The Dark Knight: Movie Review

Note: If you're deciding whether to watch or not, just go and don't waste time. But if you wanna know why, keep going.

I find this poster to be the best there is. No doubt. Look at the psychotic ways of making an image. And look at all the words around it. You may feel familiar with the quotes as most of us
watch the trailer multiple times already. Yet this poster truly cuts the cake on being psychotic. The pencil is also a noteworthy feature to be mentioned to further illustrate the focus on the Clown Prince of Crime's madness and insanity. You don't write with a pencil like that.

Synopsis
After Batman's/Bruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) successful romp on clearing Gotham City of the powers of the crime scene, a new criminal has arrived. Someone who truly, believed by Batman to be a nuisance to deal with. That particular criminal is The Joker (The late Heath Ledger). Nuisance is a word The Joker doesn't respond well to. So now, the two come in heat with one another to signify a presence unlike any other cop and robber type thing had happened before. With Batman helped by his butler Alfred (Sir Michael Caine), CEO of Wayne Industries Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) ally Leiutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and a new friend Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the team face off against one of the most notorious criminals ever. Though, not surprisingly, a love interest is still there in the presence of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and she seems to be the love interest of both Bruce and Harvey. Who will prevail in helping out Gotham cleansed of the worldly problems? And what will happen to the Joker? That's for you to find out.

The Cast
Now Christian Bale is talented. Very. And he proves it again that the role was suited exactly for him. So, comparing it with Batman Begins, there's really no difference as the character is still the same and he provides the excellent characteristic for it.

Aaron Eckhart was also brilliant. In fact, I had believed for once that he would be a breakthrough in this movie, but to take this one into the books, is to really have given such high expectation for it. He brought my expectation higher. Much higher than I could've imagine.

The rest of the supporting cast were making roles as their own. Hard for us to provide someone else to replace the characters in the movie indeed. Casting Maggie was perfect. Much more better than I could've asked for. Michael was perfect, so was Morgan, and so was Gary. The vets definetly made their move a whole lot.

So, the star of the movie is Heath Ledger then. No? Of course, we can say this movie is all about the Joker indeed (that is, another spoiler not truly unearthed, yet), but to cast away Batman and the others, well, Heath did just that. This was beyond anything an actor could do. Portraying insanity is not simple. It is by far one of the most challenging, toughest, and mind consuming effort to pull off. Don't compare this with Jack Nicholson, this Joker is beyond anything. It seems understandable how hard was it for Heath to sleep at night. This role can give any actor nightmares and truly sleepless nights. And all the dialouge, made it so prevailing that it could actually drive someone, to truly do what the Joker has done. Props to Heath for his final performance, this is by far the greatest.

Progression, storyline, sound, setting
If you ask me, the story is great. The dramatization is pitch perfect. We could see Bruce struggling with the world he is in. Between love and justice, he still is human, wants what he wants. yet between duty and selfishness, he knows what to choose, and he has to. The sets were great. And apparently, Batman isn't just a caped crusader for Gotham anymore. See him flying to places you could've least imagined to go to. But there is a bit of a problem here. Though this is a drama, and the fact it is Batman, the pace is slow. It didn't manage to suck me in as it did with Batman Begins. That one was easily a winning score because it could make you feel that you shouldn't leave the seat. But this one, there are parts where the progression is actually slow and a bit frustrating as people want it to progress fast enough that it drives us in to believe every single moment. The score is fantastic indeed. Perhaps that kept me going for a bit more.

Extras
It's interesting that certain people were also casted for short roles. Remember Cillian Murhpy? Well find him. He's there. Rumor has it that Michael Keaton is to be a cameo in this one, but nah, it didn't happen. The Batpod was an amazing touch to see how great a bike can really be. And the Batmobile? Find it out. The costume was given a sleaker look. It was abit leaner than the bulky suit in the first place. Yet, despite all that, it still surprises as to 1 loose end. Maybe you can spot it out without having me to say about it.

Overall Verdict
This movie is from Christopher Nolan. And he does not do sequels unless it proves to be great and succesful for the audience. This is to show what Batman Begins was, and I was hardpressed to have put so much hopes for this movie. It didn't bode well at all. Not to say it is not one of the best movies for Summer, but my hopes were too high only. Props to Nolan, and the rest of the crew that made the movie. Come to the theater with a simple expectation that the movie is worth it, and you will for sure enjoy. Props to Heath, this is your best and by far you brought this movie to be one of the best renditions of the Joker and perhaps the best Batman movie, and superhero movie ever.