The Dark Knight Review - somewhat spoilery free.

I wasn’t exactly a sucker for Batman Begins. I thought the movie was good, however, I wasn’t as thrilled as everyone else was. But The Dark Knight is a different story. The plot of The Dark Knight kept rolling and rolling - it had me at the edge of my seat each time the unpredictable Joker planned some thing new - or, really, “it’s all part of the plan.”

Compared to all superhero movies of the past, The Dark Knight easily takes the award for best superhero movie ever. This movie was not just a big budget action flick with plenty of blow up action - it was rich: rich in idealism, rich in hope and false hope, rich in spirit - to sum it all up, rich in depth. The fact that the three men, Lt. Gordon, Batman, and Harvey Dent, were all so desperate to rid the city of its criminals is motivating but heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because the endless amounts of criminals rusted into the roots of Gotham City is discouraging. Each time the three guys try they lose lives and their own people.

The Joker lives and breathes chaos and misanthropy. He is so misanthropic he craves that each person he tortures will have an absolute burning hatred for people as well. He lusts for their bad sides and flourishes in their own pain and torture - he loves it. It’s sadistic, it’s gruesome, but it also left me with a feeling of sympathy for the Joker. One must have gone through a very painful life to have the mind of the Joker. The Joker strives people to prove himself right through their own actions and choices. In fact throughout the movie, in my opinion, the Joker was usually right about people - about their actions, their choices, and what they really believed in.

Both Bruce Wayne/Batman and Harvey Dent, as Adrian thoughtfully mentioned, both go through major changes within the movie.  Batman had to disengage from his ethics in order to do what needed to be done. Harvey Dent, who was a good man inside, disengaged from his ethics as well - but not in order to do what needed to be done. He did it out of rage, revenge, anger, which killed his true character .

The people of Gotham City truly believed in Harvey Dent and that it was possible to rid the city of its criminal warlords. They believed in change, they wanted change, they needed change, and they were ready for change.  Throughout the movie, Batman and Joker argued over the good and evil of people. The Joker continuously proved himself right that people were snakes and could not be trusted throughout most of the movie.  In a sense the Joker vs Batman was not only a physical fight between the two but also a fight between idealism and their own philosophies.

Why I mention the people of Gotham is because of the most rewarding scene of the movie. The fact that it was not only Harvey Dent, Batman, nor Lt. Gordon who proved the Joker’s idealism was wrong but it was a joint group of regular citizens vs criminals who proved the Joker’s misanthropic idealism was wrong. The Joker’s facial expression of when he realized what the people did not do, or for lack of better term, did do, was defeat. I saw it. I’m sure you did too.

Everyone’s performance in this movie was excellent. Christian Bale as Batman was far more convincing than he was in Batman Begins, which was an obvious improvement. I fell in love with Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Heath Ledger’s performance as Joker was damn right through and through. Scary, sadistic, his lip movements - I somehow loved the way his lips moved and the way he smacked his lips. Just amazing. I also loved Maggie Gyllenhall as Rachel Dawes much more than I did Katie Holmes.

I would really have nothing to complain about except for one small opinion that the movie was just a bit overwhelming at times. The consistent criminal chasing and “why are they going after him” questions I had were frustrating for me at times. There were also many characters to deal with - had I not had knowledge of Batman characters in the past, I would have been extremely confused and entirely overwhelmed throughout the movie.

Nevertheless, every sentenced I summed up of Batman made up for its overwhelming feeling. Had they taken some thing out of the movie, it would have felt all too some-thing-is-missing feeling. Perfect. Just one perfect movie. This is the future of what a comic book movie should be. 5/5