Movie review: The Dark Knight
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jul 18, 2008 
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The Dark Knight is the first film I can remember that people actually applauded the trailers in the months leading up to its release. It left you wondering: Were those the best three minutes? Could any movie be that good?
Count me in as among those on who the advertising worked. I purchased a ticket on-line last week and caught the movie last night in a packed house. Yes, it was that good. Director Christopher Nolan starts with a gripping scene and there’s one after another right until the end. There’s no building to a climax here.
Mark down Heath Ledger for a posthumous Academy Award. The Joker is his greatest role and he was better than Jack Nicholson, which didn’t seem possible. Christian Bale does the brooding Batman thing better than the previous Batmans and adds a nice touch of irony.
The supporting cast is over-the-top good. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are the wise old heads on Batman’s staff. Gary Oldman is the incorruptible cop. Also dug Eric Roberts as a mobster. Maggie Gyllenhaal is the girl in the middle, Batman’s secret love.
The third man in to the Batman/Joker battle is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. He’s the key to the whole film from a story sense. The Dark Knight isn’t remotely a goofy comic book movie. It’s a classic battle of good against evil where the protagonists happen to be comic book characters. This film has much more the tone of Michael Mann’s Heat in that it’s about Gotham and it’s internal struggle. Things have to get worse before they better in Gotham and do they get worse. The city (Chicago, never looking more sinister) is a character in the film as much as any person.
The morality play aside, the action sequences had people cheering in the theater. The most amusing moments are from Ledger, whose Joker is equally a sadistic anarchist and comedian. He makes blowing up a hospital hilarious. This is not a flick for the kids. It’s complex and disturbing at times.
Other than Iron Man, it has been a disappointing summer at the movies so far. The Dark Knight made up for it and then some.
Don’t flip a coin, go see this. But buy your tickets on line and get there early. The place will be a madhouse. I want to see it again, supposedly it’s even better in IMAX.
saw the midnight showing last night.
unbelievable. even with all the hype it lives up to it. Ledger was creepy good.
Thanks for the review, Pete. I’m seeing it in IMAX on saturday, and can’t wait
i’ll wait til it’s on tv
Thanks for the heads up. This is one of those movies that you could just tell is going to be good. Man I’d love to see it in IMAX.
Is the novelization of the movie out yet?
I’m not interested in watching the movie, I only want to read the story.
Batman’s got character. can The Dark Knight hit lefties and play 1B?
i’ll wait til it’s on tv
jeesh, you must hate comic books. So negative about such a great film
I saw it last night in IMAX.
It was unbelievable. Heath Ledger was so good the audience applauded after his first scene
The pencil scene was fantastic. So was the hospital scene.
I’m gonna try to see it at 6pm tonight here in the District if anyone still has tickets – the Udvar-Hazy Center IMAX theater at Dulles Airport is sold out for 4 straight days already.
I also saw it last night in IMAX and it was my first IMAX movie. I thought it was amazing, Heath Ledger was so creepy good it was ridiculous. Great movie everyone should go see it.
Sorry..I’m not sure if anyone would consider my last post spoilers…I apologize..I was just rambling.
I thought Jack Nicholson nailed the Joker and was unsure if it could be done any better, but I keep hearing Ledger put in a wonderful perfomance. I have to see for myself once the buzz dies and the theatres aren’t as packed.
Loved the scene with the broken pool cue telling the guys that they were holding tryouts.
The only problem is they should have gotten a much hotter DA than gyllenhal.
Gary Oldman: The man.
I’m going to see it at the IMAX tonight if it’s not sold out. I’m guessing I may have to settle for the midnight, or even the 3:15am showing though…
Pete, don’t bother with IMAX. Only 28 minutes of the film were filmed using IMAX cameras.
I dunno, the 28 minutes and goodie bags they gave us were (I thought) worth it.
The Pencil Scene was amazing. Beyond words. Just amazing.
How about the trailer for Watchmen that dropped last night?
It’s online in a bunch of places, including
http://www.richardpachter.com/
Pete said “The Dark Knight isn’t really a comic book movie. It’s a classic battle of good against evil where the protagonists happen to be comic book characters.”
When is the last time you read a comic book Pete? That’s exactly what comic books are all about.
Brent, i’m not really a fan of comics turned movies, just because there have been so many lately.
i’m not a fan of anything that is overhyped SO MUCH. i was hearing about this movie this past winter. i don’t think i’ve ever heard so many things about a movie that much in advance.
i’m also not a big fan of the freaking iPhone. if they ever came out with an iBatphone, i think my head would explode.
saucY, the difference here is that TDK isn’t being overhyped… to be overhyped something has to fail to live up to the hype. IMO, TDK is everything it was supposed to be and more. The acting, the plot, the camera work, the music, it’s all brilliant. I honestly can’t think of a way it could be better.
I don’t think TDK was overhyped. It really was that good.
i mean, it’s not perfect, there are some flaws, but it’s by far the best movie I’ve seen this year.
Pete-
What happened to Katie Holmes, aka Rachel Dawes,his former secret love, from the last movie, Batman Begins?
Don’t try to convince saucY, he is one of those guy that love to be different then the rest of the world.Uniqueness is the word he is after.
Don’t try to convince saucY, he is one of those guy that love to be different then the rest of the world.Uniqueness is the word he is after.
yeah, replace ‘overhyped’ with ‘hyped a whole bunch’ (which nobody can deny) in my last post if you want.
Yankee Trader:
Katie joined a strange, outer space alien-worshipping cult, became the bride of a charismatic short person of indeterminate sexuality, was inseminated with the deceased cult founder’s seed and… oops.
Thanks for the review … my husband wants me to see this with him this weekend and I was arguing that I didn’t want to see yet another remake … but I guess I’ll shut my mouth and go along for the ride now!
Yankee Trader–they realized Katie Holmes was glaringly bad in the other movie and had to be replaced or she would ruin this one too.
I won’t get to see it until next week. Ack.
Whitey-
Liked your response-still lol!
Love Nolan’s work, but thought Batman Begins really didn’t go anywhere- the first half was good, the scond half- to quote Borat- not so much.
Does Maggie show her boobs? That would be great.
“don’t flip a coin” – great. Just saw it. The Joker was an amazing character. Didn’t know Heath was such a terrific actor.
caught a midnight showing. absolutely amazing.
Dark Knight trailer parody: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8sYBqhOEdRQ
Pete-
I saw this today on IMAX and it was awesome. The house was packed! Imax is the way to see this movie. Don’t listen to any naysayers, it’s worth it. Although there are only several scemes shot in IMAX, the rest of the film is upconverted to play on a wider screen. It’s incredible.
Absolutely incredible…Ledger gave me chills!
Peter-
Michael Mann’s Heat wasn’t set in Gotham, but rather L.A.
The difference being the compact, hetrogenous urban density of NYC or Chicago vs a broad freeway, open-air convertible feel of Heat.
Perhaps Edward Zwick’s The Siege is a better comparisons.
I’ve seen it twice so far. Once at a sneak preview at an imax on wednesday and then today at a regular multiplex. It may only have 30 minutes of imax footage but those minutes ROCKED. It was so huge and crystal clear. Having seen both I can say that with the size, the IMAX blows away the regular.
Don’t flip a coin made me laugh because I get it now…Ahh I just saw this movie tonight after i went to the game and I am telling you, its worth staying up til almost 4 am for.
kudos to the makers Dark Knight for their record breaking opening weekend… it’s no wonder there’s talk of another one coming out ASAP