The Dark Knight IMAX Experience Larger Than Life

I saw The Dark Knight in IMAX saturday night. It probably ruined life for me, because I know for sure nothing could ever be as awesome as seeing that film in IMAX.



Simply put, the sequences shot with the IMAX cameras were visually stunning. There was a surreal amount of clarity those cameras are able to provide. Originally, Chris Nolan planned on shooting five sequences in IMAX, but because of superior planning from his camera crew, the ease at which they shot in IMAX made it possible to shoot more and more, and that's what they eventually did.

The very style of this film lends itself to IMAX viewing. The Dark Knight is two and a half hours of action - even when there's no elaborate fight sequences, or exploding cars or buildings - in The Dark Knight even in the dialogue scenes, no one is ever safe. If the Joker is out to introduce a little anarchy and disrupt the established order, he succeeds, making things that aren't supposed to be frightening (like conversation) simply terrifying.

An added benefit to seeing this film in IMAX, and my personal favorite, is the way the movie allows you to appreciate parts of the movie you don't really appreciate in regular theaters. Full immersion literally means full immersion. When you're peripheral vision is the movie, when the speakers are booming, you pick up certain things - like the score. The score for The Dark Knight is, in many ways, a triumph of its own, and the way it was mixed into the film is a real accomplishment. Before the Joker shows up on screen, there was almost always a single resonating note, almost a buzz, hanging in the air. It's most recognizable as the sound in the beginning of the film, during what has been dubbed "the prologue."

Every part of the movie shines a little bit more - Heath Ledger's performance, for one. Little intricacies that I didn't notice before bled through in stark clarity. The way he moved his face around when talking to different individuals ("You know why I use a knife? Guns are too... quick. You can't savor all the little... emotions...").

Anyone paying attention knows that this movie is a cultural phenomenon - and the things that have made it brilliant are excentuated by the IMAX experience. If you have the opportunity to go see it again in IMAX (if you haven't seen it, there's something wrong with you, so I won't even weigh that possibility) go.