A Dark and Brilliant Comic Book Epic...the best of its Kind

Rating: 9/10 (14 April 2009)

I was afraid that THE DARK KNIGHT would not live up to the hype and to everything I had heard about the film, but the film not only lived up to the hype but effortlessly surpassed it. This epic sequel to BATMAN BEGINS(a film which, BTW, put me to sleep)is a directorial triumph for Christopher Nolan (robbed of a Best Director nomination), who has mounted the ultimate comic book fantasy on an epic scale and has produced a mesmerizing epic that dazzles from start to finish as Nolan takes us back to Gotham City where we find the Caped Crusader battling mobsters, his own conscience, and of course, the Joker. Nolan's intricate screenplay never fails to hold interest, bringing us a variety of new and beloved characters and balancing their time on the screen with effortless grace. Nolan's attention to production values is to be applauded with particularly impressive cinematography and art direction and he evokes performances from his cast that are uniformly superb right down the line with standout work from Christian Bale, who brings even more of a tortured intensity to the enigmatic Bruce Wayne/Batman than he did in the previous film and Aaron Eckhart who turns in the performance of his career as good guy turned bad Harvey Dent aka Two Face. And what can be said regarding the performance of the late Heath Ledger that has not already been said? I didn't think Ledger could possibly be as good as everyone kept telling me he was but I was wrong. This is a performance that stands alone and should be studied by acting classes. Dead or alive, Ledger richly deserved the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for one of the most mesmerizing performances of the decade, that even made Nicholson's Joker in the 1989 Tim Burton film pale in comparison. This performance is electrifying and gutsy and more than anything, it's tragically and beautifully human...Ledger doesn't allow the Joker to just be a cartoon, he fleshes the character out as a three dimensional human being whose tragic flaw is simply wanting to be loved. Ledger doesn't make a false or unbelievable move in this film...it's a deliciously thrilling performance that is to be savored repeatedly, just like the rest of this comic book masterpiece.