Release Date: July 18, 2008 Studio: Warner Bros. Genre: Thriller •
Action •
Adventure Director: Christopher Nolan Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, Bob Kane Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Nestor Carbonell, Eric Roberts, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Jai White, William Fichtner, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Synopsis: The Dark Knight-BATMAN returns to moviehouses in this powerhouse drama, the long-awaited sequel to BATMAN BEGINS.
The Joker has come to Gotham City and only The Batman can stop him. Joined by police Lt. Jim Gordon and new ally D.A. Harvey Dent, the three unite-unaware of the dire consequences awaiting them and the citizens of Gotham. The Review: Forget Frank Miller's comic opus Batman : The Dark Knight Returns.
Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT is the finest Batman story ever told.
Clocking in at 2 hours and 35 minutes, THE DARK KNIGHT is an epic tragedy, an adult crime story , the best comic book movie ever made, and my favorite film of the year.
Back in 1997, Joel Schumacher's gaudy, glam and ghastly camp-fest BATMAN AND ROBIN was unleashed on an over-stimulated movie-going public and the iconic hero's film franchise was choked to an early, undeserved death.
Joel's Bat-travesty bombing at the box office proved that sometimes people want more than a brainless light show and something more than just an excuse to sell happie meals and/or crappy action figures.
Nevertheless, it took eight years before Warner Brothers found a way to re-boot the character and with that, BATMAN BEGINS hit movie screens, managing to re-define the superhero movie and re-invigorate the lost Batman franchise.
BATMAN BEGINS created a more realistic version of The Bat-Man, and Gotham City. Eschewing Tim Burton's German Expressionistic lighting and spiky towers and ignoring the bright neon colors and anatomically correct giant man statues of the afore-slammed Schumacher, Christopher Nolan decided to film his adventure largely in his hometown of Chicago.
Former singing and dancing "Newsie" paperboy Christian Bale was given the now fully realized character of Bruce Wayne and his now, newly scary crime-fighting counterpart-The Batman.
Nolan, off a script by David S. Goyer ,filled his vision with veteran actors Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine,and Gary Oldman, respectively as Lucius Fox, Alfred Pennyworth(the butler) and police lieutenant James Gordon.
Three years later, THE DARK KNIGHT continues the story, and what a story it is.
I knew I was in for a treat when, talking to my neighbors in the movie theatre-Emily and her boyfriend Greg, I learned she worked for the county public defender's office.
It was obvious why Greg was there, He was sporting a cool green Joker t-shirt , but as for Emily- if the film could attract someone in the real business of truth, criminal justice and maybe the American Way-I don't know-I didn't ask, then this might be a flick that could draw a more serious audience than any of The Batman’s previous cinematical offerings.
The true star of THE DARK KNIGHT's gritty police drama is Gotham City.
From the docks and harbors to the glittering towers of Wayne Enterprises and the suburbs and the slums, we get to see Gotham PD, the county jail, the district attorney's office,the cop bars, several banks, various underworld hangouts, and in a spectacular pyrotechnical masterpiece of a sequence, Gotham General Hospital. (Back when they were filming DARK KNIGHT in Chicago the producers got permission to blow up a building- a Brach's Candy factory-subbing for the hospital, which was already scheduled for demolition, and boy, they blew it up real good. It's not a special effect. Check it out on Youtube).
It's been a year(?) since the events of BATMAN BEGINS and Gotham's underworld is in chaos. Following the departure of mob kingpin Falcone, the warring gangs headed by Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts), The Chechen (Ritchie Coster) ,and Gambol (Michael Jai White ) are all vying for control of the city.
But they have three problems: One, Batman has been bad for business, taking large numbers of their kind off the streets, two, the new District Attorney Harvey Dent is actually getting them prosecuted, and three, someone is stealing all of their mob money.
Via video uplink, Lau, the mob accountant from the east side (Hong Kong) suggests a solution to the third problem-hiding the money in a location only he knows and then tells the motley crew, he has, in fact already done it.
The Joker appears in the group’s sweaty midst. Once he has the assembled group's full and undivided attention, he proposes a solution to problems one and two:
"It's simple," he says, "Kill the Batman."
His reward? "Half."
Meanwhile, Lt. Jim Gordon is pulling together his newly assembled GPD MCU (Gotham Police Department Major Crime Unit) from the ranks of the previously totally corrupt police force. Who can he trust?
Trust is also a major issue for the lieutenant as he goes to meet D.A. Dent. He likes what he sees and brings Harvey into his circle of trust that includes The Batman .
Meeting with the dark knight, Harvey tells the Bats they need Lau "extradited" from Hong Kong to continue his case against the mobsters.
One awesome side trip to Hong Kong for The Batman later, Lau is left on the sidewalk for a police custody pickup.
In addition to all of this plot, Bruce Wayne finds himself wondering if Harvey Dent, not Batman, is truly the solution that Gotham needs. If Dent can bring down the mob, then maybe Wayne can let Batman go...and then maybe Bruce can find happiness with the love of his life Rachel Dawes.
