One of the best productions ever - but not the greatest film

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2008)

I saw The Dark Knight at the IMAX. The first shot, as the camera zooms over the city scape and the whole audience gasped. The amazing visual effects, towering eight storeys around you, wowed us all as we set off on the roller-coaster ride through Gotham's darkest times.
That gasp from the audience really wasn't the last gasp either. The IMAX enhanced effects, Heath Ledger's JOKE, some pretty stunning direction and all round good acting made this one of the best productions I've ever seen. But when I saw this clinch the number one spot at IMDb, I worried for it.
No one could expect a DC Comics film not be American through and through. However, even the most hardened comic fan couldn't help but wince at the references to terrorism, the blatant advocacy of invading the privacy of citizens and torturing prisoners (though only when necessary, of course), and the amazing idea that the people will unite, through democracy, to defeat the evil that is chaos and replace it with the good that is conformity.
The corny lines are, generally, within the acceptable limit (you need some in a Batman film for goodness sake) and a plot would stand up to a fair amount of scrutiny, something few comic book films deliver. That said, the film constantly seems to be ending, then a new twist takes in forward. When it does end, we suffer the monologue summary that now seems compulsory in any blockbuster, presumably so that the increasing number of effect-seeking media-illiterates can still understand what the point of the past two hours was.
if, however, these comments are starting to give you a negative vibe, please stop reading. This film is good and should be seen, if nothing else for Ledger's Joker. The effects and the pace eclipse Batman Begins, rival Burton and, coupled with a storyline as dark as the original comics, this has got to be a contender for film of the year. Just not for all time.