The latest installment in the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight, is about to hit us hard this summer. After dark auter Tim Burton's first two films followed a series of not so well executed sequels, ending in what was a garish fluorescent music video, aka Batman and Robin. However director Christopher Nolan came to the rescue and blew us all away with Batman Begins in 2005. Inspired casting began with that film and we will see Christian Bale don the cape and kevlar once more to do battle with the much awaited Joker, an intense character performance by the late Heath Ledger.
If The Dark Knight interviews and trailers are anything to go by, the action scenes and gadgetry will put every other Batman film to shame (and every James Bond film for that matter), and the production team tried to keep as many of the stunts as possible real. So, yes, that is really a man jumping off a 100 floor skyscraper, and apparently the only 3D in that scene is the fluttering of his cape.
What impresses me a lot more from the trailers is the unhinged lunacy of the Joker, an instability simmering just under the surface, less camp than the Jack Nicholson version (although that was in no way anything but excellent). Ledger was much more intimidating, creating an air of almost palpable danger.
However, what always lets me down in the Batman films, and there is no guarantee that it will or will not happen this time, is the inability of the directors to project Bruce Wayne's own instability and his ability to stand just this side of insanity. The Batman character in many ways is supposed to be a mirror of the Joker. And so far I have not seen this struggle to remain "good" portrayed properly. Having said that, Nolan has managed to turn the franchise around, so maybe he's done it all in this film.
Regardless, this is definitely going to be one of the biggest summer hits, and probably one of the biggest Batman hits. See you in the cinema.
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