bunny begins

part 2 (SPOILERS)

like the mention of God has been proven to ignite ancient parts of the brain, the same is with me and the Bat.

when Gordon held up the Joker card at the end of Batman Begins, a whole wave of excitement flashed in my head, an explosion of possibilities. The Dark Knight was that excitement made real, all prospects promised, pitch perfect and inspired. it was that split second flash, everything i wanted (thank fuck).

as good as Begins is, essentially it's the opening part of a good/great novel. decent but there's more to come. it perfectly laid out a whole universe to play with, full of direction.

but on my 7th viewing of the film, i finally found a glaring chink in the armour. now, i rarely watch a film more than once. im pig ignorant when it comes to cinema anyway. maybe then i was actually watching and re-watching to comprehend this vast film full of stimuli and peaks and scope. i needed to rewatch so as to overcome the kneejerk emotions and blasts of awe so as to view it soberly, clinically. but as the film is so well done, i find the same exact pleasures each and every time, whilst also noticing little missed things here and there and viewing from different parts of the prism - at times, I laugh at the Joker. others, I hate him and grimace throughout, or realise with horror that he really is the only 'man of his word' in the whole of Gotham.

at times im disturbed by Harvey holding a gun at the weirdo's head before he turns Two Face. other times im not, immersed in the urgency of the situation. on some viewings i'm even angry with Batman for not taking off his mask soon enough, agreeing with Maroni after his two foot fall.

at times i'd have blown up the other boat.

and so on the 7th viewing I found a pretty poor link in the chain -

So Rachel dies. Bruce cries, Alfred serves breakfast. Joker does stuff in Gotham. And then, when we cut back to the penthouse - the very next scene to feature Bruce - him and Alfred are quipping about Lamborghinis and unsubtle Batpods.The girl hasnt even been buried yet...

Even to a guy like me, that's cold.

This is similar to when Commissioner Loeb dies earlier in the film. It's never mentioned again. We don't see Gordon or the other cops pause to reflect and grieve before/after his public funeral. Loeb's death just becomes something that happened in order for other stuff to happen, for the plot to keep unfolding on and on, never letting up when really there could be time for the characters to reflect amidst the Joker's chaos. Time does pass between his every mad scheme, but we don't see enough of it when really we need it, especially in Rachel's case before the ferry madness begins.

But I'll watch the film again. The hunger will crawl up on me and I'll need to have another viewing. Never has a film had such an effect on me. and i know it's not the all-time greatest. as much of a music nerd i am at the expense of my cinema knowledge, i still like my European & the challenging & disturbing. i like the cerebral and sensitive. i'm not that much of a pignoramus. It's just TDK is on a different level of appreciation, its own genre. it's just pure fanboy adrenaline, jacked straight into the primal and sublime in the mind. it works me up and gives my head a lot to gnaw on, philosophically and visually. the image of the amoeba-like parachute lit up blue above Hong Kong is the most beautiful shot.