Buzz About the Bat

Okay, I'm going to geek out here for a moment... bear with me...

As I type this, "The Dark Knight" is about 18 1/2 hours from its first showing. The second installment in the "revisioned" Batman movie series takes place a short time after "Batman Begins" ended, with Bats (Christian Bale) asked to investigate a series of crimes by a new villain, The Joker (the late Heath Ledger), by Police Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman). Katie Holmes is replaced in this film by Maggie Gyllenhaal... a name almost as much fun to say as it is to try and spell.

The reviews have been out on this movie for at least the past week, and they are great. Needless to say, the Joker role portrayed by Jack Nicholson almost 20 years ago alongside Michael Keaton's Batman is hardly a comparison. Ledger's Joker is STILL creepy, but he didn't have to fall into a vat of acid to become a crazy, face-painted villain. He's just....well, nuts. And from the previews I've seen, if I didn't know it was Ledger beforehand, I would barely be able to tell it's him.

I've heard interviews with Bale and Oldman, who suggest that Ledger's performance could be Oscar-worthy. I know I'm eagerly anticipating the movie (in part because director Christopher Nolan is BRILLIANT...he's the guy who did Batman Begins and Memento), but I've never seen an Oscar-worthy performance in a Batman movie. So that begs the question... if Ledger is nominated, is it because he's dead? I don't want to make light of his death, but he's been in other roles that are far more Oscar-worthy (Brokeback Mountain, anyone?) and he lost that year. Maybe it's a "make-up call", like the NBA? "Hey, this guy's life ended in tragedy and we screwed him by not giving him the Oscar. We feel guilty.. let's think about giving him an Oscar posthumously."

The sad thing is I can't decide whether I like the idea or not. Every fiber of my being says "Hey, you're just trying to show the world you're not a bunch of cold, heartless Nominated Committee members." But then again, maybe he DOES deserve an award, regardless of when he gets it. Guess we'll all find out soon enough.

"What doesn't kill us makes us stranger."
-B-