The Dark Knight User Reviews

• Add

(This was written shortly after the finish of the first midnight showing in 2008)

"The night is always darkest before the dawn." The character of Harvey Dent says this to a bewildered people of the terrorized Gotham City. The hopes that the worst days are behind them are shattered into a million pieces. One man has turned the rebuilding city into a play ground.

I will first say that Ledger's final film will ultimately get him the Oscar he has deserved for so long. He will only be the second man in history to do so. Once you see his performance, you will understand. Someone will have to fill his shoes if they decide to keep going with future installments. My honest opinion is that there really isn't a man capable of continuing where he left off.

With that out of the way, The Dark Knight is a dark and twisted movie about morality and mortality. Christian Bale once again takes up the mantle of Batman, but he isn't the shinning gem this time around. The counter characters are played by actors with far more talent. To watch this movie is to finally see Bale when he is put up against actors of his own caliber.

Eckhart and Ledger are the center pieces to this film. Eckhart plays a determined Dent. So determined is he that he is willing to compromise the lives of others for the sake of chance. This is all for set up though, leading to the climax of the film.

Ledger dances circles around everyone. Not because his character is a mental job case, but because Ledger really made the character his own. Anyone who still argues that Nicholson was a better Joker hasn't watched this movie. The laugh is obviously taken from the old TV series, mimicked with a more sinister twist from the old Ceaser Romero laugh. His walk is jangly, his mannerisms consist of twitches, tongue chewing, lip licking and smacking. The touch of unpredictability makes him all the more entertaining to watch.

The biggest surprise was from the director, Christopher Nolan. The quick cuts which were annoying from the first film are still there but in far less quantity. With the redesign of the batsuit, Nolan was able to focus more on the actual action of Bale rather than trying to hide his lack of mobility with camera tricks. This isn't his only revamp. The opening shots of the movie are phenomenal. A city thats about to get turned on its head.

I said before that the movie focuses on moral and mortal strings. The Joker is a sinister man who doesn't care about a damned thing, not even himself. Several times he puts himself in a situation where others will hurt or even kill him simply because he can. He says later on that "I'm not a schemer, I'm merely the element of chaos." This is true. You, the audience member, are often times left guessing as to what he is actually up to. Watching on the edge of your seat trying to figure it out and getting the clues as the characters get them.

A good example of this, without ruining the surprise, is he gives two locations of two main characters during and interrogation. What he does is tells them backwards, knowing full well that if he told them proper, what he wanted to happen wouldn't. The result is one of the biggest shocks the movie brings forth.

This was the first time in a long time I have stood up when the lights came on with my jaw still on the floor. I was in awe. Its been a while since a movie has impressed me to such degree. The fully realized dark masterpiece is really a brilliant emerald in this every slumping world of modern cinema.

The part that I loved the best was the moral choice wasn't about the sinister choice. It was about what evil are you willing to commit. How far can one be pushed before they finally go over the edge. Its about the integrity of a men who are forced to loose everything and make the choice to keep going forward or give in to their own hatreds.

I walked in expecting a comic book movie. I walked out having seen the best movie of the year, and arguably, the best movie in the last three or four years.

The chilling atmosphere, the sinister evils, and the Joker's laugh. This all sets the mood for the antics that transpire on screen before our eyes. A fan of Batman, a fan of the first movie, or just a fan of great film making, there is something here for you. If you've already seen it, watch it again. If you haven't, prepare to be amazed.