Horrifying Yet Beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

Too many times you will go see a superhero movie and it will be a battle of good versus evil. You always have this overwhelming feeling throughout the movie that the good guys will win. The Dark Knight does not give you this feeling at all, and therefore does not feel like a superhero movie. This movie first of all challenges you to decide who is good and who is evil. Crossing these boundaries, there is a significant fear that the "bad guys" might actually be smarter than and conquer the "good guys". Heath Ledger's performance as a deranged criminal is extremely well played and enhances this significantly. Every time he proudly succeeds makes this defeated feeling grow stronger. This gives the movie a dark and horrifying overtone than is beautifully portrayed.
The character of Batman in this film was not prominent enough to be referred to as "the good guy". Instead, his role becomes more renegade as the story progresses. Christian Bale beautifully accomplishes the stress and battle of juggling his two opposing persona. For a moment, I actually believed that the Batman we know would be no more. There is an obvious struggle in Batman / Bruce Wayne's conscious throughout the film. Through skilled acting, you can feel the emotional weight and pain that he encounters through each of his challenges.
Without getting into any spoilers, I will jump to the production. I must give Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard my fullest admiration for an extremely well done job at composing the score. The well incorporated mix of electronic music with orchestral and choral is haunting and beautiful. This again, makes that dark and horrifying overtone more captivating. I would fully advise everyone to go out and pickup the soundtrack.
I must also acknowledge the makeup and costume department for their work, especially on The Joker. Nothing in this department look too cartoony or fake. Not once did I think that anything was out of place.
And finally, obviously, director Christopher Nolan. No masterpiece of film could come together without amazing direction.
I could give this film good reviews for hours and I believe that it is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Seeing The Dark Knight would be the biggest favor that you could do for yourself this summer.
So go see this movie!!