Due to many different circumstances, The Dark Knight opened about three weeks ago following more months of hype, buzz, and frenzy than I’ve ever seen attached to a film. Of course, some of the hype was due to its being the highly anticipated sequel to director Christopher Nolan’s successful 2005 “reboot” Batman Begins, but most of the buzz centered squarely on the performance of the late Heath Ledger. It seemed that lots of folks were snapping up tickets specifically to see Ledger’s turn as the Joker, which had invariably been defined as “iconic” and “anarchic” in early reviews.
Obviously, it’s easy for moviegoers to feel an incredible letdown after a movie is hyped as much as The Dark Knight, but, amazingly, that hasn’t happened. In fact, The Dark Knight has already shattered numerous box office records, has earned critical praise from nearly every major media outlet, and is a hit with fans. In other words, Nolan & Co. deliver the goods!
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): As the film opens, Gotham City is in bad shape. Batman imposters are going around exacting vigilante justice on citizens, powerful gangs are making more money than ever, and a new criminal mastermind, the Joker (played by Heath Ledger) has hatched a diabolical plan to take over everything. The plan begins with an offer to kill Batman (Christian Bale), and ends with the Joker pretty much turning the entire city into a chaotic mess.
Meanwhile, Batman and Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) busy themselves trying to keep everything in order. They extradite Lau, (Chin Han) a rogue accountant for the Chinese mafia, in order to press him into handing over information about his former colleagues. In addition, Batman and Gordon agree to make new D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) the face of crime-fighting in Gotham, since Bruce Wayne can’t exactly go public and the citizenry has kind of soured on Batman anyway.
As the film progresses, the Joker wreaks more and more havoc on Gotham City, including putting two ferries full of people into a standoff with one another to see who will blow up the other boat first; killing Commissioner Loeb and a prominent judge; and kidnapping Dent and Batman’s ex-love Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) in order to taunt Batman — a stunt that ends up costing Dawes her life and Dent half of his face.
All of the Joker’s actions are leading up to one thing: he wants a confrontation with Batman. He wants to know who Batman is under the mask, and he wants to get rid of Batman so he can continue his reign of terror unimpeded. Along the way, the Joker manages to convert Harvey “Two Face” Dent to the dark side before his eventual capture. Batman, in another self-sacrificial act, convinces Gordon to blame Dent’s crimes on him so that Dent’s reputation can remain intact. Gordon reluctantly agrees, thereby initiating an all-out manhunt for the former protector of Gotham.
My Reaction: It’s pretty much impossible to have an original opinion about a movie like The Dark Knight since just about everyone and his brother have weighed in on it already, and an overwhelming majority of those reviews have been positive. In fact, of the few detractors I’ve read, most are accused of posting a negative review just for the sake of being different, which I think is an unfair statement. After all, you can’t expect everyone to like the same things.
As for me personally, I did like The Dark Knight very much. It was a good action movie that had a few thought-provoking scenes, some great performances, and a cohesive script. But was I “blown away” by it? Did I think it was the best movie ever made? Am I comfortable with it being ranked #1 on the IMDb users list of the Top 250 films of all time? No, no, and HELL no.
Don’t get me wrong: I thoroughly enjoyed The Dark Knight, and will probably end up seeing it again once it comes out on DVD — something I don’t usually bother to do (watch a movie twice, that is) unless I’m really impressed by it. Yes, Heath Ledger was brilliant in the film and yes, the debate about whether or not he should get an Oscar for his performance will rage on until the ceremony takes place.
But I wouldn’t call The Dark Knight a flawless work, nor do I think it’s one that will be studied at film schools as an example of how to do things right. It’s a good movie, it speaks to fans of the comic book series, and it has the ability to draw in casual viewers as well. But other than that, it’s hardly a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece, so we’ll see how long it stays at the top of the IMDb charts.
Overall, The Dark Knight will definitely give you your money’s worth in terms of entertainment. This is one that you must see in theaters for the full effect, so get out there now! I give it 8.0 stars out of 10.
Maybe I missed the memo or something, but is Shia LaBeouf really *all that* in Hollywood these days? I know he has starred in a couple of hit films, including last summer’s biggest blockbuster, Transformers, but does that really warrant all the media coverage he gets? It seems that he’s in every single celeb magazine I see and on every