Close to a Masterpiece!

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2008)

As I write this, I've just seen the Dark Knight an hour back. Its been a while since I've been blown away by a movie. It was great to have that feeling again after a very long time. This one is an absolute stunner! - A blockbuster that lives beyond the hype!!! .. The movie plays like a grand crime drama, the co-incidence being that the players are from a comic-book landscape. It has a great plot, amazing visuals and stunning performances! The movie deals with a lot of serious issues in subtext- especially relevant ones in the wake of the War on Terror. The action scenes play brilliantly on the giant screen. The humor, if any, in the movie is very dark - right from the pencil-disappearing trick to when the Joker retells the story of the origin of his scars.This is one of those rare movies that upstages the prequel - right from the start it grabs you by the collar and two and a half hours whiz away in a hurry. There is still a hangover from the movie - I just can't get the dialogue away from my head and that maniacal laugh.
While the entire cast is very good in their roles, the star of the show is definitely Heath Ledger, playing the frightening anarchic, psychotic Joker. Ledger has created an iconic villain here - right up there with the likes of Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, Anton Chigurh and the like. He's made himself immortal with this role. Christian Bale once again puts in a strong performance that easily makes him the best Batman/Bruce Wayne, while Aaron Eckhart pitches in a moving performance as of a man who falls from being Gotham's knight of hope to a deformed, demented villain. Gary Oldman is brilliant as the righteous Commissioner Jim Gordon.
While I am raving abt the movie, I think one probably needs to watch Batman Begins to know the characters and their motivations well (Heck, do I even have to mention this??). I think I should also warn ppl that this is not a conventional superhero movie where the hero has cool lines, flashy action and rides into the sunset with the girl .. If that's the only stuff you expect from a superhero movie, this movie is not for you. The movie has a brooding, tragic feel about it that some of us may not like.
Its a hard-hitting motion picture that asks its audience serious questions and yet say "Why so serious?" .. The entire cast and Director Christopher Nolan certainly deserve a huge applause for an almost-flawless movie that is sure to be a path-breaking one in the superhero / comicbook genre! The I-max ticket was worth all its money!