An intelligent roller coaster that requires your full attention

Rating: 8/10 (1 April 2010)

The Dark Knight isn't your average superhero movie. It has little of the fantasy one often associates with such movies and instead creates an action thriller that has both your heart and mind racing to the finish. It's a movie that you have to watch several times to truly get everything out of. Everything is so thought-out and so intricate that a moment of unawareness from the viewer means they miss the connection later on. It's a smart film meant for smart people. While I quite miss the fantasy-aspect of previous Batman films (this even includes Batman Begins), this is undeniably an intelligent, thrilling watch.
Batman and Gordon attract the assistance of DA Harvey Dent to bring down the Gotham Mafia by cutting off their funds. Just as it looks like their plan is about to succeed, it's turned on itself by the mysterious Joker, an unhinged yet charismatic crook who single-handedly manages to push Gotham towards complete chaos, and Batman more and more towards the edge of the bad guy. Yet how to stop the Joker, when he's so unpredictable? Who will win? And at what cost? The first thing that jumps out at the viewer upon the start of the Dark Knight is how visually different it is from Batman Begins. No longer dark and claustrophobic, Nolan draws out the vastness of Gotham, perhaps emphasising the order that Batman has managed to inspire. Wide shots and open spaces are employed to great effect, allowing the viewer both to feel secure and helplessly alone, all depending on what's happening.
The plot is a rocking roller coaster. It's nigh-on impossible to predict what's gonna happen next, and when it does you worry about will happen after that. Just like Gotham itself, the film starts out straightforward enough, then spirals more and more out of predictability and into - appropriately enough - chaos. At the centre of all this, of course, stands the Joker. The late Heath Ledger fully deserved his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; his performance is mind-blowing to say the least. The Joker has never been a more fascinating character than here, in my personal opinion. You try to figure him out, then you wonder how you can; his two theories about his scars are enough to demonstrate this. A psychotically evil force, he manages to bring out the worst of everyone he comes into contact with, and somehow - and this is the real clinch - manages to keep his hands clean of the many miseries he causes. Perhaps what's most frightening about the Joker is how everything he says - terrible and crazy though it may be - somehow makes sense. His speech to Harvey Dent about chaos has me dumbfounded and terrified at how convincing it sounds.
The rest of the cast is excellent as well. Christian Bale continues to develop his Batman, a far more three-dimensional Bruce Wayne than any of his predecessors could manage. Wayne is isolated, broken, even a little detached. Batman is the only way the true potential of his personality can be unleashed. Aaron Eckhart is perfect as white knight Harvey Dent, whose pure heart is perhaps in most danger from the Joker. His performance is electrifying and charismatic, yet always with a tangible sense of insecurity. That's not an easy balance to pull off and Aaron Eckhart did it with wonders. Maggie Gyllenhaal takes the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes, and I must say that I like the exchange. Not only do she and Bale have much more believable chemistry as the two childhood friends, she inhibits the character really well in her bold determination to stand up to injustice. Michael Caine is wonderful as Alfred, the root to reality that Bruce Wayne needs; a warm and compassionate father figure to keep him sane when things are at their worst. Gary Oldman then clinches the deal as Lt. Gordon, as incorruptible as Wayne. To be frank, each and every performance is spot on. There is not a moment of flat acting in this entire picture, and it sees many characters. Even Russian ballerina Natasha, who appears for about five minutes of the film, is an intriguing character.
Powerful themes are dealt with in this film. Who is to blame? The one causing the miseries or the hero who refuses to give in to his demands? Batman often finds himself on the receiving end of the fear-tinged fury of Gotham, being an obvious target. Because the Joker deals in such deception, he is harder to target and thus easier to fear. So people turn on Batman if he refuses to give in to the Joker's ultimatum, promising order in Gotham if Batman turns himself in. This is a very interesting and sadly authentic human flaw that Jonathan Nolan has caught. Just whom should we be fighting against when we can't get to the one behind the misery? That doesn't just go for Batman. Nolan's script is truly superb, leading to a story that begs for repeated viewings. I spoke of how the film gets more and more chaotic. Believe me, after the film draws to a close, you are probably rooted to your seat.
If you want an intelligent thriller then this is it. If you want an imaginative superhero movie, this is probably not for you. It's sure to keep your heart racing, though. Pretty soon you begin to rack your brains to keep hang of everything that's happening.