The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems like faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great--in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision--is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City's new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon--and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution--kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi Amazon.com

Increadible movie. Do not listen to the idiot 1 star reviewers

Man where do I start? This movie was simply amazing. Ledger was unreal. His performance has got to be one of the greatest ever.The chases were awesome and action packed. Ledger was so creepy and wicked he gave me goose bumps watching him act. Some of you people give such stupid reasons why you do not like it its rediculous. No bat cave? The Joker wears/does not wear make up. Bale's voice is to low. It was to long. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. The funniest are the ones that criticize reviewers that say, "How can you review a DVD that is not out yet?" Well its because we saw the movie in theatre's that will be on the DVD. Yea I know, what about all the add ons they are gonna put on the DVD? What about them? Inceadible movie. November 30, 2008

Could have been much more...

So where do I begin?

I, like many, many other fans, was so excited about this movie that I scoured the internet looking for any tidbit of information about The Dark Knight on a daily basis. I was excited about Heath Ledger as The Joker, and Christian Bale is one of my favorite actors as well. Also, after seeing Batman Begins, I trusted Nolan to do this movie right. When I went to see the movie on opening day, the digital projector at the theater wouldn't work, which set an ominous tone for the day. I remember about halfway through TDK, hoping that it would get better, and to a certain extent it did, but I will say that overall it did fall short of my expectations, and didn't come anywhere close to the "masterpiece" that I kept hearing people call it. Here is a list of the pros, and cons, of TDK, in my opinion:

First of all, the movie was too long. Now, I don't mind watching long movies, but the truth is, that after the story arc of the Joker trying to force one of the ferries to blow the other up, it should have ended there (albeit with an ending apropos to the overall story). I don't believe that the two-face story arc (at least him going on a killing rampage) should have made it into this movie at all. In the comic books and graphic novels, two-face is a main villain, and his arc probably should have been the main story line of the third movie, if there is one. I know that there has been speculation that he may not be dead, but the whole two-face "revenge" thing was too jammed together to fit it all into this movie.

The other "con" about TDK ties into my first point, and that is that Heath Ledger did such an amazing job as The Joker, that he could've, and should've, carried this whole movie (really, he kinda did that anyways), without having Nolan introduce two-face as a secondary (thirdly, if you count Scarecrow's cameo) villain.

Thirdly, and I know the fan-boys will crucify me for saying this, is that Katie Holmes should've been brought back if at all possible. I've heard the rumors that she wouldn't commit to TDK because she knew her character would be killed off, but still, a change of actressed mid-stream disrupts the continuity of the film. Overall, I do believe that Gyllenhall is the better actress, but I don't believe she was right for this particular role. With Holmes as Dawson, we as viewers would've had more of an emotional investment in her story line, and I for one just didn't really care about Gyllenhall's Dawson at all.

Fourth, I thought that the ancillary characters, such as the mob bosses, were not developed to their full capacity. Again, in the books, Maroni is a fairly important character, and Nolan kind of turned him into a pussy in TDK, at least near the end.

Finally, let me just say that the whole "bat-sonar" or whatever the hell that was, was just a horrible idea. It looked really unrealistic, didn't make any sense (spatially), and wasn't believable. From that point on I just kinda checked out of the movie and realized that it was really overhyped.

Now, to the smaller, more petty stuff that really bothered me about TDK:

I really hated how Nolan deviated from the books regarding how two-face's face was scarred; c'mon, why have Sal Maroni in the movie if he's not going to be the one thrwoing the acid? Also, I for one did not like the makeup job they did with two-face...I know its a comic-book movie, but it just didnt look real at all.

The helicopter crash was horribly done using CG, which is surprising, because there was very little (readily recognizable) CG used in Batman Begins.

A bit more screen time for the Scarecrow, perhaps a face to face meeting with the Joker or something would've been nice.

I really don't enjoy Aaron Eckhardt as an actor, and I still think he was wrong for the role.

The whole "Gordon gets shot and fakes his own death" story line was unnecessary to the overall plot line.

What was up with Dawson and Batman falling from the building, landing on the car, and simply walking away? That was a long ways down. Also, why did Nolan show Maroni falling off the roof, breaking his legs/ankles, and walking shortly thereafter? Those kind of missteps, in my opinion, were small, but really detracted from the film as a whole.

Now, the good:

Heath Ledger's Joker was amazing. I know that some people do not believe that his joker is what the joker "should" be, but c'mon, it more of a "21st century" joker. At the same time, I don't really believe he deserves an oscar for this performance though. That being said, he really did carry this movie; without his portrayal of the Joker, it would've been worse than it was.

I did really like the Bat-Pod. When I saw it in the trailers for the movie, I wasnt sure if Nolan could pull it off, but he did, it was a good addition to the franchise.

Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman were good as always, although a bit more from Freeman would've been nice.

Now, all this being said, I'm still buying the movie, and I undoubtedly watch it many more times, but I will always think of what could have been. November 28, 2008

Best one yet

I thought Jack Nicholson was the best villan actor, now I would say that heath ledger has taken that spot. RIP.

A great movie. November 28, 2008

not your typical superhero movie

This movie leaves you speechless when it's over. The acting is great, the storyline and the character build up is very exciting. The movie is so dark in a sadistic way especially when it comes to the joker. What is scary is how real it is because all the things the joker does could be done to any city, state etc. Its emotional, its fun, and it gets your heart rate going. This is one of my if not my favorite movie of all time! Don't listen to the negatives people put towards this movie. See it for yourself first if you haven't already. November 27, 2008

this movies was so bad i fell asleep

the fact that everyone thinks that heath ledger made a good joker is unbelievable it just shows that no one has seen the batman made in the early 90's starring jack nicholson, i will admit that christian bale has made some good movies (equilibrium for example) but this is sad that heath ledgers final performace was so bad. the man is a good actor but his portrayel of the joker was completely and utterly wrong in keeping with the actual character from the comic books. he looks different acts different and does not use tactics as crude as the ones that they had him using in this farce November 25, 2008

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