Dane Rennaker

That was way more than one kill

Bro this movie RIPS The set pieces, the Hans Zimmer score, Ledger’s performance, all unmatched. Got such a great intensity and energy that makes it such an engaging watch. Two-face and the Joker are really what drive the film. Because the character moments are more focused on them, it does push Bruce/Batman to the sidelines a little bit, but it’s a necessary evil and he still does get some nice moments. Ledger is obviously incredible, I love the flippant and bouncy energy he gives the role, brilliantly contrasting the darker, more intense and insane moments the character has as well. I honestly think Eckhart is kind of underrated as Dent, he’s frickin great in the role. So charming and pure, yet not at all naive, until he breaks and is just terrifying as Two-Face. Both legendary performances and characters. The highs are incredibly high, some of the coolest moments in a superhero film ever. The Joker interrupting the mafia meeting, the insane opening, the interrogation, Joker pulling up to the Dent fundraiser, the truck flip, all crazy awesome. However, there are some forgettable bits too, like the sequence in Hong Kong, the side plot about the Wayne Enterprises employee that discovers Batman’s identity. Like does anyone ever really think about those parts, other than the fact that Batman jumps off a skyscraper in Hong Kong? But what the movie really does succeed at is creating these incredibly engaging, really rewatchable scenes that stick in your mind well after watching them.  Unfortunately, even though the highs are really high, that doesn’t make the movie perfect (please don’t kill me). While Nolan is no doubt one of the best to ever do it when it comes to large scale action set pieces, I feel that one of his weaknesses throughout many of his films is his writing. It feels like a lot of the plot points are kind of just written to lead to another set piece without always being as thought through or significant as they should have been. For example, the Joker’s plan in the third act to have the two ships of people pitted against each other relies entirely on convenience and contrivances to work. There’s a conversation between Gordon and the mayor right before to try and explain why the inmates are even being evacuated at all, but what if they decided not to evacuate them? The Joker’s plan would kind of fall apart. While there still are some great writing and character moments, especially with Harvey Dent, I also don’t think Nolan is not as subtle as he should be with his themes. The characters tend to straight up just say exactly what the themes of the film are and don’t leave much for the audience to ponder on or put together on their own. As an action film, I suppose that’s fine, but if we’re trying to treat this as more than that, I don’t feel like it’s quite as nuanced as it should be. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the heck out of this movie. It’s only because I love it and have seen it so many times that I’m critiquing it. As a superhero action film, this is top of the line and it doesn’t really get any better. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some issues and if we’re gonna put it up there with the greatest films of all time, we need to be critiquing it with just as much scrutiny as them. I just think that when you do that, the cracks start to show just a bit.

Haunting. When you first begin to learn about all the things Laura Palmer is involved in during the show, you get the impression that she’s a wild, albeit troubled kid. Not until you watch this do you truly see what she was going through. In order to cope, she turns to drugs, sex, and all other manner of wild behavior. But she’s not a wild kid, she’s a victim of trauma and abuse that she silently suffered for years. One of the greatest fictional characters of all time, and Sheryl Lee gives a performance worthy of it. [David Lynch Ranked](https://boxd.it/W1IZW)

*“So, I guess it means there is trouble 'til the robins come.”* I love how the imagery at the opening and close says so much about what this film is trying to say, even though it’s so simple.