Review: The Dark Knight (2008)
'Wanna know how I got these scars?'
★★★★
This is no ordinary comic-book movie; this is real life. After the successful revival of Batman with his first film, Batman Begins, it was only natural to make a sequel. And what a sequel this is! This can easily be on the list of top ten best sequels. It's the darkest, brutal, funniest, blood-rising, tension-building, action-packed sequel! But enough of me gushing over the film, let's actually find out why I love it a lot.
The thrilling superhero movie "The Dark Knight" (2008), helmed by Christopher Nolan, follows Batman (Christian Bale) as he fights against the chaos the Joker (Heath Ledger) has unleashed on Gotham City. Anarchistic criminal genius The Joker plans a string of terrifying crimes that test Batman's mettle and test the limits of what is morally acceptable for law enforcement. Batman teams up with Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and Batman to bring the Joker to justice, but the three of them suffer terrible consequences. The villainous alteration of Harvey Dent into Two-Face complicates Batman's battle to defend Gotham without sacrificing his moral standards even more. The movie looks at sacrifice, heroism, and the thin line separating chaos and order.
What I love about this film is how scary Gotham has become. Much like Spider-Man 2, Gotham City is like a character in this film. It plays a huge role in the film. It's become a scary place. Nobody is safe from the ongoing killings; you never know who might be the next victim or whether it could be you. Heath Ledger was able to capture the Joker's intelligence, humor, integrity, scariness, and yes, even the scars that nobody has a clear explanation to how he got them, as he tells the story differently each time. Ledger got everything right about the Joker. Physically, mentally, psychologically, everything. Think of Jack Nicholson's Joker, but cranked to eleven.
As much as I love this film, I'm very reluctant to say that I have a problem with it. The problem I have with this film is the casing of Rachel Dawes. She was originally played by Katie Holmes in "Batman Begins," but was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the older sister of Jake Gyllenhaal. Maggie Gyllenhaal isn't a bad actress, I just felt like she lacked the energy and charm Katie Holmes brought to Rachel Dawes. Plus, Maggie didn't share the same chemistry with Christian Bale, like how Katie Holmes did with Christian Bale. Originally, Katie Holmes was said to reprise her role, but she was busy, so she was recast. "Busy" as in making a terrible movie. That film was called "Mad Money (2008)." I'll just leave that there.
Other than that little bit of criticism, I still love the film and not only is The Dark Knight the greatest Batman film ever made, but it's also among the greatest superhero films ever made and one of the best sequels ever made. Rest in peace, Heath Ledger. He will always be regarded as one of the greatest Jokers of all time, if not the greatest.