it’s been a little more than 24 hours since i had seen Chris Nolan’s brilliant handiwork, but i don’t think i’ve digested its details sufficiently to make a coherent exposition on The Dark Knight. i guess i can only approach this movie the best way i can: by making notes of the things that struck me most.

first off, i’d like to say that this is the movie that i’d been waiting for after i had watched Batman Begins (for the first time, at any rate). that movie made a believer out of me, and i really thought at that time that chris nolan would have a tough time matching its level, much less surpass it.

boy, was i wrong. and i’ve never been so glad to be proved wrong.

i was also apprehensive that, despite all the advance positive buzz it has generated, The Dark Knight would fail to match my expectations (which were pretty high). hah. i guess i should have known better.

so what do i think about The Dark Knight? umm, ask me again after i’d seen it for the third time. meanwhile, just to give a hint about my initial reaction, you can check out my latest post @ The Atelier, which i wrote barely an hour after coming out of the theater. and two hours after that, i couldn’t resist posting another reaction in my Recycled Thoughts.

the things that made The Dark Knight work for me was Heath Ledger’s Joker (who alternately made me giggle and squirm in my seat), Christian Bale’s Batman (he nails this role like no one else can), the BatPod (awesome!), Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon, and a few other things.

most of all, i like chris nolan’s idea of presenting Batman as a conflicted, but necessary hero that Gotham desperately needs but could never appreciate or understand. i especially liked the part where bruce wayne begins to accept the fact that if he wanted to be effective as Batman, he would likely never receive universal acceptance — much less adulation — from the very people that he is risking his life and fortune to protect. in this sense, he would have to transcend the traditional boundaries usually reserved for heroes. he had to become (and risk) much more.