I saw The Dark Knight again this afternoon. Second outings are usually when I sit in the back and crane around to see what makes the audience laugh, jump, or holler, but it's just not an option here. This isn't a movie you turn away from. I did spend more time picking things out in the camera periphery, running through a mental checklist of every moment that bugged me the first time and finding they all make sense on examination. I forgot to talk about the score the first time out, but since it's note-perfect from credits to credits there's not much to say. I also spaced on my favorite Joker moment--standing in the open truck in The Chase Scene, swinging languidly from a rail with a rattlingly alluring physicality. When it was over I thumped back in my seat and realized there's not a mockable moment in the film. It's not perfect, but it's bulletproof. I'm wondering how many viewings it's going to take before it stops feeling like going twelve rounds with a Tilt-A-Whirl.
David Denby is a bitch. I get to say that once or twice a year, but this time it feels truly righteous.
Posted by: Big Daddy at July 23, 2008 06:13 PMDavid Denby liked Hancock more than this, making Riding With Death references far too flattering for him. WHICH IS NOT EASY.
Posted by: Holly at July 23, 2008 06:17 PMI just read his review, and I have to wonder if he watched the same movie we did. One would think so, since all of the scenes he mentions are actually in The Dark Knight ... and yet, his impressions of the film bear no resemblance to mine. Or anyone else's, apparently.
(Then again, I can only think of two movies where I walked out of the theater disappointed. Could be just because I almost never go to anything besides sci-fi/fantasy and action movies, which are pretty hard to screw up - if you make it bad enough it becomes entertaining for entirely different reasons.)
Posted by: SpartanDan at July 23, 2008 11:17 PM