The Dark Knight...Oscar Worthy?

On the eve of The Dark Knight being released on dvd and with the Oscar nominations quickly going to be decided, many bat fans have wondered...is The Dark Knight Oscar worthy? This film easily goes down as one of the greatest, if not THE greatest sequel ever made. Its a bold statement but The Dark Knight is a bold movie. The late Heath Ledger's performance alone galvanized this movie in not only comic book fans but the overall public in general. Does Heath disappear in the role, is this movie the Godfather II of comic book movies? So many questions, many will have the same answer...yes!

Is the Dark Knight Best Picture of the Year? It sure looks like it. Its the highest grossing film of the year as its garnered $996,482,559 worldwide, just shy of a billion dollars and the coveted Titanic top spot.

Is the Dark Knight a great screenplay? This movie brought a realism to a comic book adaption that no other film in its genre has come close to achieving. It is due to this realism that I believe many people were able to relate to this film. They were able to put aside the seventy years of comic book bat history in order to sit back and immerse themselves in this world.

Is the Dark Knight the Godfather II of superhero movies? It certainly ranks as one of the greatest sequels ever. The Godfather II is notorious for being superior to its original film. Looking in terms of scifi films, The Dark Knight follows the classic Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan rule: add an enemy that matches or is superior to our hero, add a lot more action and top it with a major character death. The Dark Knight delivers on this rule in every way.



Does Heath Ledger deserve a postumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor? Absolutely. Ledger, without question, disappeared in the psychotic Joker role and brought a new life to the character that we had never seen before. We've seen the Joker as a crazy comicial killer in the past but Ledger's Joker brought such a sinister and at times frightening Joker to the forefront. It's not often that a character in films becomes a pop cultural icon. No matter who plays the Joker, whether it be Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger, the character always catches people's attention. In the cast of Ledger's Joker, he's up the ante on the madman and driven him to become a household name.

Below is a quick behind the scenes video done right before the movie opening in July:



I believe that this clip is a great example of why Heath is being considered for a Supporting Actor Nomination. Is it Ledger's Joker at his most intense? You be the judge.



In conclusion, I wouldn't be surprised at all if The Dark Knight were nominated for several Oscars. Will it win? If it does, The Dark Knight will go down in history as the first comic book adaption film to ever win an Academy Award. This would be historic for the comic book genre. Much hangs in the balance at this year's Oscars. If this film can garner any Oscars including an award for Ledger as well as a Best Picture award, then the future of the comic book genre will become brighter than its been since X-Men and Spiderman sparked its cinematic revolution years ago. The Dark Knight has my vote.