The Dark Knight...Again

Today I went to see The Dark Knight again, this time with Candace (I initially saw it with my dad). Unlike Iron Man, which worsened significantly for me upon second viewing, this movie was still quite incredible. If nothing else, the three Joker monologue scenes really stood out the second time around, having had some time to digest his particular brand of social philosophy the first time around and glean some more from it here. Also, it was really fun watching the still-packed theatre respond to all the juicy bits (particularly Joker's 'magic trick'), knowing full well what was about to happen. On some level, I kinda wish I had seen the film this second time in an IMAX theatre, as I have recently learned that six scenes from the movie (presumably the big fight scenes) were filmed with actual IMAX cameras, making seeing it in IMAX better (at least for those scenes).

My slight criticisms of the film the first time around didn't change much this time, particularly that Batman (especially Bruce Wayne) wasn't given much screen time, nor was he really given much character development (especially when contrasted with either the Joker here or Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins). Also, I still feel that the difference in depth of the first and second films is a little too large, and I have a hard time of seeing how the potential third film could possibly stand up to the second, but time will tell. Finally, although not really a criticism, the little details relayed through quick dialogue that I missed in the first viewing were all cleared up this time, which also added to the repeat-viewing experience.

Overall, I can't recommend this film enough and really hope it makes some big waves in the movie industry (but really, how could it not?). In my opinion, this is our generation's equivalent to The Empire Strikes Back - a dark and artfully-crafted epic sequel full of internal conflict where the good guys end up losing - and as such, I wouldn't be surprised to see it remembered as one of the greatest action flicks of all time. No joke.