Bob Kane could be proud of this one!

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2008)

After the hype and unexpected performance from Heath Ledger, I really payed a lot of attention to this one. And after 25+ years of reading comic books this truly takes my breath away. Back in 1986, DC published a graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns" by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley. It depicted Batman coming out of seclusion, without anyone knowing what happened to him over the years. There is high-crime and within the story there are Batman copy-cats as well. Somewhat of a vigilante group. When he comes back into the public eye, his techniques are more extreme. He's more of a dangerous type of crusader. His Batmobile like a tank, bearing a likeness of his machine in the movie. The Joker deadlier than ever depicted before. A bit more underestimated from his charm. The novel has Robin as a girl and superman appears in battle with Batman. Although the movie does not have these it does, however, contain many elements from Miller's story. Hence the Dark Knight title. I believe the 1986 depiction was quite an influence on the film. So many other tiny things in the movie can be spotted and understood like coming from The Dark Knight Returns. And I recommend the 4 chapter story ever so highly. For the movie itself, I couldn't argue with the rest of Hollywood's celebrities who say give Ledger an award on Oscar night. Not since Cesar Romero has the character been so well depicted. I do admire Jack Nicholson and his many fine works, but his Joker for me was awful. He just didn't have an obnoxious attitude. He hardly had any character to him. And that awful frozen smile...never depicted in the comics. I don't know if that was his own ways of playing him, or Tim Burton's directing. All I know is that Heath Ledger has done it, and nobody could do it but him. I thought he played that so well, I would not have known it was Ledger without notice. A The Gotham City in Chicago, with simple buildings and not fancy architecture was just as it should be. The cast, the settings and story needed no corrections. It may have had no plot to it, but that is how an ongoing series since 1939 is. There is always time for some kind of plot to go. So many villains and heroes to start the franchise on a better and true-to-nature path has just begun. Aaron Eckhart had the finest profile as Dent/Two-Face, I would place his minor popular character to Ledger's. Christopher Nolan knows what "Dark Knight" really means. Batman was never depicted as a Gothic dark type, he was shown to be dark as in mysterious. He kept The Batman (yes, called The Batman at first, than just Batman) as simple and human as he was in the comics, past and present. Sorry Tim Burton, but your dark ideas on most of your works does not mean Batman was that type of guy.