The Dark Knight soars

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2015)

The Dark Knight is a wonderfully made film and is one of the best comic-book movies ever created. The story centers on the conflict between Batman/Bruce Wayne, played by Christen Bale, and The Joker played by the late Heath Ledger. The Joker tests Batman throughout the movie by killing people and going through with some elaborate schemes. The Joker wants Batman to step forward and reveal his true identity. The movie also involves Bruce Wayne's old love interest Rachel, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and her boyfriend at the moment district attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart.
The main theme of the film in my opinion is that sometimes the truth is better off being hidden if it helps the greater good. Batman in the film represents good and The Joker represents evil. The Joker tries to turn Batman into something more sinister throughout the movie, but is unsuccessful. The Joker does succeed in turning Harvey Dent into an evil character named Two Face. If the city of Gotham found out that Harvey Dent had turned into a monster, it would destroy their faith because he is the one person that is looked up to.
There is two main scenes that demonstrate the theme of the film. The first scene is where the housekeeper Alfred, played by Michael Caine, receives a letter from Rachel. Rachel tells Alfred to give the letter to Bruce and for Alfred not to read it. Alfred reads it anyway and it says in the letter that she is done waiting for Bruce and that she is going to marry Harvey Dent. Alfred never gives Bruce the letter because he knew that it would crush Bruce. Bruce was better off not knowing.
The other scene that demonstrates the theme is the end scene. Harvey Dent is holding Commissioner Gordon's, played by Gary Oldman, family hostage. Batman shows up and accidentally kills Harvey Dent. If they tell the truth about all the bad things Harvey was doing, it would devastate Gotham. So instead, they place the blame on Batman and say that he killed an innocent Harvey Dent, so that he can become a symbol of hope for Gotham.
The main technique that got the theme out was the dialogue in the film. The acting was excellent throughout and the dialogue was spot on in most scenes. Also, the editing of the film was very well done to make the theme very clear. They threw in montages when necessary and the pace of the film was very well done. This movie shares a common theme that is demonstrated in many other comic-book films such as Spiderman and The Avengers.
The Dark Knight is a film that needs to be seen by everyone, even the people that dislike comic-book characters.