Awesome

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2008)

When "Batman Begins" re-launched the Batman franchise in 2005, the film was heralded as a seminal moment in summer blockbuster entertainment and rightly so. It was a thrilling action film with a script that spent as much time working on its central character as it did setting up extravagant sequences.
The pressure of expectation on the shoulders of "The Dark Knight", its sequel, has naturally been incredible. The weight of the original has been combined with consistently disappointing superhero films leaving fans thirsty for quality. Also, the tragic and untimely death of Heath Ledger has brought a lot of focus onto his final completed performance, which was rumoured to be fantastic before he died.
So the pressure was on and writer and director Christopher Nolan excelled. He has, with "The Dark Knight", built on the success of "Batman Begins" and created a film of surprising power. It is exciting, thrilling, scarily intelligent, gripping, disturbing and awesome to see.
As in "Batman Begins", Nolan provides plenty of action. But he has truly raised the bar here. The opening salvo is effective but it is nothing compared to what comes after. There is a magnificent sequence in Hong Kong and an extraordinary chase which has the "batpod", police vehicles and an enormous lorry all involved. They are truly amazing to watch. However, these sequences are just the cherry on the icing on the cake. The power and brilliance of this film is in its ideas.
Where "Begins" focused on the character of Batman, here our central character is sidelined a bit and there are problems with this. The film is lacking a bit of emotional depth and it is perhaps the marginalisation of Bruce Wayne which is behind this. Nevertheless, there is an upside to this problem. This film is not about one character but about all of them. Everyone of them is fascinating and ultimately it is about Batman (standing for the world of straight rules), The Joker (branded a terrorist and standing for chaos) and Harvey Dent (whose fate cannot be revealed here but sufficed to say that he completes the triumvirate in an interesting manner), and what their collision means for man and society.
The ideas that these characters face are tied into some of the key-issues of our age. What is necessary to fight evil? What is a good course of action? Are humans actually ethical, or is morality an illusion, or simply incorrect? And, what price heroism? It is a film of our times and, although there have been numerous "war on terror films", few of them have dealt with these questions as well.
That's not to say that this film is preachy, or boring. It is completely engrossing. It is too long but that is a small price to pay when you consider what you're getting in return. The boredom never arrives for a number of reasons. Chief among these is Ledger's performance. It is a quite extraordinary piece of acting. The chilling role of The Joker is brought to life, complete with numerous ticks, a dense psychology and a voice that could cut through iron. Ledger doesn't just dominate the movie with the enigmatic and entrancing villain, but drives it. He is always present in the mind especially when he is off the screen.
But the brilliance of the Ledger performance should not blind people to the other actors' excellence. Aaron Eckhart is superb as Harvey Dent. If The Joker is the malevolent driving force of the film, then Dent is the personification of its soul and Eckhart lives up to this billing. Christian Bale has to deal with a slightly diminished role but is as good as always. Honourable mentions should also go to the ever excellent Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, whilst Gary Oldman is fantastic in the expanded role of Gordon. It is a terrific ensemble.
Added to that, this is a film of consummate style. Nolan's writing, with brother Jonathan, is fantastic delivering numerous fantastic lines, a gripping plot and brilliantly mixing action and intelligence. Nolan's direction is spot on and, with the assistance of Wally Pfister's cinematography, the film is interesting to look at. The pair have moved the feel and aesthetic of the film from the gritty, dark Gotham of "Begins" to a more central feel. Gotham has progressed from the first film and this story plays out in the places of power. The visual feel of the film supports this. Added to that, the design of every character is magnificent. The costume and make up complete the world and enhance the storytelling and Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's score is exceptional.
It is not perfect, but it is extremely impressive. Entertaining, clever and exciting, this is exceptional summer blockbuster film-making with a truly iconic performance and a magnificent vision realised. This is not a masterpiece (the plot goes out of control at some points and Batman could use some more screen time) but it is one of the films of the year and, without a doubt, a must-see. When the brilliant climax comes to an end, you should be left in your seat with your spine still tingling. It is, in a word, awesome.
5 Stars out of 5