Best comic book film - no, best FILM of the decade

Rating: 9/10 (30 August 2008)

If Batman Begins was excellent, then Dark Knight is Superb. It was ambitious in its scope and depth, but it never fell short, and surpassed every expectation - not just as a comic book film either, but as an intricately plotted crime film, a hard hitting gangster film, and an edge of your seat thriller. It just hit the mark in every aspect.
The acting is superb across the board, but with special mention for an utterly breath taking performance by Heath Ledger. He didn't just disappear into the role of the joker, he BECAME the Joker, chillingly so. Christian Bale once again brought integrity and subtlety to the role of Bruce Wayne, not to mention powerful menace and kick ass moves as Batman. I don't think anyone else who has played the role is even in his league. Its like all the others were impostors, and now the real Batman has stood up.
The script is not only intelligent, well plotted and so insightful at times its almost profound (especially in the psychology of the Joker) it is completely gripping for the entire 2 and a half hours. I don't remember the last film I saw I could say that about. And although with some action films you get the feeling that the set pieces are just slotted in to look good for the trailers, in this film every action sequence is not only awesome to watch, its essential to the plot.
But the thing I love most about this film (although its hard to pinpoint exactly) is the fact that it makes Gotham come alive as a real city. Its no longer the Gothic fantasy land of the Burton films (which then descended into burlesque farce in the next two unmentionable sequels). In Dark Knight Gotham is portrayed as a city you could believe exists, and that invests everything with a greater sense of credibility, realism, and consequently danger. Every punch, impact and explosion makes you wince, because it doesn't feel like staged fantasy violence anymore. People really can (and do) die, actions have serious consequences, and Batman is not an invulnerable superhero.
Unlike with the pre-Nolan films, you never once question the plausibility of a man in a rubber bat suit fighting bad guys with advanced gadgets financed by his billion dollar empire. There is no self-consciousness, no tongue-in-cheek references to Batman's comic book origins to apologise for anything that seems far fetched. Because nothing in this movie seems far fetched at all. Thats what lifts Dark Knight above just a 'great comic book film' and makes it a true masterpiece of cinema.