Brand & Consumer Decision Making – Part 2

The Dark Knight

This time it is not the review. I am late. You would have read the reviews by now. And I consider myself incompetent enough to review this movie. What I am going to do now is to shamelessly promote the movie. Go and watch it. It is worth every penny of your money you will spend in the theatre to soak in the experience. Here are my reasons of committing the mistake of recommending a movie in public:

It is rare for a hyped movie to meet the expectations of the audiences. This one not only meets expectations it surpasses all.

Perhaps this is the darkest superhero movie of all time. I wouldn’t say this with surety as I am yet to view all but to my experience this would be the darkest. Every frame brims with certain intensity. It is not the regular good meets bad fare.

The movie is a winner because of the script which is fresh and rather a new take on the superhero movies. The characters have depths and there is psychological game being played between the lead characters.

Heath Ledger. His depiction of Joker is perhaps one of the most menacing by a villain. Before his death he made it a point to leave a work which will make him remembered by generations. So as a ‘freak’ in distorted makeup he puts the entire city on ransom. He is witty, he is resourceful, he is cunning and he knows what he wants. His ‘Joker’ is frightening because he wants to become a ‘class’ of his own and in this process would burn a mound of dollar bills just to signify that he is above all the ‘pedestrian’ criminals, would kill and not kill at his own wish and would challenge the ‘hero’ which has put fear in the minds of other criminals. This ‘Joker’ is menacing because he knows to play with the psychology of people.

There is underlying difference with other movie of this genre. Here the ‘Devil’ decides to go after the ‘Good’ to the extent that no one is sure enough how the minds of people will work. ‘Is the good, good enough? Will the good be able to endure the pain or will he give in? Will the good succumb to the darkness within?’

Special Effects and Action Sequences. Though these movies are built on the strength of these but the difference here is that these sequences though spectacular and effective never overshadows the plot and the characters.

I talked about Heath Ledger separately because he is the soul of the movie. That does not undermine the performances of others. So Christian Bale allows himself to be superseded by Joker while playing the Batman beautifully. Aaron Echart shines as the DA who becomes the face of the hero Gotham was in search for. Gary Oldman as the lieutenant is again capable whereas Maggie Gyllenhaal steps into the character of Rachel Dawes easily. The old powerhouses in the form of Michel Caine and Morgan Freeman are as reliable as ever.

The climax is not predictable as any regular ‘Superhero’ movie. It is open to interpretation.

The conflict within from a commoner to a supposed Hero to a criminal is depicted beautifully.

The Canvas is big and so is the vision.

Batman has a new vehicle in the form of a motorbike and the looks of it and stunts done on that are fabulous.

Importantly, It reflects the fact that what one needs and what one deserves may not be the same.

And finally, I enjoyed the movie immensely. I liked it to the extent that I have recommended it to 40 odd people from my batch since morning.