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Movie Review: The Dark Knight
by Bill Wine
Batman teams up with Gotham’s district attorney to take on The Joker, a psychotic bank robber
RATING: PG-13
GENRE: Thriller
RELEASE DATE: July 18, 2008
RUNNING TIME: 152 minutes
VIOLENCE FACTOR: There are several sequences of intense, but not graphic, violence. However, the film still resides at the far end of the PG-13 rating.
BAD WORDS: No
RACY? No
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW: This movie is much more than just worthwhile, but keep in mind that it’s too dark, long, and menacing for most grandchildren of, say, 10 and younger.
GRANDS:
CRITIQUE:
Is The Dark Knight the summer’s best movie? No.
It’s much more than that. It’s one of the most dazzling, comic book-inspired movies that's ever come along. It transcends the escapist superhero-thriller genre and it’s as gripping and memorable a gritty crime drama as you’ll ever see.
What it is is a great film. Period.
The Dark Knight is director Christopher Nolan’s sequel to his Batman Begins, which reinvented the Batman franchise in 2005. Nolan has converted the comic book character from colorful, tongue-in-cheek camp to earnest, intense suspense and added a layer of psychological complexity. Now he takes it one step further. Or maybe two.
The Dark Knight brings us back to Gotham City, patrolled by the guilt-ridden, crime-fighting Caped Crusader, a superhero without superpowers and the alter ego of wealthy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale, again).The city is plagued by the anarchic impulses and sadistic exploits of The Joker (the late Heath Ledger), a psychotic criminal and terrorist.
In his efforts to thwart The Joker, Batman/Bruce enlists assistants in his double life: his loyal butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), inventor Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), James Gordon the police lieutenant (Gary Oldman), and D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
Meanwhile, Wayne wonders whether he should give up the cape and mask and settle down with his ex-flame, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal inherits the role from Katie Holmes), an assistant D.A.
Of all Nolan’s accomplishments as producer, director, and cowriter (with his brother Jonathan), the most staggering may be the performance he gets out of Ledger. As The Joker, Ledger may get a posthumous Oscar nomination — and not simply out of respect or sympathy. He’s brilliant: an unforgettable villain. And the rest of the cast is uniformly first-rate.
Nolan takes two-and-a-half hours to tell this tale — the narrative merits every minute. Sure, there are gadgets and action and jokey one-liners, but they all serve to reinforce a slyly entertaining investigation into our need for heroes in a post-9-11 world, an exploration of human nature, and the difference between good and evil.
This reviewer doesn't usually gush over films, but this one is a standout. See The Dark Knight some dark night and see if you don’t agree.
GP Rating System:
Four Grands = Bravo, don’t miss it
Three Grands = Pretty good, short list it
Two Grands = Just okay, don’t dismiss it
One Grand = Yeah, we dissed it
| I can't believe I took my 12 year old grand son to this movie. It was by far, the grossest and most violent movie I think I have ever seen. My grand son, of course, liked it, but even he felt it was out of his league for possible night mares. His mother was appalled that we went.
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