The Quintessential American Experience
{ July 18th, 2008 }
The last time I stayed up all night because I was excited to see a movie I was seven. The movie was probablly either HOOK (1991) or the Micheal Keaton BATMAN (1989). Since then, it’s been very rare that I get up to do anything before six a.m.
But this is different. This is essentially the iPhone of movies. When was the last time a movie director was as innovative, as ground breaking? Shooting a noir superhero movie on actual IMAX film? Scewering Hollywood at a public event? Drawing a performance this brilliant out of Heath Ledger?
It’s fitting that on my last weekend in America, before I head of to Uganda, I do something as ‘fan-boy’ as campout in the morning to go see a comic book movie. Two of my biggest hobbies (comics and film) colide for a unique experience that I seem to be sharing with the country.
After Seeing the Movie
Okay we just got back from THE DARK KNIGHT and it was everything I thought it would be and more. It’s smart, it’s witty, it takes the Batman universe seriously. It puts all the previous Batman movies to shame, especially the ones from the 90’s (a.k.a. Bat Nipples) and ups the ante for superhero movies to the Nth degree. Hopefully hollywood will stop looking down on comicbook characters and start treating the material like more serious literature because that’s what it is, the literature of our time. People are so used to looking down on properties like X-MEN, SUPERMAN and the HULK because for so long society associated comic books with kids and/or geeks.
But the pendulum is swinging and it’s good to see a movie that works on every level for all audiences. Christopher Nolan, hats off for being a filmmaker with BIG BALLS.
This movie is everything it’s hyped to be. In the immortal words of Stan Lee, ’nuff said.
