i'm on pins and needles while waiting for The Dark Knight to make its bow in the local theaters. the untimely passing of Heath Ledger, may his soul rest in peace, has only made me more impatient. his take on the Joker was a bit jarring (based on what the trailer showed), to say the least, but in a way it was just as compelling as Jack Nicholson's hammy treatment of Batman's indelible nemesis.
i don't know why Batman Begins hit me the way it did. maybe it was because i got so disillusioned by the way the filmmakers treated the earlier live action Batman films -- which got progressively worse after Tim Burton's Batman. come to think of it, i wasn't that enamored with Tim Burton's piece either. it was ok, i guess, but i never connected with it the way i did with Batman Begins.
or it could have been Christian Bale, whose intense portrayal made Bruce Wayne/Batman somehow easier to accept. either way, Christian Bale obviously made the role truly his own. the moment he stepped on the scene, all the other 'Batman' actors simply flew out of my mind.
i expect Chris Nolan to pick up, if not surpass, from where he left off with Batman Begins. he may not always hit the high notes, but this guy's work is always solid.
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