Review of The Dark Knight (2008) by Scott M — 11 Apr 2017

Here it is, the King of the superhero movie genre. Chris Nolan succeeded admirably in reviving the Batman franchise after Batman and Robin killed it. Batman Begins was a terrific movie. But Nolan absolutely knocks it out of the park with The Dark Knight.

Upping the stakes, Batman is now faced with an enemy unlike anything he's ever imagined. The Joker, played so magnificently by the late Heath Ledger, is a villain for the ages. He is a mind gaming terrorist, a psychopath in clown make up and a purple suit who has ZERO empathy for anyone or anything, and has no rules at all. He turns Gotham City upside down, spreading fear and chaos where ever he goes. Heath Ledger is simply stunning in the role, and completely transforms himself into The Joker. His Academy Award was more than deserved. He has created a true cinematic classic villain.

Another new key player is the charismatic and noble District Attorney, Harvey Dent, played with underrated skill by Aaron Eckhart. He is Gotham's White Knight, the hero with a face that Gotham needs, and ultimately tragedy befalls him, and he becomes the iconic bat baddie, Two Face. The special fx used to create Two Face's scarred visage is flawless. Eckhart raises the roof with tension when he turns to the dark side, especially in the movie's chilling climax.

Christian Bale returns to don the cape and cowl, and like in Begins, he seems more comfortable playing Bruce Wayne than he does Batman. Not say he's a bad Batman, he's actually a good Batman, but seems more at home playing Wayne than the Bat.

Gary Oldman gets a bigger role in the story as Jim Gordon, who provides the third cog in the justice trio of Batman/Harvey/Jim Gordon, as they fight to save Gotham from the chaos The Joker has unleashed. Oldman is fantastic as Gordon, and has really settled into the role more.

The immortal Morgan Freeman returns as Wayne Enterprise tech wizard and CEO, Lucius Fox. He gets some terrific scenes, most notably his sensational handling of the Coleman Reese character.

Michael Caine is wonderful as ever as the faithful butler, Alfred. He provides some great dry wit, fatherly advice to Bruce, and even as a crime fighting aid to Bruce in his new outfitted secret bunker.

Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as the Rachel Dawes character, and this is a good thing, as her acting is several notches above Katie's. The Rachel Dawes character is still a bland one, but not a badly acted bland one thanks to Maggie. Rachel serves more of a prominent role and purpose in the story this time around.

The action pieces are terrific. Most notably there's a stunning sequence in Hong Kong, and a fabulous car chase sequence between Batman's Bat-Pod, the Joker's circus truck, and an armored car containing Harvey Dent.

The fight scenes are also better executed, as the whole shakey camera effect from Begins is dropped, and the fights are more clearly visible.

The only mis-steps I'd say Nolan did was that Gotham City could have looked a little more gothic and grimey. But it's a minor complaint. Bale's Batman voice sounds a little too growly in certain scenes.

But other than these minor flaws, the movie is epic. A mile stone in the superhero movie genre. It pulls no punches. Leaves you wanting more.