"The Dark Knight" movie review

In a summer filled with superheroes, Hollywood has saved the best for last. Christopher Nolan’s eagerly anticipated sequel to Batman Begins hit theatres over the weekend. In The Dark Knight (PG-13), Batman (Christian Bale) teams up with Lt. Jim Gordan (Gary Oldman) and newly elected district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to finish cleaning up Gotham City from the Mob’s influence. Consequently a new and even more sinister force has emerged from Gotham’s underworld—The Joker (Heath Ledger)—to fill the void. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gyllenhaal round out the ensemble cast.



Andy: In some ways it’s misleading to think of The Dark Knight as a sequel. It certainly builds off of themes from Batman Begins, but it stands on its own so easily and supercedes the original in such a multitude of tiny ways, that you almost forget entirely that this is the second film in the reborn series. It is no coincidence that this film has never been referred to as Batman II, it is simply a Batman movie. It also happens to be the best Batman movie ever made, and I don’t think many who watch it would disagree with that assessment.



Ryan: I’m not going to mince words here. The Dark Knight is not only one of the best films of the year but is hands down the best comic book film ever. Yes, the movie is that good. Granted I’m about as big of a Batman fan as there is but I feel I can objectively say that The Dark Knight is a modern pop culture masterpiece. I give Christopher Nolan and company loads of credit. Most big budget summer sequels fail to live up to their original predecessors but not The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight delivers everything one could want from a Batman film.



Andy: The Dark Knight was justifiably one of the most anticipated movies of the year, but that expectancy increased palpably with Heath Ledger’s unexpected and early death. Immediately stories started coming out about the power of his performance in this movie and how an Oscar nomination was likely. Many cynics (to some degree myself included) thought this was just to enhance the tragedy of his death; who could resist the sentimentality of a posthumous Oscar nod for one of the best actors of his generation in one of the most successful movies in years? Well, after seeing the movie, I’m pleased and surprised to report that Ledger really is that good. He has taken the Joker and played him as the terrifying psycho he would be if the Joker really existed.



Ryan: Believe the buzz surrounding Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. Don’t get me wrong, Jack Nicholson was great as the Joker (in Tim Burton’s 1989 version, Batman). But Ledger takes the role of the Joker to heights that moviegoers will be completely in awe of. He simply delivers an iconic performance. There’s no question that Ledger’s performance will go down in film history as one of the best portrayals of a cinematic villain. An Academy Award nomination will not be a surprise and will be much deserved.



Andy: In looking for flaws in The Dark Knight, there is not much to work with. It runs around two and a half hours, and the ending is not quite as tight as it could have been. But the bottom line, however, is a movie that has two very solid and action filled story lines must conclude both of those stories. It took a little bit of time to do it, but it was worth it to see those stories play out on the screen for the first two hours. As for performances, all of the principal characters deliver impeccably, and director Christopher Nolan has firmly established himself as the new point in Hollywood where artistic integrity and commercial success intersect.



Ryan: The Dark Knight is an intriguing cinematic duality. On one hand the film feels like a crime movie that happens to have familiar comic book characters in the film. On the other hand it still has the fantastic elements that one would expect from a superhero movie. These notions appear to be in opposition but in fact they mesh together quite well. The bottom line is that there's a lot going on (and I don't just mean action) in this picture. The movie is really dealing with plenty of complex and relevant issues in terms of crime and the nature of good and evil. At the heart of this movie, is the battle for Harvey Dent's soul and that conflict provides the weight that puts The Dark Knight ahead of it's class.


Initially The Dark Knight offers no obvious flaws and boasts some of the best acting and action you’ll likely see this year, earning it a rare and solid A.


**Ryan here...just wanted to say a few more things.

1. It takes about 30 seconds of screen time to see that Maggie Gyllenhaal is an upgrade over Katie Holmes. Nothing against Katie, as she was serviceable in Batman Begins, but Gyllenhaal actually acts like somebody who works for the District Attorney's office. Plus I think she's just a better actor. Apparently the reason for Holmes pulling out of the movie was due to "scheduling conflicts."

2. I think that it should be pointed out that The Dark Knight is much more of an ensemble piece than Batman Begins. Begins was Batman centric...and that was cool...and worked very well. But here it's a much more bigger story so consequently a lot of weight is given to the Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon characters. It's not like the previous Batman movies where Batman would take a back seat to the cast of villains. Obviously Batman is important to story it's just that his screen time is not what it was in the first picture.

3. Props again to Christian Bale for being the best Batman/Bruce Wayne on screen. Granted the role of the Joker (and Ledger's subsequent brilliant performance) does in some ways overshadow Bale as Batman. But's it's not that big of a deal. I think you can see in this movie the character of Batman growing into the hero that he is. Bale provides the confidence and strength to pull that performance off.