Worthy of a standing ovation!

Rating: 10/10 (25 July 2008)

I have seen many films on the first night of their release each gaining a few cheers and lots of exclamations of how great they were at the end. I saw the Dark Knight and i was completely blown away and so was the audience. Never before have i seen a cinema audience happily give a standing deafening ovation to a film but last night i go to see that! And boy did this film deserve it. For those of you who have read the batman comic books the joker that is portrayed is that of a clever and ruthless psychopath with no motives just a joy in killing. This is the joker that Heath Ledger portrayed. He was funny, he believed in what he was doing and he enjoyed it. The killings and plans were those of a mastermind, they wreaked havoc across Gotham and they brought Batman to a sense of utter desperation which can be felt by the movie audience; you want it to stop and yet you will the joker on towards his next depraved act. The writers really included some of the original sayings of the joker and his crimes such as blowing up the hospital and his saying about how he does not want batman to die, hes too much fun. This is the joker at its absolute purest and best and I'm glad that heath ledger got to go out with a bang leaving behind a role that will never be surpassed.
Christian Bale was again fantastic as batman showing the desperation and anger that is batman. He is taken at every corner, he has to fight in all directions he is not given room to breathe once his counter part starts the ball rolling and he has to make the hardest decisions of his life, decisions that the majority of people wouldn't be able to. Its a shame that CB has been over shadowed by the joker as he is a truly fantastic actor and every time he is on screen you are hypnotised by him. But hopefully he is given a chance to truly shine in the next instalment which i am really looking forward to.
The main characters were aided by an absolutely stellar cast, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent aka 2face was fantastic and showed the pain of loosing a loved one to the extreme, and when he is bringing Gotham into a new age of goodness you are willing him with your every breathe to succeed. Gary Oldman is even better than last time as the lovely Gordon and Michael Caine is as wise as ever as the tough talking and funny Alfred. Others included were Maggie Gylenhaal, Eric Mabius, Nestor Carbonell and Morgan Freeman amongst others.
The music by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard is superb as well, i believe it is the 'Tadarida' theme from begins which i must admit i absolutely loved and unlike begins it did not overshadow the action that took place in the film. And boy is there action; car chases, one on one combat, shootouts, animal attacks and explosions, this is a film for the action junkie. If you don't like action the storyline is enough to hold it up but if you love action this will be your wet dream. It looks fantastic, not all fake and CGI like a lot of films these days and you really feel like you are there when Batman turns up kicking ass.
Overall this is the film of the year, it works for those who love the comics, those who love action, those who love a good and intricate plot and it covers all the main genres of film, sad, romantic, horror are a few to name.
I dare anyone to watch it and hate, you will be hard pushed to find flaws in this film!