Tuesday 22 July 2008

蝙蝠俠:黑夜之神

是在開畫日下午一個人去看的電影,其實是個小小的不愉快故事。

1989 年《蝙蝠俠》(Batman) 全球賣座,重新掀起蝙蝠俠熱潮,Michael Keaton 多拍了一集《蝙蝠俠再戰風雲》(Batman Returns) 後,導演換了,男主角又換了兩次。這個系列電影的壞蛋、配角陣容集集精彩,製作越搞越大,成績卻越拍越低。《新蝙蝠俠不敗之謎》(Batman Forever) 和《蝙蝠俠與羅賓》(Batman & Robin) 就是看一堆銀紙。沉寂 8 年,2005 年 Christopher Nolan 執導的前傳《蝙蝠俠:俠影之謎》(Batman Begins) 開創了一個新視點,更多探討主角 Bruce Wayne 的內心世界,但是人物、場景設計仍有前幾齣的影子,而且節奏不算明快,稍欠高潮,整體不夠圓熟。3 年後的《蝙蝠俠:黑夜之神》(The Dark Knight) 可說是修成正果,編、導、演都有理想成績。

本片不算倚重電腦特技,很多場面都顯得真材實料,葛咸城 (Gotham City) 不再是毫無實感的漫畫式佈景。人物造型、性格、生活背景都跟現實大大接軌,無疑增強了觀眾的投入感。

劇情由打劫銀行開始,然後轉到洗黑錢,在香港大玩空中飛人,再回到葛咸城上演狂魔、黑幫、警方與蝙蝠俠的連環比試,財經蠱惑、法庭檢控、街頭火併、越柙風雲、渡輪危機,素材豐富得可以拍出幾部片,驚心動魄又爽快利落。角色之間的敵友關係詭譎莫測,橋段也出人意表。有曰「劇本乃一劇之本」,有好劇本,片子已經成功了三分。

電影片長 152 分鐘,絕無冷場,雖云不少情節在黑夜發生,加上主題調子灰沉,畫面陰鬱,但場面設計層次豐富且滿有特色,例如比現場觀賞更漂亮的中環夜景、地底隧道飛車追逐和連環槍戰、敵我錯亂的白眼夜視鏡高樓大戰等。其他戲份如銀行劫案剪接快速利落(有導演成名作《凶心人》(Memento) 的影子)、 The Joker 被補後受審極富張力、醫院大爆炸畫面絢爛、Two Face 化妝駭人、兩艘逃難船的人性猜疑、The Joker 的手機炸彈等,都教人目不暇給。整齣電影看來彷彿一揮而就,又加了三分。

員方面,無疑 Heath Ledger 演的 The Joker 搶盡風頭:眼神、狂笑、肢體語言都教人不寒而慄、毛骨悚然。The Joker 戲份多,讓 Heath 有充分時間去表演何謂「極變態而超高智的辣手無情」,有兩場行兇戲更幾乎把我嚇得大叫,不自覺地緊抓椅子的扶手!絕對有別於以往同系電影中的歹角奸笑一下,搞些摧毀葛咸城的「大龍鳳」就循例被蝙蝠俠收服。連唯一沒化小丑妝的那場戲,在 Heath 身上也完全看不見《斷背山》(Brokeback Mountain) 的痕跡。就是拿不到追封的金像獎,他也寫下了一章銀幕經典。光是 Heath Ledger 已值兩分。

Christian Bale 演富豪/蝙蝠俠,表演穩健,但發揮空間明顯不及上一集;Michael CaineMorgan Freeman 是兩塊完美的綠葉;Gary Oldman 演警長低調而好戲。蝙蝠俠的愛人 Rachel 改由 Maggie Gyllenhaal 扮演,雖然不漂亮,但表現稱職,比 Katie Holmes 好得多。Rachel 跟 Bruce 是青梅竹馬,不漂亮也說得過去。Aaron Eckhart 演佔戲很重的檢察總長/雙面人 Harvey Dent,成為蝙蝠俠的情敵,演得有型有格。主要演員表現理想,再加一分。陳冠希演個一句對白的小角色,沒啥好談。另一個蠱惑的華人會計師由來自新加坡Chin Han 飾演,不過不失,表情有點樣板化就是。片中對中國人有負面的形容,但其實一些洋人角色也被妖魔化,不算針對華人。

