Dark Shadows

I went back to see The Dark Knight again yesterday, this time on the IMAX screen, and I also watched Batman Begins, mostly just for comparison’s sake. What’s amazing is, for all the hype and critical praise that was heaped on Begins for its dark and gritty take on the Caped Crusader, that movie has nothing on Dark Knight when it comes to (pardon the pun) darkness. Aside from Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy’s villains in the first movie being completely outshined by Heath Ledger’s electric take on the Joker, Dark Knight is a literally darker movie. One of the first things that jumped out at me was the difference in the color palette of the two movies. Batman Begins, which seemed so raw and ominous when it was released, now looks comparatively bright, shiny, and colorful when held up against its sequel. Until the final battle scene, much of Begins takes place in the light, whereas Dark Knight is just the reverse, with the majority of the movie taking place in dark offices, back rooms, alleyways and underground streets. Even the outdoor daylight scenes all seem to take place on gloomy, cloudy days. Knowing how much thought Christopher Nolan puts into his movies, I’m going with the assumption that this is intentional — that the darkness is meant to show just how bad things are in Gotham, lending weight to Harvey Dent’s statement that things are always darkest before the dawn, but also mirroring Bruce Wayne’s acceptance of Batman’s place as an anti-hero who must remain a shadowy figure to achieve his true purpose.

Intentional or not, the visual tone of the film is just one more reason why The Dark Knight is now one of my favorite movies of all time. It lost absolutely nothing on a second viewing, and I’d go see it a third time in the theater given half an excuse. Usually, the second time I see a movie is when I catch lines I may not have caught the first time and notice more flaws, but I was just as absorbed in the story as the first time I saw it. A couple things I did notice: the soundtrack is pretty incredible, mainly because it fits the action so well that I barely noticed it except to think, “That’s cool”, and Heath Ledger was even more impressive and creepy the second time around. He was mesmerizing in every scene, and if he doesn’t at least get nominated for an Oscar, it will be a crime.

And finally, this was my first IMAX experience with a Hollywood movie, and for me, it didn’t add much except to make the screen a lot bigger. Maybe it was the angle at which we were sitting (off to the right), but it was tough to see what was happening in a lot of the darker scenes... of which, as I said, there were plenty. On the other hand, it was worth the extra $5 per ticket not to have to watch commercials before the movie. Until the show started, all we got was a blank screen and the Dark Knight soundtrack playing quietly over the speakers. It actually allowed people in the audience to talk to each other, which was nice since the theater started filling up 40-45 minutes before the show (yes, a 12:20 pm screening was still sold out a full two weeks after the movie’s release). Once the lights went down, it was two previews and then straight into the movie. That in itself is enough to get me back to an IMAX show in the future.