dark, daring, and dynamic

Rating: 9/10 (17 August 2008)

The hype has been OTT, but for once it is justified. 'The Dark Knight' is all you've been led to believe, and more. Christian Bale returns as the caped crusader, the vigilante looking after the streets of Gotham by night, and this time he has a new and dangerous foe, The Joker (played by Heath Ledger, of more later). This nemesis takes the Batman series into chilling territory, far beyond the bam! bang! of the old 60s series with Adam West. It's never been quite this dark before.
Is this a film for under-twelves, as the British certification suggests? Absolutely not. For a start, it is wordy, with an intelligent script and involving characters, which might get little ones fidgeting. Then there is the violence - mostly implied, but unpleasant and set to give shivers down the spine nonetheless. You see some gore and through jarring music, sound effects and shaky video footage you can imagine a lot more. The worst thing in marketing this film to a young audience is glorifying knife killing, if you view a psychopath as a hero.
Bale is OK, a little dry as Bruce Wayne, but more than adequate. Michael Caine reprises his role as Alfred and is not bad at all, although someone prepared to do another accent might have been interesting. Maggie Gyllenhaal is slightly annoying as Rachel, but since her character isn't there to do much, it doesn't really matter. And Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman are solid in support as Harvey and Gordon.
Back to Heath Ledger. The publicity surrounding his performance in this has reached ridiculous heights due to his early death at the beginning of the year, but he really does steal the film and pull off an amazing performance as a truly nasty villain who manages to be comic in the blackest of ways as well. Whether walking away from a blazing hospital in a nurse's uniform with a detonator that keeps jamming, or taunting police officers from the floor of a jail, or standing in the path of a motorbike bellowing 'Hit me' his performance is absolutely electric and by far the best thing about this film.
Could another actor have made the same impact? I doubt it. And that's what gives 'The Dark Knight', for me, the edge over other blockbusters this year. Seen on IMAX screens, it is also mind-blowing in its effects and scope.