The Dark Knight Movie Review

THE DARK KNIGHT: HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL

With The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan and company have taken the superhero comic book movie and turned it on its head. This movie is so much more. A storyline that is tragic, comedic, and romantic, The Dark Knight is Oscar worthy. The effects are astonishing, the performances are breathtaking, and the aftermath will leave you thinking about the movie long after you have left the theater.

Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) has a lot on his plate. Lt Gordon (Gary Oldman) and he have pinpointed five banks holding the mob’s money. Their plan is to use marked bills to catch them. His true love Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is dating a new man. This man is the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and he seems to be Gotham’s new savior. And then there is Bruce Wayne Enterprise’s possible new dealings with an Asian businessman, Lau (Chin Han), who could be connected to the mob. But then a mysterious new criminal who calls himself The Joker (Heath Ledger) shows up. All of Batman’s other problems go out the window as he tries to deal with this psychotic menace who is intent on taking him down.

This movie has all the parts of a great film. It is action packed. It makes you cringe. You laugh and cry, as corny as it sounds. From the opening bank robbery scene that is equal to the one in Heat to the ending that shows the good guys don’t always win, you feel as if you have been a part of history in the movies. It is unlike anything you have seen or experienced. Not one scene is predictable or falls to any clichés. The acting is superb. Bale continues to immerse himself into the brooding playboy that is Bruce Wayne/Batman. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives more credibility to Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes did in Batman Begins. Aaron Eckhart is heartbreaking as Harvey Dent. You have never seen such a seamless breakdown of a character as he tries to take down the mob and save his new beloved city with tragic consequences. But the tragedy lies within Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker. Jack Nicholson was scary as the original Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman. But Ledger is truly terrifying as the man who seems hell-bent on anarchy and has no interest in power or money. The licking of his lips alone will make you shiver in your seat. He looks like a crazed clown that will give you nightmares. His cohorts in crime and their clown masks are also menacing, just not as much as their boss. Chicago is the stand-in for Gotham and it casts its dark spell for this even darker tale. Batman standing at the top of the buildings will give you vertigo. Anytime he swoops down with his bat-like wings you will hold your breath.

The opening scene attempts to tie up loose ends from the first Batman and does it a little too neatly. This along with the somewhat slow pacing of the film keeps it from sheer perfection.

The Dark Knight is not your fun popcorn movie. It is not your happy-go-lucky plot. But it is a film that will change the way you see films and hopefully make moviegoers raise their expectations for future outings.

Report Card:

Story-B+

Acting-A

Visuals-A

Originality/Innovation-A

Enjoyability Grade–A

Overall Grade-A-