Review of The Dark Knight (2008) by Omar K — 17 Jul 2015

The world that director Christopher Nolan creates in Batman Begins is enhanced tenfold in The Dark Knight. Gotham looks better, Batmanâ??s gadgets are improved and the villains are more spectacular. Yes the villains are more spectacularâ?¦ well one of the villains that goes by the name of the Joker steals the show.

The Joker, portrayed by the late Heath ledger, is undoubtedly the most impeccable super-villain of all time; it is that easy to deduce! If he had not unfortunately died, he probably would not have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor posthumously due to the Academyâ??s regard for films not typical of Oscar standards. This effectively emphasises the magnitude of his performance that he managed to capture the attention and hearts of $1 billion dollar worth of viewers and force his way to the Oscar even if he wasnâ??t there to receive it. His reincarnation of the most intriguing villain is freshly fanatical. He is a highly intelligent, maniacally twisted clown who forces his way up the dread ladder and manages to control Gothamâ??s actions by simply bulldozing his fear factor into peopleâ??s skeletons. His unrecognisable empathy levels is because he is a psychopathic, mass murdering clown who like all villains wants to upset the social order and define himself by his battles with Batman. His appearance is spot on! He wears purple jacket and gloves, scruffy undergarments, white face paint, mildly fluorescent yellowy-green hair and the much-needed real life scars. He brings a terrifying realism to his method-acted role and is able to wholly distinguish himself from Jack Nicholsonâ??s interpretation and in fact completely blows him away. There is nothing comical about this Joker, he is just chillingly mesmerising in everything he does.

Whilst the Joker is startlingly good, the brilliance of Batman in this film is that he manages to never be overshadowed by the Joker, he stays as the hero and even though we love the ultra-villainous Joker, Batman is our hero and we never want to see him fail. Then it is no wonder the scenes involving our protagonists are the best moments in a film that is jam-packed with spectacular sequences.

Firstly, the genius of the fundraising scene is that it builds and climaxes with verve, never relenting, just amplifying! The wordplay is perfect, from when the Joker tells Rachel how he got his scars, to the point she kicks him and Batman saves the day, up until the Joker dangles Rachel out of the window and Batman hopelessly utters â??let her goâ?? and the Joker listens to his â??poor choice of wordsâ?? and releases her for Batman to rescue. Not only is it the moment that the Batman and the Joker first encounter each other, but it is also the scene that skilfully lets you know that the final 2 hours will be a thrill to sit through.

The second scene that amazes is the interrogation scene where even the Joker is surprised by the Batmanâ??s appearance. The image of both the Batman and the Joker looks as if it has just been plucked out of a comic book; it stays true to the comics whilst adding its own spice to the proceedings. The fluctuation of power between Batman and the Joker is electrifying as Batman uses his raw power to attempt to overcome his nemesis, but the Joker employs his dastardly ways yet again to deceive everyone, even the audience, and delivers a killer blow to Batman.

Amidst the palaver, Aaron Eckhartâ??s Harvey Dentâ??s, the white knight of the Gotham, is broken and renovated into Two-Face; another of the wacko antiheroes Batman must defeat. Dent is quite irritating as the arrogant district attorney whose only shining light is that he is the only person who shows his face in the battle against Gothamâ??s dirt, which essentially backfires upon him. Once he becomes Two-Face in such spectacular fashion where half of his face his burns off and he does not even need to plaster himself up, he dazzles as someone so malevolent, it was as if his character was born to be a villain! He is probably even more maniacal than his villainous counterpart, the Joker, as like the Joker he has nothing to lose anymore but is eagerly impatient to cause pain to the innocent because of the loss of his fiancé, Rachel Dawes.

Undoubtedly, Rachel is the most irksome of all the main characters. The replacement of Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal is not confusing at all, however, although to Bruce, Rachel means everything, to the audience she is so fucking annoyingâ?¦ she keeps playing around with Bruceâ??s feelings telling him she wants to be with him then deciding to marry Dent. When her character was gotten rid of by the twistedly brilliant deceitfulness of the Jokerâ??s antics, there is an underlying joy that her character is now defunct because to be honest she is a frustrating character in both films, no matter who the actress is!

Nevertheless, from the opening heist scene, to the Jokerâ??s first, second, third, fourth, fifth appearance, Harveyâ??s transformation into Two-Face, the realistic action sequences or the dark tone that permeates throughout, The Dark Knight is a truly magical 152 minutes that capture the hearts of anyone that lays eyes on this gem. The genius of this film is that it brings a terrifying realism to Gotham that it contravenes your typical superhero film and becomes a consuming tragedy that leaps boundaries of cinematic expectation.

The second outing of the Caped Crusader will undeniably be heralded as the greatest ever superhero film. It transcends every boundary set by previous superhero films and continues to set the pace for new ones. A modern masterpiece.

â??â??â??â??â??â??â??â??â??â?? 10/10.