I must admit, I am not a Batman movie fan. In fact, I even used to avoid them because it was always too dark and you couldn’t see anything properly and hence not understand it. However, I used to regularly watch the Batman-Robin TV show as a kid and get excited with the various villains of Gotham City— the joker, penguin man etc. I am not sure how many of the previous five Batman films I’ve seen, but I wanted to watch this one. Nope, neither did i see any trailers. A few days back I read TIME’s review of the film and then a few days later on CNN and both said that the film is “stunning”. I don’t care much for what these critics say because I don’t understand most of their reviews—they try to be too complicated and hi-fi. But when i saw that the Grade on Yahoo! User Rating on Y! Movies was ‘A’, I knew I shouldn’t miss this film. Ladies and Gentlemen, Batman 2: The Dark Knight is a Blockbuster all the way…from the first second until the last second!
The film begins with Gotham City and Batman reflecting on what the future course should be to fight crime? How long will Batman do it? As Batman would like it, will the people of Gotham City raise to the occasion, take inspiration from Batman and fight for their city? Unfortunately, what results in the brief absence of Batman is fake-Batmen who are trying to be like Batman. In the meantime, the city gets a new District Attorney (DA), Harvey Dent, whose name is a terror for the underworld. The new DA is able to lock up more than half of the city’s goons by flexing the arms of the law. Batman (alias Bruce Wayne, the Billionaire), begins to realize that it is people like Harvey Dent who should be Gotham City’s Hero, not a caped crusader who brakes the law to bring about justice. Even as Harvey Dent and Batman are putting the underworld behind bars, there comes the new face of terror to wreck untold havoc–the Joker. The Joker brings all the goons together and declares that Batman needs to be killed. Joker is hell bent on making Batman show his face and just wants to play a game with him.
As the film progresses, we can see a triangular struggle for supremacy and ideology between the Joker, DA, and Batman. During this process, the Joker not only sets the City on fire, but also takes the DA, the cops, and Batman to the brink of destruction and ultimately at the end even though he loses, he wins. There are several sub-plots and twists in the film, which are beyond the scope of this review. How does the joker succeed in wrecking havoc throughout the system in spite of Batman’s presence? How does he check the gaining importance of the DA? How does he finally manage to make Batman look like the bad guy? How does Batman and his cop friend, Gordan, resolve the crisis? These questions from the rest of the story.
I have never seen a movie where the villain is so bad and disgusting, but you can’t help but hold him on
a pedestal for his intelligence. The action sequences are fabulous—(i) the one where Batman goes under the truck on his bike and ties it up making it skip in the air (ii) the scene where the BatMobile is wrecked and Batman ejects himself in a BatBike. The screenplay is simply fantastic and gripping. You will notice that at many times the screenplay shows three different sequences simultaneously and it builds the tension. The background music is haunting and particularly when the Joker is around is terrifying and adds to the villainy. The twists, sub-plots, the relationships between the main characters— The DA, Batman, Police Commissioner, Rachel–are super. Following two dialogues are highlight: (i) DA to Bruce Wayne about Batman: Either you die being a hero or you live long enough to become a villain (ii) Joker to other goon: you only think about money…this City deserves a better class of criminals and I will give it to them.
The performances are first-rate and the make up for Harvey Dent towards the end when he becomes Two Face is simply out-of-this-word. Make-up or special effects, it is super. One of the reasons why this film has been received with such fanatic fever in the US is because of the stellar performance of the late Heath Ledger who played The Joker. You have to see it to believe his performance. Heath Ledger played Ennis Del Mar in the Academy Award winning controversial film about two gay men, Brokeback Mountain. Heath Ledger died on January 22nd, 2008 due a prescription drug overdose. There is talk that he might get an Oscar Nomination for this film. In fact, he totally dominates Batman. The DA too gives a superb performances.
Full marks to Christopher Nolan (the director, and credited along with others for Story, Screenplay, and Producer) for making such a marvelous film. It is easily the best super-hero super-villain film of 2008 and in the recent past. The entire two and a half hours is action-power packed and you will forget all about global warming, inflation, the vote of confidence on July 22nd, and dipping stock prices as you get engrossed in this epic battle Batman, the DA, and The Joker. The film does contain intense action episodes and some sequences that some might find disturbing, particular kids. However, for those who, in general, do not like Hollywood Super-hero films might not want to watch this. The film has no romance, innocence, or comedy like other super-hero films; it is dark and intense.
Make sure you watch this film in a theater that is equipped with the best Dolby or DTS to enjoy it to the fullest. The Dolby-Digital sound in PVR-Hyderabad was excellent.
The Dark Knight is 24 Carrot Blockbuster Material film and is simply superb! The film has already began to break all existing Hollywood Box-Office Records. It has now officially, the Highest First-Day opening ($66.4 million in US) beating Spider-Man 3 ($59.8 million) and is expected to beat the opening weekend record as well. I am sure, Christopher Nolan, must have said, “the ticket-paying public at the box-office deserves a better class of blockbusters…and they will get it”
Mr. Inkenti’s Movienomics Verdict: Two Thumbs Way Up!
