A Film That is Ahead of the Curve

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2012)

The second film in Nolan's Batman franchise is bigger and better than its predecessor, and has unmistakably become a modern classic. From the very beginning the director thrusts us in the thick of this film with a now iconic opening bank heist that is truly thrilling to watch, and from there we are driven straight into a complex web of events that takes us on one hell of a roller coaster ride. In this film the criminals in Gotham are running scared from the Batman while the new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckheart) has stepped up to lead the charge against organized crime in the Courtroom. With things looking grim, mobsters turn to the Joker (Heath Ledger) to get rid of Batman and bring things back to the way they were when crime ruled Gotham, but they get much more than they bargained for.
Even though The Dark Knight's plot is a little too saturated with complex plot lines, it's an amazingly entertaining movie. Far different in tone from Batman Begins, this is a film that is about, to quote Alfred, men who want to watch the world burn. That man is the Joker. Heath Ledger's performance is the defining aspect of this film and it is perhaps the greatest movie villain of all time. The character is fearfully maniacal and Ledger plays him with such intensity that he easily commands the screen whenever he has it. It is a truly electric performance that is deserving off all the praise it has received.
Sadly the same cannot be said of other newcomer Aaron Eckheart. He plays Harvey Dent well, but there is nothing special there, and even when he tries to showoff his acting skills it just comes off as overdone and slightly ridiculous. Maggie Gyllenhaal (who plays Rachel Dawes) is just as lukewarm as Eckheart. I suppose she has the added excuse of not being given much to work with, and she is still much better than her predecessor, Katie Holmes. The rest of the cast is quite good, however, especially Michael Cain as Alfred and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon. One again Christian Bale as Batman reminds us that he is the most capable actor yet to don the bat suit.
Christopher Nolan is a master at directing this film. In any less capable hands this could have been a disaster, but instead it is one of the most thrilling ever put to the screen. A testament to the director's skills is the huge car/truck chase in the middle of the film. It really is superb story telling through action. Nolan is aided in his creation of tension and suspense by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, who's percussive score will fill your heart with dread and bring you to the edge of your seat. For me, though, the highlight of this film film was the editing by Lee Smith which was pitch perfect and allowed the rather lengthy film to move with speed and slickness.
Even though it has it's flaws, The Dark Knight is among the greatest blockbusters ever made and it will surely go down in history as a classic.