The Dark Knight - PG-13 (2008)

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

18 Jul 2008 07:46 AM

Last night at 12:01 a.m. I sat down in a packed theater to watch The Dark Knight, the latest Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan and featuring Christian Bale in the titular role. The Dark Knight is an amazing cinematic feat that I will do my best to cover, but I honestly do not believe any review will do it justice.

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger died shortly before the film was completed. His fellow actors have been lobbying to get him an Oscar nomination for his work as the penultimate Batman villain: Joker. It needs to be said that their lobbying is not based on posthumous honors for a fallen friend, but truly justified by the level of work he delivered. His Joker is a powerful, primal force to be reckoned with in this film. The film's writers were deeply inspired by the graphic novel "The Killing Joke" and it shows in every nuance of Heath Ledger's performance. I have to say that in all honesty, I forgot that it was Heath Ledger as I watched the film because he so embodied the absolute insanity and madness that was the hallmark of The Joker.

Parental Warning

The Dark Knight is PG-13 and they are not kidding. Parents, I saw a lot of people in the theater with their 9 and 10 year old children and one couple with a child that appeared to be about the age of 7. This is not a movie for young children. Throughout The Dark Knight viewers are reminded that Batman is not the hero that Gotham needs, but he is the hero they deserve. He is dark. He is violent. He is a man driven to right injustice. He doesn't kill, but he doesn't work within the law either. This is actually a film that probably deserved an R rating because it thrives on terrorizing the masses and I think The Joker will give me nightmares, much less grade school children.

Batman's confrontation with the Joker's malevolence is brutal. The violence within the film is brutal. It lacks blood and gore, but there is a body count and The Joker is not the amusing nut of Jack Nicholson's time or the loving buffoon made popular by Cesar Romero. Ledger's Joker is a vicious, mad dog and he does horrible things just to do them.

What I Liked Every nuance of this film must be applauded. For Batman fans, this is the ultimate Batman film. The Dark Knight steps up to the plate and delivers on every promise in Batman Begins. While The Dark Knight could never have happened without the first, this movie is 100 times better than the first. It is filled with every element that has made the detective so popular in DC Comics for more than half a century. The edges on him are not softened, they are not blurred and the one line that sums it up is delivered by Ledger's Joker when he tells Batman "Want to share a cell? Because this whole city is going insane." Michael Caine's Alfred, Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox and Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent all deliver performances that are 110% and very believable.

What I Didn't Like

Rachel Dawes. Unfortunately, Katie Holmes was not available for the part and Maggie Gyllenhaal wasn't bad, but I didn't feel her connection to Bruce and I didn't care for her acting choices, but that said, my dislike of her no way impacted my admiration for this film.

Final Recommendation

See it on the big screen. Don't take the kids. Enjoy it for exactly what it is and Batman fans, kudos to you for having a director, a writing team and actors that understand The Dark Knight, The Joker and the characters that populate their world. I've still got chills.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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Tristi Pinkston (10839) 18 Jul 2008 07:50 AM

Wow, that sounds awesome! Thanks for the review!

Do you think more people will go see it because it's a good film, or because it was Heath Ledger's last?

Heather Long (16954) 18 Jul 2008 07:53 AM

Honestly, I think they'll do it for both reasons. The Dark Knight really steps up, it may be Ledger's final work but unlike Brandon Lee's Crow -- this film goes beyond just being a star vehicle, it's about the ensemble. Now that doesn't diminish Ledger's work by any stretch of the imagination -- but I was really blown away by his performance and everyone else. Eckhart really surprised me and I didn't fold that into the review, but I could probably have talked about this film for hours!

Dale Harcombe (10093) 18 Aug 2008 10:12 PM

For a different view of this have a look at http://christian.families.com/blog/what-price-a-hero