I'm a Batman fan from way back. I mean, I'm one of those guys who collects comic books and action figures and the Batman is my favourite superhero, second only to Spider-Man.
After watching, or rather while I was in the theatre, I realised that this movie – The Dark Knight– was nothing like I expected even after watching the teasers and trailers for the last couple of months. I can't say I'm disappointed at all, but I'm not entirely sure I would watch it again too soon.
Christopher Nolan is one of those directors who love immersing his viewers into the dark depths of the human psyche just like in The Prestige. The feel of The Dark Knight is a perfect pick up from his Batman Begins.The city scape's he takes you through are exactly what you'd imagine Gotham City to look like. Although I have to admit I wish it had more of the larger structures and monuments like in the older (but not so good) Batman movies. Nevertheless the scenes are artfully directed and Gotham comes to life in mute perfection of what the Dark Knight's stomping grounds would be like.
Christian Bale, although a brilliant actor overall, makes a great and extremely suave Bruce Wayne again, but he tends to sound too mean and sometimes muffled as the Batman, kind of like Rambo in a costume. It's been quite evident evening the previous movies that the Bat-suit is not an easy thing to frolic around in, let alone beat the stuffing out of the bad guys. But Bale makes it work.
I was disappointed with their choice of casting Maggie Gyllenhaal (40 Days and 40 Nights, Donnie Darko)as the new Rachel Dawes. She looks rather old in most scenes. I would have preferred Katie Holmes again. Harvey Dent is played by Aaron Eckhart from No Reservations and Thank You for Smoking. He's perfect as the passionate district attorney with a dark side.
Heath Ledger terrorises Gotham City
Heath Ledger as the Joker is simply superb. His mannerisms bring a new light to the infamous and insanely diabolical arch enemy of the Batman. This addition to the Batman's adventures will take you down the road of a mad man. This is the Joker on Acid. There must be just about two or three Batman stories that will depict this diabolical fiend of a character as this dark and psychotic. If you were expecting anything like the image portrayed in the comics or Jack Nicholson's version, think again. He's dark and twisted like never before and even though I'm a traditionalist at heart, I think this is the one Joker you can identify with considering the movies of the here and now.
The storyline is very intricately written with great dialogues that will have viewers talking about them and repeating whenever they can. The technology employed in the movie as part of Batman's gear is in keeping with today and I want some!
'Nuff said! But what I most loved about the movie is the slow build up to the climax that will give viewers a real insight into how one twisted mind can so easily manipulate the human morale and bend it at whim.
The Dark Knight is a journey of the characters into what most of us already know about the Heroes and Villains alike, but the unfolding story will justify the reasons why they are the way they are and their internal turmoil prevails.
The film has its share of loud noises and big bangs with just the right amount of effects to make you sit up and lean forward in anticipation for the next. Don't expect too much action though; this is more of a dark psycho thriller (without too much of the blood and gore) rather than a bright and sunny superhero flick. That's not a bad thing considering the hero in question is not of a sunny and bright disposition.
Some of the action sequences though are a bit repetitive and you may just end up saying – 'Hey wasn't this in the last one? ' While that may or may not seem true, the visual effects and damage caused is handled well enough. Let's just say the level of chaos has been taken up a notch since the last Batman movie.
On the whole I did like the film, but being a Batman fan and like I said before, a traditionalist, there were a couple of things that bothered me about and it's just possible that there are others who may feel the same way. I won't spoil it by telling you what those things are, but I will recommend going to a good theatre to watch this movie. With the kind of visuals and sounds The Dark Knight brings to the table, you want the best in both sound and screen.
Rating: 4/5
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