That’s the gist of a new profile of the film and director Christopher Nolan that appeared in The New York Times. Essentially, the argument is that Nolan has changed little to nothing of his directing style between his indie roots and his big budget studio pictures. He still shoots every shot himself with no help from a second unit. He is still very hands-on with each actor, whispering directions into their ears. He still views The Dark Knight, sequel to Batman Begins, as just another movie.
Well, maybe not just any other movie. Nolan notes he feels a certain responsibility to the memory of Heath Ledger to make sure his final film is a testament to his ability. His analysis is that Ledger’s performance will blow audiences away.
That’s all well and good, but the actual quality of The Dark Knight is still up in the air. Nolan is an uneven director, at best. While Memento was a smashing success with critics and audiences alike, films such as Insomnia and The Prestige have had harder times connecting. Are they bad films? No, but hardly anyone would argue that they’re great films.
Even Batman Begins, for all its hype, only managed to deliver a Batman film obviously better than the last two Joel Schumacher productions. Many fans still feel the animated Mash of the Phantasm film outshines all over Batman movies. So, all eyes will be on The Dark Knight this summer to see if it can fully deliver on the collective legacies of Batman, Ledger and Nolan.
Loading ...