The Dark Knight

one word to describe this movie? epic.

it's been months since i, like many others, have been awaiting for this movie to come, and finally it has, along with all of it's amazing screenworks, non-stop action, as well as exploring the darker and emotional side of our human perspectives. i guess it was an excuse to let out our inner 'fanboys/fangirls' of the 1980's batman comic books (developed by bob kane and bill finger). however, the movie brought out so much more compared to the drawings and sketches imprinted in the mere books we all loved to read as a child. through the first five or six minutes of the movie, you'd already be gripping tightly upon your handrail, anticipating the rest of the heart-racing excitement there was to come. after the first few scenes of the movie, we get introduced to the villain of the movie; the joker, played by (the now deceased) heath ledger. ledger's acting capabilities and performance were shown to the extreme through this movie. his character was played out perfectly, and his portrayal of the crazed-psychopath clown was indeed flawless. the layers of his emotion were so deep, yet could be seen in his eyes, face and body, with every line he spoke. he truly WAS the joker. though, your sorrows would still sway out for him, knowing that he'd never have another performance, but alongside of that, his acting in this movie definitely screams oscar-material. there is no misunderstanding, that the highlight of this movie was heath ledger. hats off to you, heath! you would have gone very far in your career.

also some new additions to the batman cast were maggie gyllenhaal, who in my opinion played a much better rachel dawes than katie holmes compared to the first batman movie, and aaron eckhart, playing district attorney harvey dent. i think that harvey's progression into becoming 'two-face' was very well played, and christian bale (again) played batman out exceptionally well, so kudos to that.

movie blog says this, about aaron eckhart's performance in the dark knight: "I’d go so far as to say that he nearly does just as well as Ledger does as the Joker (it’s just that the Joker is a far more charismatic and extreme character and thus much more noticeable). The fact that Eckhart just blends into the story instead of standing on top of it is a testament to the job he did as an actor. So for the next couple of years we’ll all talk about how great Ledger was (and rightfully so), and we’ll talk about how Bale is the best Batman ever (and rightfully so), but let’s not forget the job done by Aaron Eckhart, who by his performance gave this great movie it’s very soul."---- and on this note, i very much agree with this. he did do an excellent job, and played an excellent character in tying this movie together.

however, some bits of the movie that bugged me were, first off batman's voice. i mean, christian bale did a great job on playing batman, but his deep and darker batman voice kind of ruined it for me. at some points it seemed like he had an appliance attached to his mouth to keep him from speaking clearly. bad deal. but otherwise, he delivered on point and precise.

this summer seems to be the hit for comic book based movies (the incredible hulk, hellboy II, and iron man.) with the dark knight proclaiming at number one. i can't say enough about this movie, but that it is a must see. i definitely see the way they are tying in the third movie into this one, and if it is anything like the two previous movies, this will be one of the best trilogies, period.

Official Movie Site: www.thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/