Magnificent

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 2008)

I had been looking forward to The Dark Knight since the middle of 2007, and the death of Heath Ledger increased the already growing hype surrounding the film. Approaching the cinema, I decided to forget the hype, forget my own desire to watch, so I could do the film justice in my own way. I'm glad I did, as I think this is the 21st Century's best film so far, it surpasses the hype magnificently.
The film centres around Batman, James Gordon and Harvey Dent's struggle against the Joker, a new criminal in Gotham City who is running riot. As the city begins to descend into chaos, our heroes begin to see what they must become in order to stop him.
From the opening scene, it is clear that The Dark Knight is more about the villain than the hero. Heath Ledger is simply unbelievable as the Joker, he bristles with psychotic energy in every scene. His body language and vocal range are an inspiration and he is a truly terrifying character. As a Heath Ledger fan, my expectations were exceeded beyond belief. The real surprise was Aaron Eckheart, who was at times even more chilling as Two-Face than Ledger. Watching him slowly turn from Gotham City's white knight into an evil, vengeful monster is brilliant. Christian Bale is as good as he was in Batman Begins, and it was nice to see Maggie Gyllenhall surpass Katie Holmes. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman's performances were several levels above what they were in Batman Begins. Each actor complemented each other, and shares a common plus point with Anchorman in that it was as near as can be to perfectly cast.
I think this film's main strength is it's writing. The script delivers constant high quality dialogue and some of the best twists and turns since Fight Club, and I love Fight Club. I love how Nolan adapted the characters into what worked the best, in particular the villains. The campness of the Joker and Two-Face's previous incarnations is non-existent, and would be out of place in this version of Gotham City. The Two-Face character is visceral and graphic, and Harvey Dent's fall from grace is handled brilliantly. The origins of the Joker are not shown, merely referenced by the Joker himself in some horrifyingly genius dialogue.
I was blown away by The Dark Knight, it was almost perfect. The only niggle I had was that I would have liked to have seen more of Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow. This film was a fitting end to Heath Ledger's career, and the Joker is definitely the role he will be most remembered for. The must-see film of 2008.