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Title: The Dark Knight
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Release: 25th July 2008 [UK]

Synopsis: Batman (Bale) raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart), Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker (Ledger).

Review: I’m not normally one to give in to the hype that surrounds a movie, mainly because I normally end up feeling let down when its not lived up to. With Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight, you can give in to the hype, and still think the movie was better than you expected. After my 3rd viewing, I still am!

I’ll deal with Heath Ledger’s Joker first, as most of the hype is surrounding that aspect of the movie – and it is completely justified. Ledger has absolutely nailed the character – almost to the point where I can’t imagine another actor playing it. You can’t even compare it to Jack Nicholson’s Joker in the 1989 Tim Burton adaptation.

Ledger has created what can only be described as a pure maniacal sociopath, and if he was still alive, would without a doubt be rocketed to A-list status because of it. Tipped for a posthumous oscar nomination if the interweb is anything to go by, you can see why from his very first scenes. In fact my favorite part of the movie is right at the beginning as we’re properly introduced to the Joker as he meets the other gangland bosses, and shows them the best “magic trick” I’ve ever seen.

Heath Ledger as The Joker

The Joker aside, without a doubt there isn’t a single performance in the movie that disappoints. Everyone does a stellar job, especially Aaron Eckhart as the Gotham’s idealist District Attorney Harvey Dent. Watching him spiral into madness at the hands of the Joker is particularly engrossing.

Action-wise, the movie is awesome… the pace is perfect, and as the movie is 2.5 hours long it needs to be. Nolan has made sure that despite the length of the movie, we’re never bored and always on the edge of our seats (arse-numbing though it may be). I particularly like the opening bank heist, and the chase sequence as The Joker attempts to destroy a Police SWAT truck thats carrying Harvey Dent.

As far as comic book adaptations go, The Dark Knight is on the top of my list along with Sin City for sheer awesomeness. I’ve been a fan of Christopher Nolan since Memento, but since Batman Begins I’ve been keeping a very close eye on him – and I’m very impressed. Nolan has effectively crafted The Godfather Part 2 of comicbook movies. The Dark Knight definitely improves on Batman Begins, and this movie will be cemented into my top 5 movies for a very long time to come.

Rating:

Trailer:

Popularity: 3% [?]

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 15:44 and is filed under Movies, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.