Wicked

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2008)

Christopher Nolan and his team have really done something spectacular with The Dark Knight. They've taken a character that everybody in the world knows in a genre that is getting more exposure now than anything else and elevated it to something different...this is not just a superhero movie, this is a crime thriller and damn good one.
In the comics and great animated series of the 1990's Batman is the world's greatest detective. In most screen incarnations however he's been portrayed as just a high flying superhero with an arsenal of James Bondesque gadgetry. This isn't always a bad thing, don't get me wrong, I'm still a huge fan of Tim Burton's original two Batfilms. But The Dark Knight carries on from Batman Begins, portraying our hero as a brooding tortured force who collects evidence and thinks out missions and defenses. He's not an entirely one man show either, he talks with cop buddy Jim Gordon, enlists help from his only two confidants (butler, Alfred and CEO Lucius), and gets involved, albeit from the shadows, in city politics, trying to get close enough to the new DA to determine if he's worthy of entering the Batfold, and something entirely new and unexpected, Batman holds out hope of bestowing enough peace on the city that he can hang up his cape and cowl.
All this gets threatened of course by the new kid on the block. The sadistic and psychotic Joker ingeniously played by the remarkably well cast Heath Ledger (he manages to be hilarious without the use of one liners and sight gags). The Joker sets up and pulls strings all over Gotham city making life a living hell for everybody and he does it with such glee you'd be cheering him on if you weren't scared of him at the same time. It's also because of his presence that you can never even guess where the movie will take you next. He's so manipulative and conniving in his criminal plot and insanity that almost everything you are led to believe will happen doesn't. There is one twist after another between fights, chases, murder investigations and bent tension.
The only issue I can really take with the film is Maggie Gyllenhal's replacement of Katie Holmes. My gripe isn't with Maggie personally, just with the unfortunate affect I think it had on a key plot point of the film. I've never liked it when characters are recast in sequels anyway but the role of her character Rachel Dawes though maybe smaller in terms of screen time from the first one plays a very significant role in the plot and her actions in it would undoubtedly carry more weight if we could see her as the same character we met previously and not be forced to accept a new face as Bruce Wayne's childhood friend. In an otherwise excellent film though, this is a small complaint.
The Dark Knight does not disappoint. I can't wait to see the next one.