Words Dept.: entry

I went to watch The Dark Knight at the IMAX in Manchester this week and it was bloody amazing.

There was a bit towards the end, though – involving two boats – where I knew what was going to happen in advance because they gave it away on Newsnight Review last Friday. I watch this programme fairly often and for some reason they quite regularly give away the plots of movies. I’m not sure why – there’s always a moment where Kirsty Wark begs the critics not to do it but it’s almost as though these brainy types get so excited by their own opinions they can’t help it. A spoiler alert wouldn’t be helpful either – what’s the point of a film review with spoilers in it?

Another thing that struck me (about the film this time, rather than Newsnight Review) was the comparison with the Tim Burton film from 1989. At the time this was seen as a departure into much darker territory for the Batman franchise and I became mildly obsessed with it for a time. But nineteen years on it looks tamer than an episode of Neighbours in comparison with the new one, where the Joker is turned into a knife-wielding anarchist psychopath. Then again, I suppose the world is a bit of a darker place now than it was in 1989.

As for the Oscar buzz, whether an actor in clown make-up is ever going to win one is, I suppose, debatable but I reckon Heath Ledger’s performance was worthy of the hype.