片中不少對白也堪玩味,大概是部份情節讓我頗有共鳴之故,例如 Rachel 寫給 Bruce 的信;Bruce 作為一個凡人,有其心結,在情與義、對跟錯、黑和白之間充滿矛盾、掙扎。他因為堅持自己心中的理念而差點走向極端,片中有兩段提及人性與道義之間的矛盾就把這點寫得相當立體。

或許下星期吧,待比較容易買到位置較佳的票,會以此片來當我的 IMAX 電影初體驗。

15 comments:

  1. The problem with "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin" was not really about burning money (i.e., spending too much on set production), it was the over-the-top approach to a relatively dark and gothic story that sent the series beyond the point of irrelevance. Honestly, who needs rubber bodysuits with rubber nipples? And who needs machine guns with coiled neon lights? Christopher Nolan's revival of the series built upon a more realistic approach to the story. Although the director took the materials more seriously than those of the previous franchise, Nolan did strike a very fine balance without making the characters too self-absorbed and the plot too deliberate. His success has breathed a breath of fresh air to the franchise and made it all relevant and cool again. No small feat indeed. :o)

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  2. Going to see it at IMAX tonight!!!

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  3. Perhaps you would like to add a Spoiler Alert for the unwary?

    Oh, and you HAVE to watch it in IMAX to get the full experience. It's a total blast!

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  4. Vince,
    It was a good turning point in the last Batman movie as you mentioned that Nolan tries to bring the audience back to the reality. Batman is not a superhero at all. He needs all the gadgets and machines to help him fighting against the villains. Without the toys he can't move too far.

    Mak,
    You know, I wasn't supposed to go alone last week ne (LOL)

    Leo,
    Compared with some other bloggers I am not a spoiler at all :) You did the movie in IMAX?

    So your blog is still only open to the chosen readers? How about to enable to the comment moderation and "re-open" it?

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  5. wordy:

    With all due respect, I think mentioning Two-face in itself is a spoiler. :P Maybe it's just me - I have this strange habit of trying to avoid any information about a movie that I've been longing to watch until I did.

    And yes I watched it at IMAX. In fact I won't watch it otherwise, because Nolan shot the film with IMAX cameras. I really enjoyed the great visual and sound effects.

    By the way I blog (or blogged, more precisely) at wordpress.com. It just happened that Blogger recognized my Google account (I use it for Google Reader thru which I always read your nice blog). I have fixed my name and link now. :)

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  6. Agree that you should have put up a "Spoiler Alert". Good thing I'm quite good at spotting those segments here and then I'd just skip to the end of the entry...

    You could have asked ga... But you wanted to see it early le...

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  7. Leo,
    I thought the Dent/Two-Face had been spoilt in the mass media and some other blog entries and thus just put it down :p

    I tried the link in some other blogs but it says it's only open to invited guests ar.


    Mak,
    Haha, whatever la. Hope you enjoy the movie :)

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  8. 記得有咁後買咁後呀、唔係睇到頭都暈!

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  9. Still haunted by the pencil magic trick... yeekk!!

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  10. Galaxy:
    值得睇架 :)

    阿明:
    直到 30 號,較好的座位依然爆,已經有 d 唔係好想睇喇(加埋條氣仲有 d 唔順)。

    maoxi,
    I almost shouted when he did that ...

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  11. Wordy:

    This is Leo. (Looks like Blogger didn't allow me to use my blog address as URL last time)

    Re the spoiler issue, I am afraid none of us can convince the other. My friend who watch the movie with me had inadvertently read about Dent/Two-face before, and she still curses Next media every time we mention it. But anyways, this is your blog and you have all the discretion. :)

    I may just go an watch it in IMAX again when the hype subsides, probably in mid or late August. (hopefully)

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  12. Leo,

    Yeah, perhaps in mid or late Aug :p

    You and your (blog) partner have got some nice writings there. I do not find too many bloggers (in HK, particularly) can write in correct and idiomatic Chinese nowadays. And compared with the comments you left on some blogs I often visit you sound so "serious" in your own world (LOL) Now I have one more place to hang out in the virtual reality.

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  13. And compared with the comments you left on some blogs I often visit you sound so "serious" in your own world (LOL)

    Really? I guess that's because I am lazy - I don't post new entries unless I really have something to let out. haha...

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  14. Or it's just because you prefer quality to quantity.

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