The Dark Knight : Unbelievable !!!!

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2008)

Went to the first day first show at a local multiplex and have come back completely awestruck !! I had been wondering if the film would be able to live up to all the hype....more so post Heath Ledger's untimely demise and after watching let me tell you this : The Dark Knight far surpasses the hype around it !!!!! Christopher Nolan's latest take on Batman is better in almost every way than it's predecessor, "Batman Begins" which was an excellent film in it's own right. The sequel is darker,grittier and even more intense while at the same time possessing enough surprises to keep the viewer on the edge of his seat. While previous movies of the batman genre tended to be over-cartoonish in my opinion, Nolan has brought about a refreshing change of direction, which, coupled to a strong and sharp script makes this 2:45 thrill ride exhilarating. The first thing that struck me after seeing the movie was that how the film managed to keep it's intensity intact for every second of it's run time despite being nearly three hours long, astonishing to say the least. further the action was always short and sweet, no long drawn fighting sequences which begin to drag on after a while. CGI effects were kept to a minimum and the action sequences, while being as awesome as they can be, never looked surreal. And then there was Heath Ledger.........
Warner Brothers has promised to launch an Oscar campaign if Heath Ledger's role was appreciated enough, and I see that coming inevitably. Heath Ledger steals the show from a cast filled with great actors and solid performers with his sheer madness and vision for the character of joker. His portrayal of the smiling assassin is unmatched amidst villains of any class that i have seen. The unpredictability, the instability, the genius, the cunning, the evil inside the character are so beautifully , frighteningly but realistically portrayed by Ledger that it makes one think whether it affected his own mind as well. He'll keep you gaping through most of the movie with this superlative performance, sadly his last completed appearance in films. One wonders what he might have achieved had he still been here........
The rest of the cast is super solid. Christian Bale is as good as ever,Morgan Freeman is his usual classy self, Michael Caine fits Alfred like a glove and Aaron Eckhert as District Attorney Harvey Dent is extra special. Only Maggie Gyllenhaal as the new Rachel Dawes didn't make much of an impact on me, she didn't even look good on screen in my opinion. The music score is just right and the cinematography is breathtaking.The script writing by Jonathan Nolan is exemplary in terms of wit,grit and pacing. Gotham looks as Dark and foreboding as it should, but never unrealistically so.It looks big and brooding, the perfect hunting ground for the caped crusader !! And ,of course, the Batpod, i.e the motorcycle makes a smashing entry in his movie and looks a cut above everything we've seen in past Batman movies.....
"Batman Begins" in 2005 took my vote for the best superhero movie of all times. It is rare to see sequels surpass the original but " The Dark Knight" has stolen my vote from it's predecessor in fantastic style. At the end of the day when you come out of the theater you are sure to feel that you've got your money's worth. In our case it got a standing ovation from the audience !!! RATING : 9.9/10 (0.1 left out for Maggie Gyllenhaal)+1(coz i am a Batman fan)= 10.9/10 (to the uninitiated, that means don't even dream of missing it !!!!!)