Film-making at its pinnacle...

Rating: 9/10 (13 February 2009)

'The Dark Knight', the latest offering of director Christopher Nolan, justifies the hype it had been given, and is one of the best superhero flicks of all time.
Firstly, I would like to pay my tribute to the legendary portrayal of The Joker by the late Heath Ledger, which, I am sure, will act as a text-book act for the generations of actors to come. The performance is brilliant, and the energy with which the actor portrays the character really comes through the 70mm screen, and leaves the audience spell-bound. 'The Dark Knight' is quite similar to 'Batman Begins' in terms of its tension and darkness, only that both these factors are exponentially higher in the sequel. The film has much more deeper characters, and the settings are also darker and more disturbing. The feeling of tension is prevalent throughout the running time of the movie, and the viewer cannot help but end up with a satisfied grin at the end of the movie, when the bubble of tension finally bursts.
Christian Bale carries-off his act as the extravagant billionaire in pure gentleman-ish style, and is surely a good choice for Bruce Wayne. Aaron Eckhart is also a natural actor, and does full justice to the character of Harvey Dent, though he is mostly left unnoticed .
But the real show-stealer is Heath Ledger, who walks away with all the accolades. His act as the Joker is a milestone in acting history, and almost touches perfection. Both his facial expressions as well as his voice-modulation are excellent, so much so that it disturbs the hell out of the viewer. His body language is so very casual, that you get the goosebumps every time he walks or acts weird. He turns out to be scary, funny and awfully entertaining, all at the same time. The audience relishes every moment that he spends on-screen, and yearns for more when the credits start rolling. His sarcastically humorous antics have you laughing in splits in many scenes. Thanks to the gritty camera-work and the powerful background score, the film creates quality tension-filled scenes, which one yearns to see once more. This film is a complete package of top-notch acting, out-of-the-world direction, and a very gripping storyline. I end this review by mourning the loss of one of the most promising actors of recent times: Heath Ledger. Don't miss this one.