Unexpected and amazing

Rating: 10/10 (3 August 2008)

After Spiderman's debut super heroes' movies have reached higher and higher, leaving the childish tone for which they were known throughout the 80's/mid 90's, to become complex productions, in a path similar to that followed by the comic books from the early 80's on, giving a depth to the stories and characters until then unknown. Batman the Beginning followed this trend and was already a well balanced picture, rooted in a sense of reality that made it distinct from it's contemporaries. The Dark Knight is one step beyond.
Continuing the saga of Gotham's most known hero, The Dark Knight begins where it's predecessor had left: by now both Batman and Bruce Wayne know exactly what role they must play and the movie opens in full speed, with an intricate fast tempo, showing all the characters and building the plot from the very first frame.
In the end it's simply impressive, the sheer sense of completion the movie has - something that puts it miles away from it's predecessor - which is partly explained because of the great script (the brothers have proved to be an excellent team in past movies: Memento, The Prestige) and the methodical shooting C. Nolan uses.The way the characters move in a perfectly real emotional landscape gives them an unexpected depth, from Batman to the Two Face, or - obviously - the Joker. Heath Ledger is perfect in the role of Joker and the character becomes simply daunting, the first time ever that the joker is not a silly sociopath, but a truly dangerous man, devious in everything he does and yet brilliant in his own game: the fact that he chose Harvey Dent to go after is the best example of his meticulousness; and he wins (remember that it was his intension to swap the addresses of Harvey and Rachel).