There are no rules, anything goes...

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2009)

The Dark Knight is the second installment in the re-imagining of the Batman movie mythos. Chris Nolan along with sibling screenwriter Jonah Nolan and most of the returning cast and a few additions(one of which is no longer with us, sadly), created what could be essentially the greatest superhero movie of all times. Many people can look at this movie and see it as either: a) An action packed superhero movie b)a crime drama c)A case-study on human morality d)all of the above. There are a lot of layers to this film. It starts with Batman, Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon team up to take down the remaining crime bosses, but not all goes well when a new criminal mastermind wearing clown make-up starts to wreck havoc in Gotham City, which ultimately leads to the big issue of this movie: No one is safe. As a superhero movie, we are told that everyone's safe, nobody gets hurt, the hero will save the day, good always thriumps over evil 100% percent. But no, The Dark Knight enters a realm of darkness, something we haven't seen since The Empire Strikes Back. I can't think of any superhero movie, save for that piece of trash Daredevil, where the hero's main squeeze gets taken out of the picture. It's simply scary, even more terrifying because it's real, it's plausible. The main villain in this film is perhaps the greatest evil of them all. It's more than his disfigured look, mannerisms and twisted sense of humor, he is crime's logical response to someone like Batman, of course, the Joker is someone that nobody understands. But somehow, his train of thought makes some sense in some creepy way, that's what scares me. The Joker is perhaps the most terrifying incarnation of evil and it lies mostly on his nihilism, his complete and utter disregard for human life and rules, we can thank Heath Ledger's performance for this. To the Joker nobody is pure. Everybody has a price, even Batman. The Dark Knight's greatest challenge is fighting this monster without crossing the line himself. Batman ultimately in the face of apparent defeat near the end, sacrifices all he accomplished for the greater good, albeit in a slightly unclear manner. The rest of the cast does their job well. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman never go beyond their mentor/assistant roles, though Alfred continues to be the voice of reason and Bruce's father figure. Rachel Dawes, by Maggie Gyllenhall certainly washes off the bad taste brought in by Katie Holmes and Aaron Eckhart plays a little like what you expect, but he too reaches the heart of darkness and can be at times as disturbing as the film's main nemesis. It's a shame The Dark Knight was snubbed at The Oscars, this movie as well as The Watchmen prove that comic book movies can be serious, intelligent and still be fun to watch.