In Brightest Day, In Darkest Night........

Rating: 10/10 (25 July 2008)

Where to begin? Well probably with Batman Begins' last scene and a Joker playing card. From this moment on, most fanboys (and I include myself amongst this number) have been frothing at the mouth at the prospect of a sequel. Three years later, Christopher Nolan and his brother, have delivered a script, and Nolan has helmed a film which transcends the limitations of the genre that it is nominally in.
From the opening scene of a daring bank robbery executed in broad daylight, introducing us to the Joker, which was obviously inspired by Michael Mann's Heat, to the unexpected and dark ending, the film is relentlessly paced and never lets up. Whilst there are small touched of humour here and there in the film, primarily supplied by Alfred (played with a deft touch by Michael Caine) and the Joker (in an iconic performance by Heath Ledger, more of which later).
For those wanting nothing more than a rattling good "superhero movie", there are more than enough action set pieces, as Nolan has become more assured behind the camera shooting action, but there is so much more here than simple action.
The main story arc of the film is Harvey Dent's (played by a very good Aaron Eckhart), whose descend from grace informs the action. Gary Oldman is wonderful as "everyman" Jim Gordon, one of the few good policemen in a corrupt force, and the rest of the cast is very good, including Maggie Gyllenhall as Rachel Dawes.
But the strength of the film is carried on the backs of the two primary characters, Heath Ledger's Joker, a sado-masochistic, psychotic, sociopathic killer with no limits, no boundaries, no rules and Christian Bale's Batman for whom structure and order are all.
Its a huge shame that Ledger will never get a chance to reprise the role, since in my opinion it is destined to become iconic, like Vader or Lector. But Bale's turn as both Bruce Wayne and Batman is excellent as well, and he fully makes us believe in Batman.
The dialogue is often witty and intelligent, and always serves to drive the plot forward, without sacrificing character development for any of the major characters along the way. So far I have only seen the film once, but am planning to go again today.
Its difficult to call a film a classic of its type or a masterpiece so quickly after the film's original release. However, if I was tempted to do so, this would be one of the very very few films I would consider calling a classic, and perhaps even a masterpiece....