The Dark Knight [2008] - Warner Home Video

Batman has no limits

In "Batman Begins," Christopher Nolan managed to do what few directors could do -- create a dark, gritty atmosphere around an all-too-human Batman, who fights for the oppressed with quiet intensity.

That moody murk is only intensified in the breathtaking, harrowing "Dark Knight," which fills itself with blasts of action, psychological twists and a shocking tragedy. Nolan pulls no punches for our dark knight or his ever-endangered Gotham City, but brilliant acting of the hero and villains is what truly elevates the second of Nolan's Batman movies to a work of cinematic art.

Crimfighting is going well for Batman (Christian Bale) especially since the new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is a morally-upright good-guy. But Batman isn't prepared for the Joker (Heath Ledger) a mad clownish psychopath who has hired himself out to the mob to destroy their worst enemy, the Dark Knight. He starts blackmailing Batman by killing Gotham citizens, and saying he won't stop until Batman turns himself in.

But even when captured, the Joker has an ace up his sleep -- Dent and Rachel Dawes' (Maggie Gyllenhaal) lives. And after a devastating loss, Batman finds himself dealing with the Joker taking all of Gotham hostage, and the maddened and disfigured Dent bringing vigilante justice to all those whom he thinks have wronged him. Only Batman has a chance of stopping even one of them -- let alone both -- but doing so may tarnish the Dark Knight forever.

No matter how hard you search, there's not a hint in "The Dark Knight" that anything kitschy or campy came before it, or that it was once a comic book. Instead Christopher Nolan creates a movie as dark, tightly-wound and intense as Batman himself.

And Nolan's skills are even more polished this time around -- lots of kinetic action, vicious dogs and car chases, including the rather silly-looking Batpod and the tanklike Batmobile. The dialogue is drizzled with dry humor ("That isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to inspire people"," Batman says, looking at a bunch of impersonators), mostly to temper the overhanging sense of horror and apprehension.

This is especially true whenever the Joker's corrosive presence is onscreen, since he's all too happy to stick pointy objects in people -- he's creepier than a thousand boogeymen. And Nolan is not afraid to further darken the storyline by inflicting yet another personal tragedy on Batman. His direction is painfully delicate as he explores Wayne's sorrow and guilt.

But the most striking aspect of "The Dark Knight" is Nolan's delvings into morality -- The Joker has none and Dent's becomes horribly perverted, but we're reminded that there are some who will not be corrupted even if they lose what is most precious. It's almost a doom'n'gloom movie, but the faint glimmers of optimism and hope keep it from being TOO overwhelmingly dark.

Christian Bale is simply perfection as Bruce Wayne/Batman, using his handsomely chiseled face and piercing eyes to best advantage -- even in the most tragic scenes, where you can practically see Wayne's soul bleeding. And he has a difficult character to wrangle with -- not only does he have to expose Batman's pain and struggles, but also his inner incorruptibility.

On the flipside, the late Heath Ledger is blindingly brilliant as the sadistic, creepy, gleefully malign Joker, and he chews the scenery as few actors could. He's pretty spine-chilling, actually -- the Joker is a true "agent of chaos," whose intent is to seize Gotham, and corrupt Batman's soul along the way. Eckhart is outstanding as an upstanding DA whose morality becomes horribly perverted (along with his handsome face), and Michael Caine is a quiet, steady flame as the ever-faithful, dryly sardonic Alfred.

"The Dark Knight" is suffused with darkness and some truly ghastly villains, but the magnificent acting and dryly witty script are what really make this a masterpiece. Utterly astounding -- and promises better yet to come.

A simple comparison

Upon the watching this film you are struck with an odd feeling or glee due to watching a great film and sorrow that heath ledger will never again be able to play the joker and i don't believe any actor could match this epic acting. its like getting 10 A* in GCSE and getting told your grandparent died at the same time

A dark and excellent film where Ledger steals the show

In the sequel to Batman Begins (2005), Batman and Gotham are under threat from a man known as the Joker, who is causing mayhem amongst the mob, and starts to focus his attention towards The Dark Knight, and Gotham City.

In the most anticipated film of the year so far, Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan team up once again for a triumphant return to the Batman franchise and deliver a darker, more sophisticated and exciting film than their previous collaboration.

The plot of Batman Begins was exciting to discover the origins of how Batman came about, and this follow up sees how Batman's personal life is affected, with multiple stories revolving around the Joker, Harvey Dent and Rachel, which gives the film excellent depth and interest and this is what makes it better than the previous, that and Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain).

As The Dark Knight was released Heath Ledger stole the headlines for his performance as the menacing villain, and seeing the trailer I couldn't wait to see if he lived up to the hype and the truth was he excelled the hype and has made the best Batman villain ever.

So dark and dangerous, the cunning and the general madness of the character was brought to such a marvellous light by Ledger, and has, in my opinion, outshone Jack Nicholson's (Batman) portrayal of the Joker.

And though the plot and everything about this film is excellent, Ledger is the best part about it all.

Though I was slightly confused with all the mob dealings at the beginning, the plot is consistent with a wonderful depth to it, covering a lot of character's personal situations brilliantly. The visual effects are stunning. The action sequences are kept to a minimum, which was brilliant in my opinion as it is so easy to over do action and escape from the realism, but it was all done inch perfect with accurate realism.

The direction is excellent by Nolan again, really capturing the mood of the genre and is without question the best Batman film made to date

9.5/10

One of the best films this year

This is a really good film and was well worth a watch. Performances from the all star cast were brilliant. Heath Ledger delivered a great performance and the calls for an oscar are certainly a fair shout. It delivers the usual explosive action and is much better than the other superhero films currently around. Only criticism was that it felt like it was an hour longer than it should have been. Quite a dark film which clearly t's up another installment and is well thought through with great script. I will definitely look to buy it when it comes out and I am looking forward to seeing the next one which I am sure will come.

very very good

after re vamping the batman series with 2005`s batman begins ,christopher nolan has gone one step further and has here crafted an absolute masterpiece.first off heath ledger is outstanding in this film,his performance is terrifying and enigmatic and full of menace and is the films centerpiece,christian bale is less sure footed in his performance while gary oldman,michael caine,aaron eckhart,and morgon freeman all shine.for me this works on every level and is a real must see film