Dark Knight

So I've resisted writing a review until I saw it a second time or until other people have seen it. I generally don't like to read reviews until after I see the movie (which kind of defeats the purpose of a review), because I want to see it for what its worth and then hear what others have to say. So I wouldn't read the rest of this if you plan on seeing Dark Knight in the near future, but if you do don't read past the next two paragraphs.



That being said my reaction was pretty much wow. I don't remember walking away from a movie quite like that one. It's a dense movie with rich characters and story lines. I could probably go on and on about different aspects of the movie. I still am trying to remember everything that happened (which why I wanted to wait, but oh well).



In this movie, a sequel to Batman Begins (2005) the Joker emerges to be Batman and Gotham's main antagonist. The mob, reeling from losses from Batman and an a energized police force, turns to the Joker to eliminate the problem. The Joker, then starts a campaign of terror aimed at terrorizing Gotham and calling out Batman. The Joker sets out to destroy Gotham much the way the "League of Shadows" does in "Begins", except he prays on people's fears through terror acts rather than a neural toxin. The Joker continually antagonizes Batman and Gotham to test their limits and rules they play by. Meanwhile, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the new DA, acts as the "White Knight" to Batman's "Dark Knight". He is a hero who doesn't need the mask. He also is involved with Rachel Dawes (this time played by Maggie Gyllenhaal), who was Bruce Wayne's love interest in "Begins", and is caught between the two. Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) also has a beefed up role as always one step ahead of the mob, but two behind the Joker. Alfred (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) also reprise their roles as advisors to Bruce as he struggles with the problems he has created by becoming Batman.

The first thing you notice about this movie and "Begins" is the realism aspect. Although clearly, you must step outside of reality the movie tries to portray a modern American metropolis. Gotham is no longer a fantastic-looking city, but a modern city (Chicago). This is also shown in the characters as well. All of the characters with the exception of the Joker are people, who are fallible. They have their own positive and negative aspects. The movie does a great deal to make Batman's equipment and actions plausible. It all together makes the movie stand on its own as a movie and not typecast into a superhero movie.

The movie benefits from the first, because it doesn't take the time to build up the characters you already know about. The Joker definitely drives the movie, he is the cause of all the action. You could even argue that without the Joker, there is no Batman. Batman in this movie almost takes a backseat to the development of these new characters at times. He is the one reacting to the Joker's moves. He is the one proping up Lt. Gordon and Harvey Dent. There characters are further developed while Bruce Wayne is a known quantity. In that respect, (and I know this is an odd comparison) Batman almost plays Seinfeld opposite the Joker's (Kramer) antics and Lt. Gordon and Harvey Dent's (Contanza) struggles to keep up with the situation. But as in Seinfeld, Bruce Wayne has his own struggles while being the constant through which all the other actors play off of. He wonders what he should do with the Batman symbol, should he give it up for Rachel, give it up to save people, or how far Batman can go to save Gotham.

Anyways this is getting kinda long so I'll continue later