Considering the amount of massive blockbusters that have disappointed the fans this year, it is safe to say that all of your expectations will be met going into this movie. [[[The Dark Knight]]] delivers on so many levels that it becomes hard to critique it, and all that’s left is pure childlike enjoyment for approximately two hours.
Those of you who are unaware of the plot for the sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins
[SPOILER WARNING: READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK]
Back in January, after the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger, we posted audio from an interview we had conducted with Ledger as part of a special edition of ComicMix Radio. In the interview, Ledger discussed his reasons for taking the role of The Joker in the Batman Begins sequel, as well as his thoughts on how best to prepare for the role. With the release ofThe Dark Knight fast approaching and Ledger’s passing certainly looming large over the project, we thought the interview might be worth another listen for ComicMix fans.
With that in mind, we present (or re-present, in this case) the ComicMix Radio interview with Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight.
For more on The Dark Knight, make sure you don’t miss our special Dark Knight-themed edition of ComicMix Six, featuring The Joker’s Greatest Victories, as well as our recent list of Must-Read Batman Stories to get you caught up with the Dark Knight.
The latest Batman incarnation, The Dark Knight, doesn’t come out for another couple weeks, but the love is already streaming from critics. We’ve also had buzz about a posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger and his supposedly terrifying take on the Joker.
Rolling Stone was one of the first out of the gate to lay honors at director Christopher Nolan’s feet, calling the movie “a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie. Feverish action? Check. Dazzling spectacle? Check. Devilish fun? Check. But Nolan is just warming up.”
Over at MTV, the sequel was given a 10 out of 10 for “Wow Factor.”
Variety jumps on the batwagon, praising the whole operation: “…this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some.”
The Hollywood Reporter praises Christian Bale: “Bale again brilliantly personifies all the deep traumas and misgivings of Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne. A bit of Hamlet is in this Batman.”
An early review at AICN says, “Just go see it.”
And an Associated Press review says, “Running just over two and a half hours, “The Dark Knight” is a true crime epic. Throughout, the Joker’s bag of tricks is bottomless, twisted to the point of horror-flick sick.”
Whenever the subject of The Dark Knight comes up, everyone seems to be asking the same question (when they’re not talking about the film’s viral marketing, that is): Do you think Heath Ledger will receive an Oscar post-humously?
Over at Cinematical, they’ve started a discussion thread on exactly that subject, and the resulting comments have been interesting, to say the least. Reader response is all over the spectrum, but I thought commenter "techstar25" summed up the debate pretty darn well:
Last year the Academy recognized the work of two brilliant actors playing two of the most heinous villains ever put to film (Javier Bardem and Daniel Day-Lewis). There is now clearly a baseline with which Ledger’s Joker will be compared. How does "Joker" stack up against "Anton Chigurh" and "Daniel Plainview"? We’ll see, but at least now we know that the barriers have been broken and the voters will take a second look at "the bad guy".
This subject has certainly been the topic of conversation at many a ComicMix meeting, but I’d like to throw it out there for discussion among our readers. Is Ledger a lock to take home an Academy Award, or is the entire discussion premature with the film’s July 18 release still months away?
The Sunday edition of The New York Times included a special bonus for comic book and movie fans: a great in-depth article with Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins and its upcoming sequel, The Dark Knight.
Feeling grim that you missed it? As the Joker would say in The Dark Knight promo poster "Why so serious?" You can read the article on the Times website.
Highlights from the article include:
In spite of the recent, tragic death of actor Heath Ledger, the New York Post is reporting that plans are still in effect to release a new action figure in his Dark Knight character’s likeness to coincide with the upcoming release of the film.
According to the article, the Joker action figure will come in two different versions, both of which will hit store shelves in May.
One smaller version will feature a rocket launcher that can be put in the figure’s hand. The other, designed by well-known team the Four Horsemen, will be slightly larger, more detailed and come with a toy knife. Some might question the timing, or good taste, of releasing the action figure so close to Ledger’s death — or in releasing it at all.
