Film review: The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight @ IMDB

We've had a lot of Comic Book films this year and most have been really good. But all of the review have had a little caveat at the end, normally along the lines of "this film is really good and is the best comic film but The Dark Knight is out later this year".

It's fair to say that the hype for this film has been immense. The reboot of the Batman franchise was a critical success so that was creating a lot of expectations anyway. The viral marketing campaign was drawing them in then you have Heath Ledger's death and everything seems to have gone through the roof.

It's an awful lot of weight to put on one film and when this happens they usually collapse: see Star Wars Prequels, Matrix sequels, Superman Returns, etc.

Luckily, this film has some very broad shoulders.

So, we have Batman continuing his battle against the Gotham Criminal Underworld now helped by the new District Attorney Harvey Dent. Perhaps Harvey can take over the fight and Batman can retire?

Not if The Joker has anything to say about it.

We'll get it out of the way first: Heath Ledger is really good. Really good.

So is everyone else. The returning cast seem very comfortable in their roles and the new members don't let the side down. Aaron Eckhart* as Harvey Dent is great, Maggie Gyllenhall should have been cast in the first film and Heath Ledger is, again, really good.

But it's no point having a great cast if the film itself is rubbish and, thankfully, that is not the case here. Christopher Nolan has crafted a complex, deep film about heroism and what it means and what happens when heroes fall. It is a meaty film with the running time to match. That's not a bad thing because it give the film room to breathe. It's a very measured film, it doesn't have a breakneck pace but it doesn't need to.

So, we have great performances, an excellent story, an amazing score. Perfect film? Pretty much. There is a Bat-Gadget introduced at the end that very nearly destroys the air of realism built over the two films. Some may flinch at the running time. It's still a guy dressed as a bat beating people up so if you don't buy into that then the film doesn't work.

In a word? Dynamic.


* He's not a household name but we like Aaron Eckhart films in the Doyle Household. Well, it's only really The Core, one of the most scientifically incorrect (allegedly) films ever made but great fun.