Maggie hasn't exactly waited for Christian -I mean, Rachel and Harvey are an item now and the B-R-H love triangle makes up one of the many expertly woven subplots running throughout the film.
As TDK progresses,things go from okay to really really bad. The Joker goes on a killing spree insisting Batman unmask. For each day that passes that Batman’s true face remains hidden, he will kill another person. “I’m a man of my word, “ he growls.
Bruce thinks deeply about it,and ,at an early morning press conference, Batman reveals his true identity to the world…and that’s where my plot description ends.
Sorry, but this is a really big film filled with rich characters, complex inter-weaving story arcs and great comedic and dramatic moments for all the characters.
At the beginning of this review, I called THE DARK KNIGHT a tragedy and at its dark and violent heart, it is.
At the end of DARK KNIGHT, many lives have been lost, great and horrible sacrifices have been made, relationships have been torn apart, people have irrevocably changed, nobody is better off than they were before, and no one is happy-except The Joker.
As Bruce Wayne, Christian Bale projects the public image of an affable, skirt-chasing (or more accurately for some of the movie tutu-chasing),not-terribly-bright playboy.
When he dons the cape and cowl,this Batman sounds like he’s chewing glass and moves like a force of nature.
The late great Heath Ledger's Joker is already garnering pre-pre-pre-OSCAR (tm) buzz and no matter what I tell you, there is no way you can be prepared for his performance.
Ledger's wildly spirited turn had me running to the Thesaurus .
His Joker is manic and scary,pathetic, silly,creepy and really weird. This is THE definitive version of the villain and this performance is indelibly unpredictable and totally unforgettable .
Special mention should also go here to Joker's dialogue by screenwriter Jonathan Nolan.
Aaron Eckhardt acquits himself honorably in a very meaty role as Gotham 's crusading crusader District Attorney Harvey Dent. His character's journey in the film is heartbreaking.
By contrast,Dent ,as introduced in Burton's BATMAN was manned by Billy Dee Williams with the smooth charm of Lando Calrissian, but never performed any of the duties of District Attorney as far as I remember.
Harvey's bifurcated alter-ego Two Face made it (by default, as far as I can tell) into Joel Schumacher's Technicolor vomit of a movie BATMAN FOREVER. Sporting a multicolored outfit that would make circa 1975 Elton John blush, combined with make up genius Rick Baker's lamest effort ever, Tommy Lee Jones managed to portray a tortured man with two personalities with no personality at all.
The best part of his "Harvey Two Face" (aside from Mr.Jones' take home pay), was Debi Mazar micro-role as his "bad girl" girlfriend Spice.
When things in THE DARK KNIGHT go from really bad to awful and Two Face first appeared in the flesh-so to speak- I openly gasped. The filmmakers did not flinch when it came to creating Dent's horrifically scarred countenance.
In the vernacular- they went there.
Making Lucius Fox the brains behind the bat-gadgetry, playing Q to Wayne's Bond (and there's a scene in TDK which is nearly a recreation of those wonderful 007 moments) was a smart choice. Morgan Freeman's wise voice and kind manner may make him one of the most liked men in America.
And although Michael Caine looks nothing like the Alfred of the comics (think David Niven with a comb-over), his dry wit provided a warm comic relief and his gravity nicely informed Alfred’s more serious moments.
I was happy that Gary Oldman got a lot more screen time as Gotham policeman James Gordon. Gordon is very important to the bat-mythos, having been with The Bats since his first adventure " The Case of The Chemical Syndicate" and he’s just the right mix of gruff and compassion I ‘d envision from Gordon.
Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes.It was counter-current-sequel-thinking to bring Rachel back, but I really like Maggie and I really liked her here.
Okay, I'm going to cop to it here.
I'm a huge Batman fan.
You may have seen my color picture on the Saturday June 24,1989 edition of my hometown newspaper the day after Tim Burton's first film exploded into multiplexes.
19 years, 45 pounds and the joys of male pattern baldness later, I still follow the published exploits of The Bat-Man. (And yes, I like calling him The Bat-Man even if the comics stopped calling him that back in -what-1940?)
I don’t actively collect the comics, but I like keeping track of what is going on with the lives of the characters.
Some people follow celebrities and worry over Brad and Angelina.
As for me, I’m still hoping Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson will finally get together and live happily ever after
THE DARK KNIGHT is an amazing film.It has no profanity or nudity, but it is so intense, I’m nearly surprised it isn’t R-rated.Featuring gorgeous cinematography by Wally Pfister and a rousing score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, this is a movie to be seen on the big screen in a theatre with a really loud sound system.
Don’t wait for the DVD.
There may be lines at the theatre but go anyway and go now.
It will be worth it.
On a scale of one to ten, THE DARK KNIGHT goes to eleven …and a half!
Fun geek trivia fact:
The mayor of Gotham is played by Nestor Carbonel who also portrayed “Batmanuel” in the live action version of “The Tick”. Rating:
