Movie Info:
Writers: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer, Bob Kane
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Monique Curnen, Cillian Murphy, Chin Han, Anthony Michael Hall, Nathan Gamble
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Warner Home Video
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: July 18, 2008
DVD Release Date: December 9, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $23.99
Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar. Period.
I’ve heard the naysayers, who claim Heath’s performance is just hyped up because he died, but to watch him is chilling. It’s complex, to truly understand all that he took on to embody such a diabolical character, as the Joker. I was spellbound by his performance, and that truly is very rare in this day and age. He had the kind of presence in a film you see from a Daniel Day Lewis (though who could imagine Day Lewis as the Joker?). The hype about Ledger as the Joker began before he died, and continued to swell after his untimely passing.
All things aside, The Dark Knight is a great film. It’s one of the best I’ve seen in 2008. The performance level by all of the actors (save for a few) makes this movie more than just a comic-inspired movie. This film is a fully packed, action filled, blockbuster, with the capability of appealing to a wide range of audiences. Still, this is not just a Batman movie. Nolan and his cast turn this into a work of art. Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it cannot have that bohemianly avant-garde feel to it. This was brought on by Ledger more than any other player. Just because a movie is popular, mainstream, and a blockbuster sensation doesn’t mean it can’t be deserving of Oscar-buzz. Some films are meant to transcend genres and expectations. The Dark Knight is one of them.
I haven’t seen the standard edition of this. I have no need to, because I own the Blu Ray. All I can say is, BUY BLU RAY. If you have a Blu Ray player, you need to buy this in Blu Ray. I was enveloped in this absolutely stunning, cinematography-filled, cacophony of blissful Batman-heaven. I love Batman. He’s my favorite comic book hero, but never have I seen such an excellent film adaptation of my favorite boyhood superhero. Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Jack Nicholson, Nicole Kidman. None of them can hold a candle to the kind of performances we see from the cast of The Dark Knight. This film is epic and lived up to any and all of my expectations. Despite all the hype, this movie surpassed it.
While Heath Ledger’s Joker certainly is the focal point for this movie, Christopher Nolan does quite a bit with this screenplay. This is a thrill ride from nearly the first moment, when the Joker is pulling off his first, brilliantly executed heist, to the very last, with a poignant reflection on the entire 2 1/2 hours spent watching this incredible movie, as the credits begin to roll. At times, watching Ledger is pragmatic. In others, it’s maddening. It’s hard to see the line between Ledger and the Joker because there is no line. He fully encompasses the character into himself in a way seldom seen outside the Golden Age in Hollywood. This performance gives you the kind of chills you feel when watching Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? or Anthony Perkins in Psycho.
I know I keep coming back to Heath Ledger, with no offense to the other, brilliant performances in this movie by the slew of A-list actors that make up The Dark Knight ensemble, but truly, without Ledger this movie wouldn’t be the same. Ledger made this movie and he carries the movie. The film, almost boasts perfection, and in his role, he is perfection. Unfortunately, in just one area, this picture fails and its the only thing that drags it down. Its one of those areas that failed in Batman Begins, so its no big surprise. If you’ve seen the movie, you probably already know what I’m talking about. For those who haven’t the big problem for me is Rachel Dawes.
No offense to Maggie Gyllenhaal, but Christopher Nolan should have never created Dawes. Bruce Wayne was always a playboy debonair with nary a female to call his own. While Gyllenhaal plays Dawes as Meryl Streep to Holmes’ Cameron Diaz, I just can’t help but feel that Dawes has very little practical use. In this movie, she makes a great tool for tension, but that could be any female Wayne just happened to like. I also am not sure I buy the entire letter thing (watch it, you’ll understand what I mean), considering the Wayne-Dawes past that was established in Batman Begins.
Either way, the entire character bothers me, and is the only thing to drag the story down. Well…that and the lack of Cillian Murphy’s terrifying Scarecrow, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing much more of him in future films. It made sense to limit Murphy’s part in this, merely because the public demands all Joker, all the time, and you’ll get it full force, in The Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight Plot
I hate to say too much about the plot for The Dark Knight. My best advice is to just watch this one. I feel it is important to experience as much of this movie as you can without me giving away anything that might make your viewing experience less enjoyable. There are non-stop surprises from the very first moment the movie begins, so unlike most plot summaries I write, I’m going to attempt to be more vague in this then I usually am.
The Joker (Heath Ledger) finds a way to get his hands on money belonging to the mob. The mob is particularly important in Gotham (at least in The Dark Knight) because thanks to the authorities in the city and Batman (Christian Bale) the streets are getting cleaned up. Add in the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and his tough as nails policy to clean up the streets, and you have the mob in a very precarious position. Of course, the Joker wants nothing more than to exploit anything and everyone, just because it’s fun. At first, the mob just sees him as a joke in clown makeup, but soon they’ll see there’s more than meets the eye, with him.
