The Dark Knight (2008) Director Christopher Nolan Writer Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan (screenplay) Actors Christian Bale - Bruce Wayne Heath Ledger - The Joker Aaron Eckhart - Harvey Dent Michael Caine - Alfred Pennyworth Maggie Gyllenhaal - Rachel Dawes Gary Oldman - Lt. James Gordon Morgan Freeman - Lucius Fox

The Dark Knight (2008)

When I saw Batman Begins for the first time there were not a lot of surprises for me. Christopher Nolan is one of very few directors I can name where I feel guaranteed that I am going to enjoy their work. Not to mention I also had read the David Goyer script a good year before the release and was telling everyone I knew how brilliant a reboot it was going to be. Most ,if not all, did not believe me at the time. Of course after seeing Batman Begins I think most people will be going into The Dark Knight with lofty expectations.

I was determined to see it for the first time in a IMAX theater and as spoiler free as possible. When the first establishing shot  popped up in splendiferous 65mm I literally (while sitting alone) blurted out "holy s#$%". Sorry kids. This is the film that IMAX needed. With this kind of success expect some complete shot in IMAX feature films  in the future. But I digress…

Zimmer and Howard are back as the dynamic duo of film music(I could not resist) with a much more powerful score that still plays on many of the previous film’s themes. Like the score, everything else in this film has improved on its predecessor.

I won’t bore you with more praise of Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker other than to say he deserves every bit of praise that he has received and that it is indeed Oscar-worthy. Simply put: He is the Joker and the bittersweet fact is no one will ever do this better. Nothing against Aaron Eckhart but I was expecting a nice supporting role character for him here that would lead into a third film. In many ways this is actually Harvey Dent’s story and it is Batman who steps into the background but that certainly fits with the Joker’s place in the film. Needless to say Christian Bale is still Batman but I find that it is his Bruce Wayne that really makes him stand out.

I may be biased with my distaste for Katie Holmes so let that be said when I speak so highly of Maggie Gyllenhaal. She does a fine job. Freeman and Caine are both superb and have seemed to grown even more into their respective roles as Lucius Fox and Alfred Pennyworth. Gary Oldman however is given a lot more meat to chew on and it’s the relationship between Gordon and Batman that really is the spine of this movie. It’s also the best representation of their friendship since the Batman animated series.

I’m sure there are gripes coming from all around about the running time of The Dark Knight and it’s true a few scenes could have been cut or trimmed down. But seriously, had this movie ran to two hours my only disappointment would have been that I wanted more.

You may have heard early reviews describing The Dark Knight as The Godfather II or Heat. The Dark Knight is certainly a superior film to Batman Begins but the comparison to Godfather II is rather lazy when I’d debate that the Godfather  was the superior of the two. It does have a lot in common with Heat; just wait till the opening scene.

The Dark Knight  is something special.

REVIEW SCORE

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