Summer of '08: The Dark Knight, Mamma Mia!, Space Chimps

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.

This post is best viewed on our website.

Welcome back to the latest edition of Summer of ‘08! This week, we cover the original “Barbenheimer” and a movie called Space Chimps…

The Dark Knight (2008)

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

July 18, 2008

Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman
cinematography by Wally Pfister
music by Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
screenplay by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer
produced by Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan
directed by Christopher Nolan

As we all remember, in the months leading up to The Dark Knight, all of the headlines were, naturally, about the death of star Heath Ledger. New York rags like the Post and the Daily News ran headlines like "LEDGER'S TRAGIC DEATH and "HEATH LEDGER DIES AT 28 IN SOHO LOFT." On the Entertainment Weekly website, the article "Amy Winehouse enters rehab" was two stories behind "Heath Ledger 1979-2008." If you were in the checkout line at the grocery store, a People Magazine would greet you with a portrait of the young actor, a photo of him and his daughter, and a memorial across the cover.

In the weeks and months that followed, he was all over the news. I clearly remember the filling of his will; Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell stepping in to finish his final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and donating their fees to his daughter; and, of course, the reviews that started pouring in for his new take on the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Director Christoper Nolan clearly had a more grounded vision for the Batman character after the Schumacher Batsuit nipples and Bat Credit Card, so although I’m not the biggest fan of his Chicago-inspired Gotham, Batman’s toys (supplied by Morgan Freeman's character), or some characterizations (sorry, Christian Bale! I just never really liked what you were doing!) — those things are honestly so nit-picky because this movie kicks ass.

Heath Ledger’s performance became instantly iconic, garnering reviews like "simply one of the most twisted and mesmerizing creeps in movie history" (Richard Corliss of TIME) and "a stupendously creepy performance, wild but never over the top" (David Ansen of Newsday) and "freaking awesome" (11 year old me), as well as winning a posthumous Oscar for his work, the first of two people to win an Academy Award for playing the Joker. It will forever be his legacy.

But really the entire film is filled with memorable moment after memorable moment. Once it gets going, it does not let up. I’m the first to complain about runtime, but this two-and-a-half-hour dance doesn’t have an ounce of fat on it. Every scene, every line, every setpiece has become synonymous with the character of Batman and his portrayals on film. I think it transcends “comic book movie” like few others can.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.

July 18, 2008

Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Christine Baranski
cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos
music by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
screenplay by Catherine Johnson
produced by Judy Craymer, Gary Goetzman
directed by Phyllida Lloyd

In just a few short weeks, Mamma Mia! is returning to Broadway, back to its original home in the Winter Garden Theatre. The original production was one the longest-running musicals in the history of the New York theatre, so it's funny that's returning just in time for this series. That's happened a few times this summer, like when the series kicked off with my Iron Man review on the same day that Thunderbolts* or The New Avengers or whatever it's called came out. Or maybe Marvel did that on purpose, I don't know.