Director: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan
Christian Bale ... Bruce Wayne / Batman
Heath Ledger ... The Joker
Aaron Eckhart ... Harvey Dent / Two-Face
Maggie Gyllenhaal ... Rachel Dawes
Michael Caine ... Alfred
Gary Oldman ... James Gordon
Morgan Freeman ... Lucius Fox
What I Love: Batman, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Christopher Nolan, Tragic and dark heroes.
What I Don't: Campy Batman, Batman & Robin, Neon Gotham City.
What I Now Love: The Bat-Pod, IMAX Batman
Since the very end of Batman Begins, I have tried my best to be patient in waiting for the sequel. While not a perfect film, I felt Nolan perfectly brought my personal favorite hero, Batman, back to life. His idea to surround Batman in a realistic universe is one of the things I appreciated most about what Nolan did with Begins, not to mention finally giving me my own personal Bruce Wayne/Batman with Christian Bale.
With the Dark Knight, Nolan has not only created a far superior sequel to the original, but also one of the best films of 2008.
The Dark Knight ends up being quite a few things. For me, it's easily the best comic book film ever created, but there is a problem with that. Simply lumping The Dark Knight into the whole "comic book movie" category is an understatement. The film has more in common with Michael Mann's Heat than the recent superhero flicks like the Spider-Man franchise, allowing the viewer to think about the moral issues each of the characters have to face.
At this point I'm sure most of you already know what The Dark Knight is all about so I won't waste too much time on the specifics. Batman is still working towards cleaning up Gotham City and with the help of new DA Harvey Dent and friend Lt. Gordon, things seem to be on the up and up. Bruce Wayne on the other hand is still in love with Rachel Dawes who is now with Dent, thus giving us a nice love triangle to watch. Along with the Gotham mobs, The Joker (Heath Ledger) is wreaking havoc, demanding that Batman reveal his true identity.
The anticipation was already at an all-time high even before actor Heath Ledger passed away in January, but his death has now brought more attention to the film than ever before. People have been saying that Ledger has given one of the best performances in recent memory and a supporting Oscar nomination is a must. What I feared was that his death was the way people would love his take on The Joker, and not the actual performance itself. That was quickly put to rest after his first real introduction. The film begins with the robbery of a Gotham Bank where we are first given a glimpse of Ledger as The Joker, but it's a few minutes later when really understand how good Ledger's performance is. Meeting with a bunch of local mobsters, The Joker enters the room sarcastically laughing, licking his lips, darting his eyes around the room. It's absolutely one of the best character introductions I have ever seen on screen. So good that I actually had a hard time believing it was Ledger at all.
What's sad is he is so good the other actors actually end up being pushed to the back, especially Christian Bale. Bale is my personal favorite actor and once again he plays the duality of Batman/Bruce Wayne perfectly. Like Bale, Eckhart is fantastic as Harvey Dent, the real backbone of the film. The Dark Knight is the story of Harvey Dent's rise and tragic fall from hero of Gotham to villain, and Eckhart is perfectly casted. His performance was actually what I noticed most after seeing the film for a second time.
The other great addition to the film is Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes. I never personally had a huge problem with Katie Holmes in Begins, but Gyllenhaal gives her character so much more depth in this film that it's a shame she wasn't in the first one as well.
I have very little to complain about with The Dark Knight. Nolan has proven that this is the material for him. Instead of simply creating a comic book film, Nolan has chosen to put comic book characters into the real world giving each of their moral decisions serious weight. This is absolutely one of the best crime movies to hit screens in a long time and features one of the strongest performances supporting actor ever.
Heath Ledger, you are now and forever the definitive Joker.
3 comments:
Detailed review.
A lot better than, "it was really good." Thanks for that.
I've yet to see the film (it's sold out in my city), but now when I actually get a chance to see it, I'll be able to look at it with a more detailed perspective.
Awesome job! =]
Yes sir. It is quite a feat when you make Christian Bale look like a ham.
I may not say it on my profile, but Brokeback M is one of my favorite movies and Ennis Del Marr may survive in my memory alongside all those other tortured guys Paul Newman in Cat on Hit Tin, Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, Deniro in Raging Bull.
Surely Oscar fortunes awaits.
great review, d00d.
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