Move Aside Francis Ford Coppola

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2008)

When the Godfather came out in 1972, Francis Ford Coppola set the standard for all movies in greatness. Its sheer storytelling was nearly flawless and the acting, with the exception of one or two cases, was perfect. Coppola showed the world that a mob movie could be more than just cruel and full of nasty gangsters doing nasty gangster things. He showed us a soft side to the mob that proved its excellence not only in theaters all over the world, but in the Oscars and award ceremonies everywhere. The Dark Knight raises the bar. Nobody thought that it would be possible to top the Godfather or Francis Ford Coppola, but Christopher Nolan has shown us the light.
I'll start off with the story. Flawless, perfect, unbelievable, words cannot describe the story. From the beginning we see how the Joker does not care about the world or the people in it, he shows a sheer disregard for everything that the law and Batman stand for. The people of Gotham have turned on Bruce Wayne and have shown a curious interest in the newly appointed DA, Harvey Dent. While Bruce Wayne and Batman have matured to the "fully grown bat" we would think the people would now love him more than the police and justice system themselves. Yet when the Joker arrives, Bruce Wayne's world is turned upside down. The new mob boss, Salvatore Maroni and his band of goons feel threatened by the Joker but feel they can get rid of him easily enough. The world of Gotham takes a turn to the worse as things have just begun to look better. While Dent is moving in on Rachel Dawes, one of the many forces working against Bruce Wayne, he is also working to put the rest of the mob behind bars. Nolan's storytelling is excellent, backed by the best cast of characters since 94's Pulp Fiction.
Christian Bale returns in another remarkable performance as the "Caped Crusader", trying to balance three lives at once, and he pulls it off without a problem. He shows the close to conceited, always overboard Bruce Wayne with such lines as "I own the place", the Wayne who is totally in love with Rachel, and the awesome Batman. His three persona's are challenged by none other but the superstar of this show, the Joker, played to absolute perfection by Heath Ledger. When he starred in 2005's Brokeback Mountain, everyone was sure that would be the movie he would be remembered for, and they would have been right. As the Joker Heath Ledger shows us that Jack Nicholson's joker was a bag of peanuts compared to Ledger's. Ledgers character has no care or sympathy for anything but trying to push Batman to his ultimate limits. Watching this movie I forgot entirely that Ledger had passed away, because his character is so full of life and you can see that Ledger had so much to give us. His only motivation is to "watch the world burn." He is the alpha omega of this movie. Coming in at second in my book for this movie is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, the man who is after Rachel Dawes and the entire mob. Ever since Thank You For Smoking, I have been a fan of Aaron Eckhart, all that changed with this movie. Eckhart has truly become a great actor after this movie. His frightening performance as Harvey Dent is unbelievable. Gary Oldman plays with great assertiveness Lt. James Gordon, a very strong performance. Strong performances from Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine as well. Watch for the surprisingly good parts of Rachel Dawes and Salvatore Maroni, played by the (in my opinion talentless Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Eric Roberts, respectively.
All in all this movie is the greatest achievement in directing, screen writing, acting, and movies of all time. I went into this movie expecting a great comic book movie, I left seeing the greatest epic crime drama movie I had ever seen. This movie is not a comic book film, although it stays loyal to its origins, but its an epic crime drama that leaves the Godfather, Heat, Scarface and any mob movie before it in the dust. Like the title states, move aside Coppola, there is a new sheriff in town, his name is Christopher Nolan.