Text Box: Text Box: Text Box: The Dark Knight 5/8/08 In all my life I have never seen a movie poster with so many reviews plastered all over it- I could guess at least twenty. I’ve heard the calls for the late Heath Ledger to win some sort of honorary Oscar. In fact I have seen more advertising that is completely monopolized by the obscure Aussie as opposed to Bale. Now I know why. I wasn’t an overly massive fan of Batman Begins as I feel it was a rather dramatic move from Gotham City to reality. That’s not to say it wasn’t the right move- after Batman & Robin, something needed to be done to save the franchise. Oddly though one of the better Batman films, the original and in particular Jack Nicholson’s camp but crazy Joker may have falsely led people into thinking that was how DC Comics envisaged the character, they won’t be misled now. The Dark Knight is hijacked by Ledger’s unbelievably accurate portrayal of one of Gotham’s most destructive crime-lords. The Joker is an insane terrorist and the opening bank-robbery places the chaos bar exactly where it needs to be. Ledger adopts a slow and deranged persona which works so well- the Joker actually doesn’t think there’s anything wrong in what he does. And I’m pleased to say the mayhem continues throughout the film- the destruction he causes is off the scale. Such is this change of ethos in the Batman films that Bale’s caped crusader is regularly out-thought and outdone by his make-up clad adversary. Working with both the police and the new D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who later becomes Two Face after another elaborate Joker plot, they are often several steps behind the terror genius. Christian’s Batman is not the all-invincible crime-fighting machine we are familiar with from the days of Keaton and Clooney and this is a welcome change, but I did feel Bale rather struggled with the character, being so naturally cool and confident. The film runs at just over two-and-a-half hours which to be fair is too long and there are perhaps a few twists too many that didn’t really need to be there. Good performances come from Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as technological innovator, Lucius Fox and Eckhart as Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal is not good as Rachel Dawes and perhaps was slightly miscast in a role she isn’t strong enough for. It is impossible to mention the cast without again praising Ledger. His is far-and-away the best performance of the film and really takes the picture to the next level. There are several laugh-out-loud moments just based on Joker’s audacity and apt comments which are just delivered with supreme timing. The tragic thing seems to be that Joker was not killed off and thus could have reappeared in a future title. This was of course not to be and this movie will be forever recalled as his finest hour. In summary an excellent Batman flick that you will want to see again. My only criticism would be the running-time and the fact that the plot in essence is basically everyone running around after the Joker, rather than the elaborate and contrived story it could have been. But easily the best film I’ve seen this year and a true classic. 9/10 CM Text Box: Links and affiliates Contact Me