Nothing Short Of Legendary

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2008)

Its very rare that i give a review for anything on IMDb even though i have been a member for some time now. I only make a exception and wright a review for something that i feel is a true masterpiece, the only other thing that i have reviewed is The Sopranos seeing as i feel that it is a true masterpiece of Television, and since i have written a review on what i feel is a masterpiece of Television, after watching Dark Knight i feel its time to wright a review on what i feel is a masterpiece of cinema. Now it has become a custom that superhero sequel films surpass their original (Superman 2, X-Men 2, Spiderman 2) so it was fair to say that i had high expectations going in to watch Dark Knight. When i came out two and a half hours later all i could say was WOW! The film is a true masterpiece, everything about this film is nothing short of superb.
The Plot: I must say the screenplay (written by Jonathan Nolan, Christopher's brother) is excellently written. The Story, written superbly by David S. Goyer, having taken inspiration from many legendary comic books is excellent. It centers around The Dark Knight Batman and his fight against the seedy underbelly that is Gotham's underworld and taking down his nemesis The Clown Prince of Crime. Assisting him is District Attorney Harvey Dent, the so called 'White Knight of Gotham' and Lt Jim Gordon. Now i wont give too much away because the story of the film truly is superb, and revealing too much info would not do the film justice.
Direction: This film is what it is purely because of the genius that is Christopher Nolan. He has cemented himself as one the greatest directors of certainly my time, with brilliant films such as Memento, The Prestige,Insomnia, it was a dead certainty that after Batman Begins, The Dark Knight would be equally superb. This Director knows how to make a film.
Acting: The acting is the best i have seen from a ensemble cast in years. Christian Bale is easily the best Batman yet fighting for justice in a constant struggle with his enemies. Having to choose between Batman and Bruce Wayne, questioning his own methods. Bale has proved that not all great actors have to be American, with his excellent portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne, and the way he switches characters from Batman to Bruce is also brilliant. Aaron Eckhart portrays Harvey Dent with impeccable class. He brilliantly portrays Gotham's 'White Knight' and his fight for justice and eventual descent into madness and inevitable turn into Two Face. Now his portrayal of Two Face is exactly spot on. Tommy Lee Jones should watch the performance closely as that is how to portray Two Face, not the bumbling fool that he portrayed Two Face to be in Batman Forever. Michael Caine played Alfred Pennyworth flawlessly, as did Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, both playing their part brilliantly as Batman's loyal friends and even guiding his conscience at times. And Maggie Gyllenhaal well i felt that her acting and role as Rachel Dawes was very good and the chemistry between her Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent was excellent, far better than Katie Holmes in her role in Batman Begins.
Now the last thing i will comment on is Heath Ledger. Now the day i found out that he would play The Joker in the Dark Knight, i was laughing. Thinking to myself how will the actor from the god awful 'Knights Tale' ever play one of Hollywood's greatest villains. I was certain that the film would suffer because of his acting and was sure that he would not even amount anywhere near to Jack Nicholson's fantastic portrayal as the Joker in the original Batman (1989). Well after watching the film i can gleefully say that i was proved very, very wrong. Its not very often that i watch a film and go WOW, thats great acting. I did it for Daniel Day Lewis after There Will Be Blood and Gangs OF New York and most importantly for My Left Foot, and even did it for Al Pacino after Godfather 2 and Scent of a Woman. But Heath Ledger's performance as the Clown Prince of Crime is truly legendary. He portrays Joker as the sadistic, psychotic, cold blooded killer he really is. Now its a pity that Heath Ledger died after this film was made because his acting in this would've made him a superstar among Hollywood actors.Another thing that i thought Ledger did brilliantly was the maniacal laugh that Joker has. Now that laugh is one of the Joker's key characteristics and Ledger's laugh was truly spine tingling. Now it is also due to the fact the the screenplay is so good and the script is so good that Ledger's acting shines, but at the end of the day you can have a great script but also have terrible acting, but in this case Heath Ledger has certainly proved to me that his acting capabilities are very strong. There would not be any justice in the world if Ledger does not get the Oscar for his acting, because it really needs to be seen to be believed. Now i'm not just praising his acting and saying he deserves and Oscar because he has died, no, no no. I truly believe that his acting was mind blowingly chilling and perfect, and the best acting you'll see in 2008.
Overall I feel that The Dark Knight is the best comic book adaption ever and will be talked about for years to come. Its extremely hard to find a legendary film these days what with all of the terrible sequels and remakes, but here is a prime example of a truly legendary film and one of the best sequels in history. Truly a mesmerising film from start to finish, and nothing short of an Epic.