The Dark Knight: Batman Reviewed

The Dark Knight the second Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale has broken box office records since it's global release a few weeks ago. It sits as the top ranked movie of all time on the imdb.com movie database. A third film is surely on it's way. But is the film any good? Is Heath Ledgers penaltimate performance a masterpiece?

I'm not going to give away any plot points. It's all been written and the film adheres strickly to Batman comic book history. Is this the best film ever made? The answer is obviously no. Is it worth seeing the film on the big screen? Definitely a yes.

Those reviews that tell you Heath Ledger is brilliant or that Christian Bale is superbly understated completely miss the point of this film. Nolan has woven superb narrative arcs which promote superb ensemble acting rather than individual scene stealing performances.

The film has essentially three leads, Batman, The Joker and Harvey Dent, each character has a moving and natural storyline, no actor dominates the film, realism and character development are the key. Aaron Eckhart's performance is as good as the other two leads.

In a similar vein to the first Batman film, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, appear simply to add quality to the cast. Gary Oldman receives a decent amount of screen time for a supporting character. The role of Rachel Dawes played by Maggie Gyllenhaal is underwritten, but the characters presence is vital to the storyline of the film.

From the opening scene to the last fade away the emotional pace is unrelenting. Plenty of action and stunts for the boys, and emotional hart tugging for the girls. At times though it does seem like too much is going on, but maybe that's my limited intellect playing up.

The film as a whole is an examination of power, the burdens it places on the individual, and how they react to those responsibilities. Through the course of the story the key characters are confronted with ethical and moral decisions. We essentially have the good, the bad and the ugly, and these may not be who you think they are. Nolan effortlessing blurs black and white into grey.

If this film as expected becomes a trilogy expect the Dark Knight to become even darker.