The Joker's entrance could be called the greatest villain introduction in film history. This appearance was bizarre and terrifying.
Lewis said to Sarati Merton, "If this weren't a Batman movie, I'm sure Batman's spotlight would have been completely stolen by the Joker."
"Indeed," Sarati Merton agreed. "There has never been a film whose villain was this captivating. Heath Ledger's performance is simply amazing.
I can now understand why he went to see a psychiatrist. The Joker is just too insane."
Before the premiere, the most heavily hyped topic was Heath Ledger receiving psychological treatment, supposedly because he had immersed himself too deeply in playing the Joker and couldn't pull himself out of the role.
In reality, Heath Ledger went for treatment due to prescription drug dependence and headaches, but this kind of publicity was more beneficial to The Dark Knight, and Heath Ledger also agreed to it.
From the opening bank robbery to the later scene where he single-handedly confronts the mob and performs his "magic trick," the Joker's dramatic tension is pushed to the absolute limit. Neither Batman nor Harvey Dent can steal the spotlight from the Joker. This evil clown firmly locks the audience's eyes onto him.
Leonardo sat in the fourth row of the theater. The action scenes in the film held his attention tightly. With the added bonus of the IMAX format, the visual impact was extremely, extremely powerful.
But what attracted him even more was the Joker character. This role was simply too captivating.
At the beginning, Warner Bros. had proposed the idea of having Leonardo play the Penguin, but it was vetoed by Gilbert.
At that time, Gilbert even joked with Leonardo about having him play the Joker, but Leonardo didn't take it seriously.
If he had known beforehand that this role would have such an effect, Leonardo would have begged and pleaded with Gilbert to let him play the Joker long ago.
Heath Ledger was truly lucky. This role offered tremendous room to perform and was the kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Leonardo had already started to feel jealous of him—truly jealous.
Unfortunately, this was a superhero movie. Otherwise, Heath Ledger winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor next year would not have been a problem at all.
As technical-minded directors, George Lucas and James Cameron were more focused on how the film performed in the IMAX format.
The two observed that when certain climactic action scenes began, the image became much wider, with more details and greater richness.
The visual impact was extremely strong. Combined with the specially designed sound system of the IMAX theater, the audiovisual experience powerfully bombarded every single audience member.
This tunnel and highway car-chase sequence was packed with climaxes. There were pitifully few special-effects shots, with a large number of practical shots presented to the audience through the massive IMAX screen.
IMAX's technical director, Doug Magrath, also attended this premiere. IMAX placed great importance on The Dark Knight.
Starting with Batman Begins and The Polar Express, IMAX had ambitiously sought to enter Hollywood's film market.
Unfortunately, after several years, this technology had not been widely adopted in Hollywood. Hollywood studios and directors seemed not to like this technology very much, leaving IMAX struggling to move forward.
Fortunately, as one of Hollywood's top directors, Gilbert had a particular fondness for IMAX. This time, The Dark Knight featured up to 70 minutes of IMAX footage, the most in history.
Seeing The Dark Knight perform so exceptionally well in an IMAX theater, Doug Magrath only wanted to jump up, cheer, and applaud.
Sure enough, a top-tier director plus IMAX equals: invincibility!
If Doug Magrath could sing, he would already be singing: "How lonely it is to be invincible!"
Of course, technology is only a supporting tool. As the foundation of a film, telling a good story and shaping strong characters still come first.
Without a doubt, The Dark Knight achieved top-tier standards not only in technical presentation, but also in storytelling and character creation.
Over there, when Tom Cruise saw the Joker being captured, he turned to Nicole Kidman and said, "Gilbert's return to the summer season brings everyone a film like this. It's simply flawless."
Nicole Kidman agreed, "Otherwise he wouldn't be called the king of the summer season. Only his films are truly worth audiences looking forward to every summer."
Sarati Merton kept watching the movie with intense focus. Her heart was constantly knotted, and only when she saw the Joker get arrested did she finally let out a breath.
Up to this point, the film was still within her tolerance range. Although it was heavy, dark, and serious, the story was excellent, and more importantly, the action scenes were extremely entertaining.
In fact, The Last of Us is not exactly a feel-good film either in a certain sense, but its overall style leans more toward healing, and Sarati Merton also liked the scene at the end where Joel violently rescues Ellie.
So Sarati Merton really liked The Last of Us, but when it came to the style of The Dark Knight, she found it a bit hard to accept.
It was like walking through a long, lightless tunnel, unable to see even a trace of hope, making Sarati Merton feel like she was about to go mad.
So when she saw the Joker use a small trick to escape from prison, she instantly felt a little like leaving the theater. She seemed to have already foreseen what kind of story would unfold next.
Sure enough, the Joker went with the flow and abducted the mob's accountant, then presented Batman with a cruel either-or choice. Save Harvey Dent, Gotham's knight of light, or save Rachel, his childhood sweetheart.
In the end, Batman chose to save Harvey Dent. But watching Rachel be swallowed by the flames, this knight of light of Gotham suffered a complete physical and mental breakdown. His faith collapsed, and under the Joker's manipulation, he ultimately became Two-Face.
"I don't want to watch anymore," Sarati Merton said to Lewis.
"What's wrong?" Lewis turned his head and asked.
Sarati Merton didn't even want to look at the big screen. "This doesn't match my expectations. I thought it would be a very exhilarating superhero movie.
But I didn't expect Gilbert to make this film so heavy and dark. This is nothing like a superhero movie. It's too crazy. I can't take it."
Lewis felt helpless. This kind of situation couldn't be forced, so he said, "Then go wait for me outside. We'll grab a cup of coffee together later."
"Alright." Sarati Merton picked up her small handbag and exited the theater.
She discovered that she wasn't the only one leaving. Five or six other people walked out with her. They exchanged reasons for leaving, and the conclusion was the same: this film simply didn't make people feel happy at all.
"Why would Gilbert make such a heavy movie? Watching it made my blood pressure rise."
"Yeah, the Joker is really terrifying. I don't deny that the movie is good, it's just not the style I like to watch."
"I don't think it's good at all. A few car-chase scenes were decent, but I didn't feel happy at all."
"This movie should have been rated R, not PG-13."
That last remark was obviously from a parent's perspective. But the most unified opinion among the viewers who left early was that The Dark Knight was far too heavy and oppressive in theme, making it an unhappy viewing experience.
The news that some audience members had left early was quickly reported to Gilbert by an assistant, but Gilbert was not surprised at all.
"Is it okay that some viewers left?" Jennifer Connelly asked.
"It's fine," Gilbert said. "I already anticipated this when I was making the film.
This The Dark Knight can be considered a cut film among superhero movies. It's normal that audiences who like light-hearted films won't enjoy it."
The film's style was destined to drive away a portion of the audience. This was unavoidable, and Gilbert had long anticipated it.
..
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