I'm still stunned...

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2008)

The Dark Knight is a great movie. Rarely does a film bring you to the edge of your seat with creeping dread but this one does. I saw it at an early show but the audience still applauded afterward. That tradition has been slowly dying out and it was nice to see a movie like this bring it back. Let's see... where to start? I'll keep this short and spoiler free.
The acting was good by all involved and it's true that Leager's performance as the Joker rises above just being good. It is a great performance worthy of an Oscar. There's a part of me that's angry that drugs took away such a great actor and a bit towards him also for choosing that dangerous, worthless path. Perhaps that's selfish of me but it's also a compliment to the talent he wasted. I also liked Harvey Dent by Aaron Eckhart despite some reviews criticizing it. I am not a reader of the comic books but I found Two Face's creation story to be about as realistic as possible. I'm not sure how they could possibly top this movie in a sequel and I don't know if any other villain could live up to the standard that the Joker set here. We'll see, I guess.
Realism. Let's talk about that. The success of this movie is founded upon a more realistic portrayal of Batman and Gotham and of the superhero genre in general. Sure the action is amped way, way up but the director, Tim Nolan, somehow manages to make it feel plausible enough that you stop worrying about how preposterous it all is and focus on the story. I like this new approach, the opposite of camp, and when it matches the source material, it should be used from now on. The Hellboy movies have also benefited from this. Truth: take the source seriously and you end up with a better finished product. Hollywood got something right this time even if we've had to suffer through countless superhero movies and films designed not to challenge us more than some executives think we can handle.
I don't want to give anything away but this movie takes you on an emotional journey that leaves you a little exhausted at the end. It has action, suspense, terror, true love (and not true love), philosophy... and it's all woven into a complex gripping story. It is remarkable that it managed to keep so many plates spinning at once. I'm impressed.
Go see this movie. See it on the big screen. You'll thank me for it. It is worthy of a second theatre viewing and I'll be going again.