Close the betting on the Oscars

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2008)

Best Film 2008: The Dark Knight, Best Director: Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight, Best Actor: Heath Ledger, The Joker, The Dark Knight.
Well, those will be the Oscar results if there's any justice. The Superhero has always been a huge genre in the film world, and The Dark Knight sets the bar way way high. I would like to begin this review by talking about Christopher Nolan. Batman and Batman returns were good movies. Then what followed were Jim Carey, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones etc etc doing their almighty best to ruin Batman. Movies that were just about making huge amounts of money and not giving a damn about the history of Batman. But thanks to Nolan, Batman has reached the top of the mountain as the best superhero out there.
Following on from the outstanding Batman Begins, this film was always going to have a tough job to make Batman even better. We rejoin the Bat (Christian Bale) as he continues his fight against the mob who have gained a new friend. And his name's The Joker (Heath Ledger), the greatest villain of this generation. Which brings me to Heath Ledger. Now after his death in January of this year, many pessimists will use that as the sole reason as to why everyone was so impressed with his performance. But, quite simply, Ledger is fantastic. Evil, arrogant and downright hilarious, he makes The Joker role his own.
Batman appears to have gained his own friend in charismatic Distric Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhat). Dent is an elected official who is determined to stamp out crime in Gotham City. Both have Commissioner Gordon on their side, played by the terrific Gary Oldman, and are both battling for the heart of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal).
The Dark Knight is an amazing spectacle. Every performance is fantastic (a big shout out also to Michael Caine who is terrific again as Alfred), the action scenes are immense, and the direction of Nolan immense. The film, at a length of over 2 hours, flies by, and once the credits roll you'll be disappointed its all over- after you've finished applauding that is.
Quite simply: fantastic.