The Dower Power Hour

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding Heath Ledger’s final performance as the Joker in this summer’s Batman movie. I must admit I was extremely skeptical. Lets face it, when a celebrity as loved as Ledger dies in a freak accident (his drug overdose was of the innocent, Doctor-screw-up kind) the public needs closure. However, the tragedy that is Heath Ledger’s death is only heightened by the “fact” that his final performance really was masterful.

I say “fact” in quotation marks because something as innately opinionated as the quality of an actor’s performance can never really be considered fact. However, after watching The Dark Knight with a fair share of skepticism, I have to admit that his role as the Joker was not only good, it was extraordinary. I much prefer his portrayal of the character to that of Jack Nicholson in the 1989 Batman. The aptly named Dark Knight was dark, cynical even in its portrayal of the heroic characters. It was also extremely entertaining. I know the “audience at the edge of their seats” cliche is over used, but in this case it definitely merits use. The only criticism I have is that the film was a bit long. While I never felt that the movie dragged, there were several scenes where it felt like the movie was going to draw to close, only to have it continue for another 40 minutes. However, considering the quality of that extra 40 minutes, a length of 152 minutes is easily forgiven.