(Originally written in August 2008)
Where should I start? I mean, I’m pretty freaking speechless. And I can’t really believe either, that The Dark Knight has been released and I’ve seen it. I’ve been waiting for this movie for like almost 2 years.
I’m a huge Batman fan myself, since a little kid. Seen all the movies, seen all the cartoons. Read a few comics too. I really loved Tim Burton’s vision on the Dark Knight, but pretty much hated Schumacher’s on Batman and Robin. Batman Forever is somewhere in the middle I guess.
I’ve seen Batman Begins in the theaters 3 years ago, when it was released. And I was completely blown away. By Christian Bale, by the feel and Christopher Nolan’s directing, his take on the character, the story and most of all, the realism.
Batman Begins quickly became my all time favorite Batman movie, and I can’t imagine someone else than Bale playing the Caped Crusader. Keaton was great, but Bale is Batman.
2 Years have passed and they announced that Heath Ledger will be the (new) Joker. I never really enjoyed Nicholson in the first one, he just seemed stupid and that he was playing himself but with make-up on. I’ve been a fan of Ledger, but not really familiar to his works. I was psyched when I found out about him being part of the cast. I mean, I trusted Nolan. I knew that it will be a kickass surprise.
And oh it was. The Dark Knight is the first Batman movie not to have “Batman” in its title. And that’s not coincidence of course; The Dark Knight is nothing short of a crime saga set in Gotham City. It begins pretty much where Begins left off, with the appearance of The Joker, who at first is considered a minor threat to the mobs and to Batman but that doesn’t last much as Joker’s crimes become more deadly and twisted.
Heath Ledger stole the show. Whenever he was on screen, he was fantastic. Makes you forget how to blink. The new grungy look that they adopted for Joker works out perfectly because it emphasizes on his personality. He doesn’t care for money, power or himself. He just wants chaos. The lack of his background was also genius, making him more mysterious than ever. Ledger lost himself in the character. He is The Joker.
Another villain that appears in this (besides Scarecrow who has a cameo) is Harvey Dent/Two Face. Aaron Eckhart also plays his role impeccably as Harvey Dent, The White Knight of Gotham and finally Two Face. The scarring looks gritty and pretty gross, nothing like the stupid pink paint on Tommy Lee’s face in Batman Forever. That’s why it’s so awesome.
The plot is strong, with a few big surprises. And with an ending that should lead to a third Batman movie. Something even more different than The Dark Knight.
It’s just fantastic, others calling it “The Godfather of superhero movies”. It’s way different than anything else. The Dark Knight is an experience, the most elaborate and pretentious comic book interpretation. Stellar.
10 / 10
Superunknown MadAnd 