I was a big fan of the 'Batman' movies of the 90's and even got hooked on the way old version for awhile when I was a kid. I was never into comic books of any sort, so I only knew Batman through the movies. I don't care what anyone says, I liked the 90's movies. They were just fun, not to mention Michelle Pfeiffer was hot as Catwoman. When 'Batman Begins' came out in 2005, I wasn't at all excited to see it. I didn't wanna dip into the psychology of Batman, I mean...he's Batman, we all know why he does what he does. (What remains a mystery, however, is how no one recognizes he's Bruce Wayne once he covers the top part of his face, but I digress.) But I watched it last summer on FX, just out of sheer boredom, and actually really enjoyed it (except for Tom Cruise's pet, Katie Holmes), and have been looking forward to the sequel ever since.
In January, when Heath Ledger passed away, it hit me somewhat hard. Part of the reason was likely because I had a similar incident with perscription drugs last year that landed me in the hospital for a week. The other part is because I've always thought of him as an amazing actor. This was someone with such a rare talent to just literally become someone else for long stretches of filming. Someone who was doing what he loved and never cared at all about the accolades. And even sadder was the fact that he left behind such a beautiful daughter who will never truly know her father (that gets me a lot too). I went and saw 'The Dark Knight' this weekend, like just about every other person on the planet, and I have to say it was incredibly well done. Everyone's been talking about a possible Oscar nomination for Heath and I can't say I disagree at all. He played the role of 'The Joker' absolutely unapologetically. He was a terrorist with no rhyme or reason to what he was doing. As it's explained to Bruce Wayne, he just wanted to watch the world burn. (Why anyone would wanna live in Gotham anyway is beyond me.) And he had a point in some of his random ramblings. There is no him without the vigilante Batman. And good cannot exist without evil and what a fine line it is between the two. The make-up, the voice, the laugh...it was all perfect. Everytime he left the screen, all you wanted to do was see his next scene. Even though you know it's him playing the role, there was absolutely no sign of the man, only his character. That's damn good acting. It is a sad moment when you hear the Joker tell Batman they could be engaged in this battle forever. I could've watched them go at it for two or three more movies and it seems like the Joker was indeed set up to return in the next film. Sadly, we know he won't and walking out of the theater, that's what really got me. This movie would have made him an absolute star and given him access to any role he wanted in the future. You leave this movie wanting to see more from him. Wanting to see what he would do next. Wanting another Batman movie. And then you realize it isn't going to happen. You realize that this is it - his last full film. And what a talent we lost.