At the same time, Bruce Wayne is trying to get past Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is now dating Harvey Dent. She’s pretty much told him they’re over, unless Batman is history. Wayne is hoping that Dent’s new policy and effective prosecution methods will make Batman obsolete in the city, but Dent still isn’t able to handle all of the crime, just yet. As of now, Batman is considered an outlaw, and Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) is the only one who is able to get in contact with him via the bat light he displays in the sky whenever Batman’s needed. Alfred (Michael Caine) believes its too hasty to dismiss Batman and his importance on the city, but Wayne is hoping he’ll be able to move on, with Dawes by his side.
In an intermingling of the mob, the Joker, the police force (led by Gordon), Harvey, Dent, Batman, Rachel Dawes, and Bruce Wayne, this action-packed drama takes viewers through a series of twists and turns with unpredictable fates for nearly every person involved in The Dark Knight. With more than one unexpected death and re-birth, you’ll be sitting there jaw-dropped throughout most of the movie. Of course, throw in some fire-action, bank heists, a hot car chase, involving a semi and Batman’s tricked out motorcycle, an explosion or ten, and a trip to Asia (with some cool Batman fly action) and you have yourself a Batman movie.
The cast of characters is nothing less than stellar. Morgan Freeman returns as Wayne Enterprises loyalist/employee and Batman confidante, Lucius Fox. Eric Roberts has signed on as the evil mob boss, Salvatore Moroni. Even Anthony Michael Hall (yes, the panties guy [Farmer Ted] from Sixteen Candles and Brian “Ralph” Johnson from The Breakfast Club) makes an appearance in this movie, as a heftier, television reporter, Mike Engel. Of course, credit should be given to young Nathan Gamble, who I first saw in his spectacular performance in The Mist as James Gordon Jr. Gamble has a small, but pivotal role in this movie, and he does the job with aplomb and poise, not often seen by child actors.
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Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
This is what Blu Ray is all about. This blows Transformers out of the water, and that isn’t an easy feat. The IMAX shot action sequences though shot at a different aspect ratio, blend seamlessly together with standard shots. The picture is displayed in both 1.78:1 and 2.40:1, though I didn’t notice a difference in the aspect, considering how flawlessly the entire picture blends. Shot wit a VC-1 codec with a 1080p screen resolution, the picture is perfection. The crisp, sharp images enhance already fabulous action sequences. The color palette used is brilliantly realistic with natural skintones and depth to the black levels. Highly detailed with no compression errors, the picture is highly saturated with near perfect contrast. This is a standout visual for a standout film.
You expect a film like this to have a rich and robust audio track. The Dark Knight delivers with a fully immersible, surround experience. You’ve truly brought the movie theater home with you. Your senses explode at the delightful, musicality as dialogue, musical score and special effects interweave perfectly. I used the English True HD 5.1 surround mix, which is just magnificent. There are two other English tracks in 5.1 surround and stereo, though its a disservice not to use the TrueHD track, if I do say so myself.
There are two tracks in Spanish and French and both are Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French. The greatest benefit was how well the sounds blended together without overriding one another. Expect booming, rich sounds with multi-channel action as the audio makes good use of its full speakers. No need to volume toggle, though expect to be blown away with how excellent everything sounds.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
The only disappointing area is the bonus section, and even then, it isn’t that bad. While this doesn’t deserve a 5 out of 5, there are some nice bonuses in this three-disc Blu Ray set. The bonuses start on disc one. There is one bonus, with the same information presented, but you can choose to play it in two ways; apart from the main feature, as the featurette, “Gotham Uncovered” or during the movie, where you can access certain aspects of the featurette in various scenes. This bonus is full of information on the making of and production for The Dark Knight. As a bonus, it is excellent, and is definitely a major selling point for the bonus section.
Moving on, to the second disc, is the bonus, “Batman Tech.” In this featurette, the specialists for the tech used in this movie take you through an in depth exploration as you get a chance to see all of the high tech gadgets used by Batman. There is some way cool stuff here. Moving on, there is an exposé of sorts on Bruce Wayne and Batman called, “Batman Unmasked.” This bonus was interesting, but not my favorite. The bonuses continue with “Gotham Tonight”, a series of fake newscasts originally used to get fans pumped up about the movie, a series of picture galleries, and movie trailers.
Disc two also contains some BD Live options. You can access the BD Live Community for The Dark Knight and even upload your very own commentary for this movie. That’s bound to be fun, if you have the time and patience for such things.
Finally, the third disc offers the Digital Copy of The Dark Knight. While there are only a few “actual” bonuses, what is here is quite generous.
Bonus Features: 
Bottom Line:
The Dark Knight is genius. The visceral screenplay delves deep into the subconscious of true psychopathy and tests the limits of what the human emotion can or cannot handle. With on the go action, spectacular cinematography, which just emphasize IMAX enhanced action sequences, and the performance of a lifetime by Heath Ledger, filmmaking and storytelling doesn’t get much better than this. I was glued to the television for the entire 2.5 hours and I sat for a long time afterward just trying to take in everything I saw. Nope…they don’t make em like this anymore.
Overall Rating:
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