Breathtaking cinema.

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2008)

I am speaking figuratively. You know those moments where you find yourself holding your breath? That's how I felt when viewing Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. This movie is epic. I am not a big Batman fan, I don't own any comics, only read a few when I was a kid. And I have not felt this way since Jackson's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. But they are two completely different genres, LOTR was a CGI fest in a fantasy world, The Dark Knight is just fantastic direction in a (reasonably) realistic setting, a compelling storyline with many twists, gripping suspense, heart-thumping battles and brilliant music. I noticed that this time, there was more of a suspenseful ambiance type of sound or beat during the action scenes, rather than just the looped music that was present in Batman Begins, which made the scenes look more like music videos. The Dark Knight is true to its name, very dark indeed.
This is a movie that you simply cannot see it just once, and I highly recommend multiple theatre viewings before buying the remastered DVD version. It's ranked #3 in the IMDb Top 250 at the time of this review, perhaps a little bit high in my opinion, but definitely top 20 material, maybe even 10. Time will tell if it can stay there.
Christian Bale puts in one of hiss usual shifts, and anyone who has seen his movies (The Machinist, American Psycho, Reign of Fire) knows what he can do. Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers, and puts in a very mature and believable performance that surpasses her predecessor. But Heath Ledger is the joker here, pun intended. He really shocked me with what he can do despite all the hype and trailers I had viewed beforehand, and hiding behind his hideous makeup gives him even more freedom and confidence to fully express and release himself. The unique thing about his Joker that makes him so successful is that he is not only intriguing to the audience, he still does a phenomenal job in making you loathe him. Many villains in other movies go over the top these days, which makes the viewer respect them in awe, but in the end fail to achieve their most important objective; the villain needs to be hated! You can't have the audience start feeling sorry for them, unless their character was intended that way. The Joker makes you shake your head in both awe, and disgust. Absolutely brilliant. Just like the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Heath Ledger has raised the bar considerably, and put immense pressure on the next guy to play the villain, not just in Batman films but other superhero flicks as well. Eventually his performance may be surpassed, but it sure won't be easy and won't be too soon either! I daresay The Dark Knight could not only be the movie of the year, but also the movie of the decade. Around halfway into the movie, I was already reeling, I glanced at my watch and was shocked to realized it was only halfway. This is the kind of movie that you never want to end.