More than just a Batman film

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2008)

I only became interested in Christopher Nolan's work when Batman Begins resurrected one of my favorite personal stories/sagas of all time. I love Tim Burton, but I'm grown up now, and Nolan gave a different take on the genre, making it more relative, and The Dark Knight is another masterpiece script that surpasses the Prestige and Memento respectfully.
The Dark Knight in a few words would be considered as a Neo-Shakespearean film for the modern age. Sublime in many of it's rich subplots and the loaded cast members each have their time to shine and make their impact or deliver their messages, and fit into the story so well. A story orchestrated by Heath Ledger's Joker, reminding me of another great performance from the past, played by Gary Oldman in the film, State of Grace.
Ledger's Joker had that same menacing, unstoppable, determination, and he isn't a normal criminal at all. The Joker drives the story, putting the elite people of Gotham face to face with their inner demons, causing them to fall themselves. When Batman's hope for a successor in top Lawyer Harvey Dent takes a twist, he is pitted against decisions forcing him to make the ultimate sacrifice that only Batman can make. When thoughts of hanging up his cape finally come to an end, he realizes that the only way to endure his role as the Dark Knight is to take the blame for everything, just because he can, and no one could catch him. Most fans won't like Nolan's take on the Batman since he gave the character a darker persona than ever before. Bale is perfect under the cowl, with his Bowery bum voice.
The Batman was played by Christian Bale very well, although he made a bad Bruce Wayne I think. Keaton! you still have the honors, but Bale is much scarier. His re-imagined voice for the Caped Crusader is one you would hear from Rambo, or Snake Solid in his older days. I think most comic die-hards from the Bronze age like me will not be happy with the fact that Nolan wanted to keep this story original and completely his version of The Dark Knight, and used little nostalgic elements from comics and the cartoons. Gone is the Frank Miller and Bob Kane inspirations from Batman Begins.
Most film buffs and amateur screen-writers like myself will also note how the script was confused at times, forgetting it was PG-13 rated in some scenes and using comedy to offset the mind from being creep-ed out by the Joker's twisted ingenuity, or Harvey Two-face's gruesome appearance. It should have been rated R just so they could remove the comedy because this film is completely about the urban bureaucracy and its Heroes, Anti-Heroes, and Villains that make it up.
This Masterpiece will remind you of an old fashioned cops and robber film from the 80's, sort of like Heat mixed with some Black Rain, with a little bit of Serpico in there. The action is sub-par for an action film despite Batman's ability on the road and his skill with cables and ropes. It's all realistic action, Batman will get hurt if he falls 20 feet, but not 100 since he gets a chance to use his memory cloth. This Batman misses sometimes, he's human, he falls, he bruises, looking like a UFC fighter with his bruises. Nolan added a beautiful weapon to the Batman saga with the Sonar suit. Finally a real Batman that can see sound, and detect people up to a few miles away! Just like a real Bat! This Batman is all new, making his character even more timeless since he has an enemy that completes him now. This movie has the atmosphere of a Blade Runner film, sets that would make Kubrick jealous. He isn't breathing thick air in a bat-cave, he is in a loft this time, and has offices so big they would make Google's conference rooms look like closets.
You would think Batman is killing just as many Bad guys as the Joker does in the film, and flip-side, causing the deaths of cops as well. In the end, Batman fans won't like the fact that Batman was the Anti-hero and not the hero, and some will like the fresh take on the super-hero film. Besides the Bat-spotlight and a few scenes taken out of comic books, Nolan tried to make this his version of the Batman, and many die-hard fans will love Batman's first new superpower, Sonar ability!
8/10 Highly recommended for it's fresh script. As an amateur screenwriter myself, I can appreciate the ingenuity here. Would have been perfect if Rated R. Certain characters in film were hard to get attached to making it hard to match the emotion of the first film.