However, according to the article, Ledger’s family supports the decision. "Heath was very proud of his work in the film, and his family is aware and supportive of Warner Bros. and its partner’s plans for the movie," said a family spokesperson. In addition, Mattel, the company behind the figure, are sensitive to the situation but still plan to go forward.
"It’s not exactly a marketing point," said Mattel’s P.J. Lewis of Ledger’s death. "But kids are going to buy the toy if they like the movie."
The Dark Knight hits theaters in July.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: You can see pictures of both figures in our gallery of photos from the ComicMix tour of Mattel’s showroom.]
As promised in our earlier announcement, we have a ton of photos from the ComicMix tour of Mattel’s showroom.
You might have already heard about "Infinite Heroes", Mattel’s new line of 3.75-inch figures based on a wide assortment of characters from the DC Universe, but have you actually heard about it? Check out today’s installment of ComicMix Radio for an interview with Mattel’s "Infinite Heroes" guru, P.J. Lewis.
We’ve also included photos of Mattel’s upcoming line of toys based on The Dark Knight, including figures based on Heath Ledger’s character, Joker, as well as Christian Bale’s Batman. Oh, and for those of you who’ve always wanted a Bat-suit of your own, we’ve got something for you, too.
Finally, we have some photos of Mattel’s line of superhero-incpired toys for their youngest demographic — but we won’t make funof you if you buy a couple for yourself.
So enough with the introduction, check out the full gallery of photos after the jump…
Calling movie actors “stars” was appropriate when I was a midwestern lad, long ago, because they seemed as distant and unattainable as those celestial twinklers that speckled the summer sky. None of my friends or relatives were movie stars — they were butchers or clerks or drivers or printers — and what the stars did, acting, wasn’t a real job and so those who did it weren’t real people. They were…stars. But if you knew someone who knew, or at least had spoken to, one of these distant beings who lived in places you never expected to visit, the stars became somehow real — or maybe realer, anyway. They were, if not people, then some sort of demi-people.
Clark Gable was a star. But Rock Hudson was both more and less than a star because I knew a girl who had worked as an extra on one of his films. Julia Adams…heck, she was a person, because she did a personal appearance at the grocery co-op my father belonged to when she was co-starring with Tyrone Power in Mississippi Gambler and people I knew actually saw her in the flesh. And didn’t that make Power a demi-person, too, by association?
Which brings us to Heath Ledger. I was never in a room with him, never saw him on the street, spoke to him on the phone, none of that. But when a heard about his death a few days ago, I felt just a tiny bit worse than I usually feel when someone whose work I admire passes. Why? Mr. Ledger and I lived in two of the same neighborhoods, one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan, though not at the same time, and my big 2007 project was writing a novel based on the script of a movie Mr. Ledger performs in. Somehow, all this makes me feel a dim and distant connection to him.
Last weekend, we finally caught up with I’m Not There, the brilliant Todd Haynes movie about the myths of Bob Dylan. The director intertwines the lives of six men, each symbolizing a stage of Dylan’s artistic development and public persona. They include a wide range: a young black boy, played by Marcus Carl Franklin; the protest singer, played by Christian Bale; the walking, talking enigma played by Cate Blanchett; the egomaniacal prick, played by Heath Ledger; the romantic, Ben Winshaw; and the lonesome recluse, played by Richard Gere. I don’t know if you’d like it if you aren’t a Dylan fan, but, if you are, it’s an amazing narrative.
Exclusive To ComicMix Radio: Heath Ledger On Taking On The Joker
The untimely death of any celebrity leaves a lot of questions and speculation. In the wake of Heath Ledger’s passing, some are looking at his overly dark portrayal of The Joker in Warner Bros’ upcoming Dark Knight Batman film. In a ComicMix exclusive, Heath Ledger tells us just why he took on such a demanding part.
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