The Dark Knight (DVD, 2008, Widescreen)

Movie description:
The Dark Knight is As It was ment too be when Bob Kane created Batman back in 1939 from the pages of Detective Comics!

Frank Miller wrote the graphic novel BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT in 1986 basing his writings on what Bob Kane created for his dark character as was ment to be for readers of Batman over the decades!
And now for the first time: its done for the big movie screen! Not the comical style of the Adam West version of the 1960's television show nor the cartoonish development by Tim Burton (though it did not begin that way with Burton's 1989 BATMAN film)!!
Just that Director Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT is the best comic book adaptation does the film a bit of a disservice or quite reserved. It may be a Batman film, but this isn't a kid-friendly action movie full of the bams and pows of the original series. This is a pitch-black thriller with enough drama and tragedy to please even Bela Lugosi, but it will certainly keep both comics fans and uninitiated audiences equally happy. THE DARK KNIGHT starts in the wake of BATMAN BEGINS: with the appearance of Batman (Christian Bale), Gotham City's criminal underworld is unnerved. They're also plagued by the new D.A., Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who, in his quest for justice, remains above the city's corruption. Enter a new villain, the Joker (Heath Ledger)Who like Bin Laden is an evil terrorist physco maniac , who wants to unite the criminals for a common purpose: to kill the Batman and lay Gotham City a grave waste land of crime and mayhem. THE DARK KNIGHT is one of the most hyped motion pictures to date, and a lesser film would be crushed under the weight of all that EXCITEMENT. Some of the publicity stems from the very sadden early death of Ledger, who turns in an excellent performance. He provides moments of faint dark humor, but this Joker is terrifying, sharing more with classic MASS murderers Rob Zombie brought back to the screen such as Freddy Kruger, Michael Meyers or even Friday the 13th's Jason, than those with it's comic book predecessors. Eckhart is equally good as Dent, and Maggie Gyllenhaal deserves praise for taking over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes. Though there's more emphasis on plot and character development than in most comic book adaptations, that doesn't mean Nolan has skimped on any of the action sequences. Each set piece is done perfectly, leaving the audience breathless. THE DARK KNIGHT is filmmaking at its best; its subject matter may be dark and depressing, but it's tough not to feel exhilarated by its artistry when the credits begin to roll and the darkest and very BEST of the Batman movies too date.


Credits:
Producers: Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
Cast: Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anthony Michael Hall, Eric Roberts, Michael Jai White, Christain Bale, Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Stella Reese and Dan Norway.

To say that Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT is the best comic book adaptation does the film a bit of a disservice. It may be a Batman film, but this isn't a kid-friendly action movie full of the bams and pows of the original series. This is a pitch-black thriller with enough drama and tragedy to please even William Shakespeare, but it will certainly keep both comics fans and uninitiated audiences equally happy. THE DARK KNIGHT starts in the wake of BATMAN BEGINS: with the appearance of Batman (Christian Bale), Gotham City's criminal underworld is unnerved. They're also plagued by the new D.A., Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who, in his quest for justice, remains above the city's corruption. Enter a new villain, the Joker (Heath Ledger), who wants to unite the criminals for a common purpose: to kill Batman. THE DARK KNIGHT is one of the most hyped movies to date, and a lesser film would be crushed under the weight of all that expectation. Some of the publicity stems from the early death of Ledger, who turns in an excellent performance. He provides moments of humor, but this Joker is terrifying, sharing more with classic villains such as Hannibal Lechter than with his comic book predecessors. Eckhart is equally good as Dent, and Maggie Gyllenhaal deserves praise for taking over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes. Though there's more emphasis on plot and character development than in most comic book adaptations, that doesn't mean Nolan has skimped on any of the action sequences. Each set piece is done perfectly, leaving the audience breathless. THE DARK KNIGHT is filmmaking at its best; its subject matter may be dark and depressing, but it's tough not to feel exhilarated by its artistry when the credits begin to roll.

Excellent character displays by chistian bale and the late heath ledger. This is a must for the new and upcoming trilogy.

Original Review:
The Dark Knight( is a good movie).

It has all the ingredients to be a great movie, but it isn't one. I may grudgingly put it on my best-ten-of-the year list (a paltry group at this point), but it could have been so much more. It came so close.

One knows the action in The Dark Knight will be cranked up, especially since director/writer Christopher Nolan's action sequences came under criticism in Batman Begins (2005).

One also knows that, because The Dark Knight has a striking cast, the acting will be memorable. Both wily veterans Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine in the same movie as Batman's helpers is enough to give the movie a lot of substantial class.

