Movie Review: The Dark Knight

SPOILER ALERT: I don’t really reveal anything too specific, however, I want to warn anyone who hasn’t seen The Dark Knight that I give a pretty in-depth review of performances and character details.

First of all, I must apologize for this long overdue review. However, at this point all of the hype is old news and I think a real discussion can be had about The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight focuses on developing some of the secondary characters in the Batman universe. Police Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) continues his personal quest to rid the city of corruption and greed. We get to see a little more of Gordon’s personal life and his collaboration with District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Dent is also committed to make the city free of organized crime and is called “Gotham’s White Knight” by Lt. Gordon. In the Batman mythology, Dent is a close friend of Bruce Wayne. This relationship is touched on and developed well, however, I hoped they would wait to reveal the villain inside Dent until the next movie. The Dark Knight also introduces Batman’s most famous foe, The Joker (Heath Ledger).

I will admit I was skeptical of Ledger playing the Joker. To me, the Joker is Jack Nicholson. I grew up with Tim Burton’s Batman and always saw the Joker as Jacky. However, after seeing The Dark Knight, I think Ledger’s Joker is far superior. Nicholson is an icon and as such, he cannot be replaced. However, when he was the Joker, he was still Jack Nicholson. From the moment the theater darkened, Heath Ledger ceased to be and the Joker was born. It’s the first time I’ve actually been scared of a Batman villain. If you don’t go see this movie for any other reason, go to see a truly great performance.

Bruce Wayne/Batman are again played by Christian Bale. I have heard some people criticize him for the raspy voice he uses during his scenes as Batman, but I find it essential for Batman to strike fear into the hearts of evil-doers throughout Gotham. Plus it’s just really, really cool. I’ve been a fan of Bale’s work for sometime, however, after seeing him reprise his role as Gotham’s Dark Knight, I decided to attempt to watch all of his films. Netflix is making that possible and I might even start writing some reviews about his earlier works. I would recommend this type of movie marathon for anyone who is a fan of a particular actor. It’s interesting to see how an actor changes throughout his or her career.

As for The Dark Knight, I really loved this film. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve been completely consumed by a movie. I look a movies as a way to escape the ordinary and observe an art form in it’s purest form. I’ve always believed that movies exist for the soul purpose of entertaining. Unfortunately, there are some people who make movies to win awards that mean nothing. Luckily for us, directors like Christopher Nolan are making movies and making movies well. It took a very special cast and crew, as well as creative vision to reinvent the Batman franchise. Thankfully, the right people were in the right place at the right time for The Dark Knight.