Into the Dark Knight

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2008)

I'm writing this review partially because I want to and partially because I want to add balance to the other most viewed review here that tends to be very one sided.
That being said it is an excellent movie. I personally felt the first hour and a half were a bit slow. There was good reason for it and it all built to a very climatic well down last hour, but thats neither here nor there I suppose. The acting is of course top notch, but thats what you get when you group top actors, some of the academy award winners and some of them future winners I'm sure. I definitely want to mention that this is a dark movie. That may seem obvious by the title, but it is darker than the title suggests. To me this was a good thing. Nolan has done an excellent job at bringing the Batman genre back to where it should've been all along. He has made it gritty, dark, dirty, conflicted, complicated, and just completely amazing. This was how it was always meant to be for this franchise.
Now there's a big white elephant here so I'll just hit it on head on, Heath Ledger does an excellent job in this film. I'll admit it wasn't quite the job I was expecting but still well done. I think his most enjoyable moments were his most manic ones. While the joker has a twisted view of things there are times when you can actually sympathize with the character and see things his way. That in itself bespeaks of Heath's talent in bringing this character to the screen that has such depth and complication. Also I want to make an honorable mention for Aaron Eckhart. I liked him in Thank You for Smoking, but other that I've been underwhelmed. Well he does an very good job at being the politician and an enraged vigilantic lunatic as well. Of course Christian Bale is pitch perfect and is one of the most under recognized actors of our day. Check out his past performances if you ever have the chance, he really should have won an Oscar by now.
All things said its a wonderfully acted, wonderfully filmed, and wonderfully written piece of cinema. But pay close attention to the underlying themes Nolan ties into the movie, there are subtle messages woven throughout that give credit to a movie that is much deeper than it seems on the surface.