Christian Bale, who trained in martial arts, is back as Bruce Wayne/Batman. His choice to speak in a Clint Eastwood low growl as Batman is odd but OK. He makes a polished Bruce Wayne and a buffed Batman.

The romantic interest Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes takes a step up in The Dark Knight. In Batman Begins, Dawes was played by cute Katie Holmes. In The Dark Knight she has more emotional substance as played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal's emotionality is crucial in The Dark Knight.

Aaron Eckhart is the vulnerable white knight District Attorney Harvey Dent. One of the best performances in The Dark Knight is by Gary Oldman as Police Lt. Jim Gordon. Oldman, who often gobbles scenery, gives a low-key performance that is very effective amidst the bombast.

Adding further quality performances are Eric Roberts, Gillian Murphy and Anthony Michael Hall.

Since the rest of the cast is eminently able, it comes down to Heath Ledger as The Joker. If he gives an acceptable performance, The Dark Knight should prevail.

In 1989 in Tim Burton's Batman, Jack Nicholson seemed to play the ultimate card as The Joker. He was a masterly cartoon figure. Nicholson's performance seemed to retire the character forever.

What a challenge for Heath Ledger -- to get in the ring with iconic Jack. But Ledger knew something we didn't. He had found the heart of The Joker, which made him a human character, not just a cartoon. It was a damaged, black heart, but it was a human heart.

Ledger died in January in New York City, his death officially judged to be the result of an accidental prescription overdose. The recent talk about a possible Oscar nomination for Ledger as Best Supporting Actor may have seemed just based on sympathy, but it's not. Ledger is the leading candidate, because of the phenomenal performance he delivers.

Ledger's performance of The Joker as a snarky anarchist, a smoldering madman, is one of a kind. It will become a classic. It's a primer for great acting, especially Ledger's physical movements. He sidles and slides, ambles and erupts, muttering his psychotic dogma.

Fundamentally The Joker is a potent anarchist. The Dark Knight features a post 9/11 Batman. The Caped Crusader -- the Compassionate Conservative -- is pulled toward the dark side by the terrorist Joker. Goodness is losing its moral bearings. Power to do good becomes power to do anything.

Since The Dark Knight is a smorgasbord of delicious acting, why is The Dark Knight too often less satisfying than it should be? With powerful psychological underpinnings and a dazzling cast, why does The Dark Knight fizzle?

The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems like faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great--in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision--is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City's new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon--and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution--kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages.

The Batman Begins (2005) sequel is easily the best comic-based action movie yet (2008). The Dark Knight is unstoppable in it's path of destructing all crime-thriller flicks before it; raising the bar very, very high. The two and-a-half hour runtime glorify the fact that you could split the movie into two amazing films rather than one legend (which it is) and still be satisfied to an extreme extent. Heath Ledger's surprising death is truly unfortunate but his final performance is without a hesitation worthy of 2008's Oscar award, closing the doors to all contesting actors starring aft The Dark Knight's release. Ledger's outstanding achievement that no one expected is one of the best acts I have ever experienced in the thousands of films I have seen.

Overall, the action packed scenes were original and incomparable. All the right explosions and fights hit hard right and left, perfect on cue every time. Director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) is finally the first to really step up the graphic features of Batman's truly dark life and the absolute real ruthlessness of his villains so much that, even though the content wasn't threatening, the rating is a very strong PG-13 (Where I would not recommend anyone under the age to view, unlike it's predecessor, Batman Begins). Supporting performances by Bale, Caine, Eckhart, and Oldman were unmistakably beautiful additions to the masterpiece cast. Even Katie Holmes filler (Rachael Dawes, Batman Begins) Maggie Gyllenhaal pulled off quite nicely in a "better than before" respect. The Dark Knight was rightfully hyped up since it's announcement. The release has created an easy out for the perfect score of a movie for those who seem yet convinced of such thing. The soundtrack was superb, the script unprecedented in intelligence and wit, and by far the creativity and ingenuity behind the incredulous scenes of exotic sports cars weaving traffic, semi trucks flipping in the air, and state-of-the-art technology, has beat anything before it.

The Dark Knight stands as a mind blowing testimony that DC Comics has not been shut in the dark by Marvel's many pumped out mediocre movies (3 Spider-Man films, 2 Hulk films, 2 Fantastic Four films, 3 X-Men films for starters, in one decade). DC Comics Delivers the good in their 2008 blockbuster that hit so hard, none of Marvels twenty-plus movies can come close to touching. The Dark Knight will be on movie lover's top favorites for a very, very long time