Plot
Batman (Bale) hopes to hang up his cape and hand over crime-fighting duties to District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart). But the arrival of clown-faced master criminal The Joker (Ledger) forces the masked vigilante to question everything he stands for.
Review
I can't remeber the last time I have been in awe of a actors opening sequence. Watching Heath Ledger's in his full glory playing the joker is the highlight of the year. The scene of the film is the Joker introducing himself to the mob and showing his pencil magic trick.
This film has everything a good Batman film should have. The hero is a billionaire industrialist who likes to beat people up. The only good cop in the city employs dishonest ones. The psychotic terrorist torturing civilians and chopping up criminals... Well, he's just about the most charismatic character you'll ever meet. Welcome to
Anticipation and escalation were the key words in the build up to, post-Indy, 2008's most hyped and combustible blockbuster. Director/co-writer Christopher Nolan has talked of making a bigger, bolder picture, unfettered by the origin-construction constraints of the still-excellent Batman Begins.
The Dark Knight is Ledger's movie, this doesn't mean Christian Bale is sidelined as either Bruce Wayne or his suited, re-booted vigilante. There's no repeat of Keaton's eclipse by Nicholson's "I'd like eggs with that" Joker turn in
Pre-release presumptions about The Dark Knight being the comic-book Heat are valid, if not all-encompassing. Visually the comparison is spot on, and regular Nolan cinematographer Wally Pfister deserves props: ironically The Dark Knight brings Batman out of the shadows, through a burnished, Michael Mann Chicago into a daylight noir. But while The Joker and Batman are both costumed "freaks", they don't completely share the McCauley/Hanna dynamic. De Niro's criminal, for one, had principles; The Joker has none. And Mann's film was as much about being a professional as being a cop or a criminal, meaning the characters that are most thematically similar are Gary Oldman's hard-working lieutenant and Aaron Eckhart's idealistic lawyer (yes, they do manage to pull off that oxymoron), who are trying to change their world without recourse to gadgets or PVC underpants.
And so on and on (it runs an epic 152 minutes), Nolan navigates through a moral maze and some pointed politicking, but without ever stinting on stunts or explosions. It is thoughtful but never dull, and the OTT action and expansion — underscored in IMAX sequences which will no doubt look spectacular on the enormo-screen (Empire reviewed from a 35mm print) — are generally to its benefit, even though Nolan still appears more comfortable and engaged with interacting people than trucks and Batbikes. After a blistering opening, there's a second act lull and a story shift not quite as elegant (or, some might argue, even coherent) as you'd expect from the director of The Prestige. But The Dark Knight is spectacular, visionary blockbuster entertainment: pretty much everything you could hope for and then some. It isn't perfect but then, like its hero, like his late co-star, and as Nolan's fitting tribute so ably observes, nobody is.
Verdict
Ledger's performance is monumental, but The Dark Knight lives up to it. Nolan cements his position as
Score - 10
A must see!!!!!
Write your own review or thoughts using the comments link
Click here to see the related video to this article >>
> Posted by: Iconic Magazine
> Please enter your details below to post a comment:
> There are 1 User Comment(s) to this article:
Best film of the year, Heath Ladger should win an Oscar!!!
Dwayne , USA