THE Superhero movie

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2009)

Every summer seems to be the same. The same wave of over-hyped CGI comic book films, Pirate films, all hyped to hell, all disappointments.
And every once in a while you have a summer film that completely lives up to, and even exceeds the hype.
The Dark Knight is just such a film. Never before has a comic book film been so richly layered with such adult themes. The Dark Knight deals with the morality of good and evil, the differences between a hero and a villain and the lengths any average human being would go to to save their own skin. The plot is fairly simple. Batman has been manning the streets for 6 months now and already he is beginning to feel the strain. He joins forces with Lietunenant Gordon of the last movie and Gothams 'White Knight' district attorney Harvey Dent, to clear Gothams streets of the mob. Their plans start off working fairly well, that is until a certain white faced, Glasgow Smiling clown turns up.
The Joker in this film is quite simply a classic villain. He is a force of nature, a roller-coaster out of control, a f\/cking whirlwind, and, despite their best attempts all our three heroes can do is hold on as tight as they can.
Heath Ledger is absolutely exceptional. Never before have I seen a performance where an actor digs so deep into the psyche to truly understand the nature of the character they are portraying. It is my belief that The Joker is such a great character that only the man who played him fully understands him.
That is not to say that Ledger is unmatched by his co stars. Bale gives a fine performance as both Batman and Bruce Wayne, whilst Aaron Eckharts performance is so good that, in any other situation (that is, one without Heaths performance), he would almost certainly have been getting Academy recognition.
Anyway, this is truly the king of comic book films and my personal favourite of all time. It's filled with terrorist undertones, fantastic performances and a story which approaches the level of a Shakespearean tragedy. Not to mention that the action scenes are probably the most thrilling you will see all year.
The best film of 2008. Watch it now.