creates are so realistic, it doesn't feel cartoony or fake, part of that is the excellent casting, and the other part are the choices that Nolan makes. For instance, on thing that is not lost on me are the lack of CGI in the movie itself. All of the chase scenes and stunts were done in camera, and not in post, which makes it way more authentic. I mean the fact that in this day and age there are still people doing it the old fashioned way, is awesome. I like that. I alway hate when movies throw in a bunch of CGI, and you can totally tell it's CGI, for instance many scenes in Spiderman movies, I can always tell. I have an eye for spotting the fakiness of that type of stuff. I also love how dark Nolan has made the Batman franchise, past movies haven't had this sort of gravitas that is required of Batman, who in it of itself is a darker character than most. He's just an average guy with a dark past who is fueled by a desire to show the goodness in man, like his father did. Great stuff. I feel like it really is Nolan who is bringing the series around. If this material were is lesser hands, the movie would not even come close to being half as good.

All in all this movie is a feast for the eyes, and a terror for the heart (wha?). This movie does deserve oscar nominations, and not just for Ledger as everyone keeps saying. I think this movie should get nominated for picture, director, and screenplay. Hey is Lord of the Rings can do it, so can this.