I admit, I saw it! Everything I heard about the great acting and special effects, did not disappoint me. As a matter of fact, I think that Heath Ledger will receive an Academy Award nomination, and likely the Award. He was a very convincing mad-man. And Michael Caine, well, he’s Michael Caine.
So by now, you’ve determined that I loved the movie; wrong. Believe it or not, despite the superb acting, the excellent special effects, the cool bat-toys, I came out of the movie a bit frustrated! Why? I’m not entirely sure, but I think it has to do with my own personal vision of who Batman is; what he represents. I admit, I never read the original Batman comics, so I don’t know where they took him. I did grow up with the Batman from TV, so perhaps that is where my basis of comparison originates.
Just like everyone said, it is very dark—the lighting, the setting, the mood. Another objective masterfully achieved by the director. I guess, this is where my frustration lies. The film was done so well, that Batman is going to be defined by a new persona, going down a new path, a path I don’t want to see him travel!
The characters infer he's a ‘necessary evil.’ I’ve always, and continue to wish for Batman to be bigger than life; in the ‘toys’ he own, in the bad-guys he catches, in the girls that like him, and in the moral character he displays. With him now being allowed to let the ends justify the means, I get lost in the moral dilemma created. Okay, so I’m an idealist!
But, don’t you think we have enough real-life examples of bigger-than-life ‘heros’, that turn out to have significant vices, personality defects, or character flaws? We don’t have to look far to find examples in sports, business, politics, and even some religious figures. By making Batman more like these, we take away some of the hope that there is reward in being moral, good, and virtuous. Perhaps the message of the film is that we live in a dark world, and the only way to combat darkness, is to use the same tools, but for the right reason, of course. That concept is disturbing and discouraging to me.
In the end, we are talking about a mythical figure from a comic book, made into a feature movie by some extremely talented people. But, IT'S ONLY A MOVIE! I don’t see the social fabric of society being torn away by such a production. However, it does make me wonder if this movie’s success in someway indicates our perceptions about society and morality, or just plain optimism and hope. Something to think about.
11 years ago
2 comments:
You know, that's funny, when I came out of the movie I remember thinking that I liked that Batman was a different sort of "hero." His line that he would be whatever Gotham needed him to be (ie, Batman taking Two Face's actions upon himself to give the people a reason to believe that Harvey Dent was good to the end, and a true hero, and that people like that did exist), whether he really was what they believed Batman to be or not, because that is how they would remain safe, or happy ro whatever. To me that was just as heroic as the classic hero stories go. He was willing to sacrifice his good name and reputation and honor as batman in order to save them from what is really harming them. Whether or not they know it. That takes a true hero. its easy to do something when the rest of the world is cheering you on but when you have to become the despised to save the very people despising you, that requires something more.
Clayton, you may want to brace yourself for more of the same. I read an interesting article last year that argued that Hollywood was responding to the national mood by taking us on a trip back to 1970's cinema, where anti-hero's like Randle McMurphy, Michael Corleone, and Rocky Balboa (original) dominated.
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