Friday, July 18, 2008

The Dark Knight

Title: The Dark Knight
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart
Genres: Action/Adventure, Crime, Superhero, Sequel
Running Time: 2 hours. 32 minutes
Release Date: July 18th, 2008
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Review: The second installment in Christopher Nolan's trilogy, following 'Batman Begins' in 2005, and it is excellent. It's dark, violent, terrifying, explosive, and clever. It is well acted, and well directed. 'The Dark Knight' is epic, through and through.

Even if this was not Ledger's last role before his sad, and untimely death in January, his portrayal of the Joker would still go down in the annals of film as one of the most un-hinged, dark and creepy bad guys ever seen on the big screen. Heath Ledger IS the Joker, and for the first time, this character has been portrayed with debt and complexity beyond the one-dimensional comic-book villain seen in the past.

Just as in 'Batman Begins', Bale is great as the Batman, and while Bale's love interest has been upgraded from Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal, the difference is surprisingly negligible. All in all, 'The Dark Knight' is a comic-book film that has greatly surpassed it's genre.

Bring on part three. I, for one, cannot wait!
Grade: 8.5