The second film in Christopher Nolan's Batman film trilogy released in 2008.
< read all 51 reviewsI'd heard good things prior to the viewing so my expectations were admittedly high, but I have to say...this movie lived up to the hype.
Story: Typical of superhero tales...villain threatens/harms the innocent...hero comes to the rescue...and the battle of good vs. evil ensues. Although there really wasn't anything that hadn't been done before, the plot was well-executed and the action moved the story along at a nice pace. This movie ran for almost three hours but definitely didn't feel that long. One aspect in particular...I thought Christopher Nolan did a particularly good job of pulling off the underlying themes of the film - those of faith and trust...the different forces that drive each of us to do the things we do and shape the people we are...the choices we make when we're put to the test...and the need we all have for something to believe in.
Performances: Or should I say Performance. Heath Ledger as the Joker...probably not many people's first choice for the role. But after seeing the film, he may very well have been the best, if not only choice. Whoever made that decision...Genius. He so fully inhabited the psychopath persona that even when something was meant to be comical, the humor is tempered by that eerie prickle on the back of the neck that precedes total chaos and mayhem. The performance hit all the right notes...subtle when needed and over-the-top when called for. Almost made you forget this isn't the Joker's story.
Overall assessment...Better than Batman Begins and pretty much blows any other previous Batman endeavors out of the water. Much like how Hollywood seems to want to pretend the AngLee version of the Incredible Hulk never happened...this is how I prefer to think of the earlier Batman films. That those five cartoonish farces (seriously, were there really that many?) were just a bad dream and that Batman Begins and the Dark Knight encompass the entirety of his representation on celluloid. So far.What did you think of this review?
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Really worth the $30 for the Blu-Ray.