The Dark Knight

            Hi. Welcome to my second review. I thought it would be appropriate for this review to critique “The Dark Knight” as my first one was of “Batman Begins.” Now “The Dark Knight” is an action/drama movie that again takes place in the city of Gotham.  This film is the follow-up to Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster “Batman Begins.” Christian Bale returns to the film as Bruce Wayne/Batman as well as Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman playing their characters, Alfred and Lucius Foxx respectively. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the lead female character, Rachel Dawes and is replacing Katie Holmes this time around. The most notable performance would definitely be Heath Ledger’s Joker who was an absolute scene stealer in this movie. Also making an appearance as a villain is Two-Face played by Aaron Eckhart.

                        The film starts off with footage of various henchmen attempting to rob a bank. We find out that it is the Joker and his henchmen and they are robbing a bank owned by the mob.

            The movie shows us that this is a much safer Gotham than the previous Batman. Since Batman entered the scene, criminals are scared and uncorrupted lawyers are stepping up to the plate to put crime to rest. Meanwhile, Jim Gordon’s unit, teaming up with Batman is looking for a way to bring down the mob.

            It doesn’t take long until the Joker teams up with the mob under the idea that the Joker can kill Batman.

            What then happens, is the Joker black mails Batman by saying that if he doesn’t turn himself in and tell everyone who he really is, he’s going to kill someone every day. As the Joker states, he’s a man of his word. And that he is, as the bodies pile up, Gotham city’s residents become more and more desperate. Finally it comes to a point where the public is demanding he turn himself in. Before he can, Harvey Dent, the mayor lies and says that he is in fact The Batman.

            We are treated to an excellent highway scene as the Joker tries to kill Harvey. This is when the Bat-Pod (a motorcycle that emerges from the Batmobile) is introduced into the movie.

            Later Harvey is scarred and left without a girlfriend which upsets him significantly and turns him into Two-Face. Now the race is on for Batman to stop the Joker and Two-Face from harming any more people.

            If you read my review on Batman Begins, you would have known that my response was less than extreme satisfaction with the way it turned out. Luckily “The Dark Knight” does everything right. The first aspect that they improved on from “Batman Begins” was the action. As you may recall from my last review, I had complaints about the closeness of the frame, and the choppy/quick editing. To much of my satisfaction, this issue is resolved in this film. The camera is further away from Batman and we get to see him the action unfold instead of having to try and keep up. One spectacular scene that sticks out in my mind is when he is trying to retrieve a man from a skyscraper in Hong Kong. I felt that the frame was excellent in that scene. Unfortunately it’s one of the shorter action scenes. Improving on the action was one of my favorite aspects of this movie, but that’s not even half the greatness of this movie.

                        You can say many good things about the acting in this film, but the one that sticks out most of all is Heath Ledger’s performance. The best actors will completely sell their characters to the point where you forget who’s playing them. Now granted, it’s easier to forget it’s Heath Ledger because of the clown makeup, but that would’ve only carried him so far. He also hides himself by disguising his voice and changing his mannerisms to resemble a deranged sociopath. I watch many movies where the villains don’t remain in my head. Many times they’re generic and forgettable. That was not the case with this villain. When I think of the Joker, I think of the scene where he’s clapping in the jail cell with a look of contempt. I think of his interrogation scene. I can still here his maniacal laugh. He did an absolutely amazing job. He has become one of my favorite villains of all time. Now I was expecting to be disappointed. I was never a big fan of Heath Ledger and this movie had so much hype, not to mention I was less than blown over by “Batman Begins.” Thanks to Christopher Nolan and all the other talent involved in this movie, I was not let down.

            Another sign of an excellent movie is one that keeps you entertained and involved throughout its duration. I hear many complaints of it being too long and normally I would agree at a run time of nearly 3 hours, but I felt that every scene added to the movie.  The word that sums up this movie to most is “epic.” The pacing in this film is much better than the last movie. You can really feel the tension rise as time progresses. As more people are killed, you can feel the angst coming from the citizens of Gotham. The only real complaint I have for this movie is the horrible voice that Christian Bale talks in when he’s in the costume. It’s really hard to listen to. I wouldn’t say that it ruins the experience though

            My overall reaction as you might have concluded was a very positive one. The atmosphere was much approved on in this movie. I feel it has a very distinguished style. The drama works perfectly as does the action. Whether or not you’re a Batman fan, you should definitely check this movie out. I doubt you’ll leave feeling disappointed.

Caleb Bailey