Movie Review - The Dark Knight

Rare is the movie that lives up to its pre-release hype. Rarer still is the movie which blows away all expectations, exceeding even the highest hopes held by its franchise's loyalists. The Dark Knight belongs to the latter category. Calling it a movie, especially a super hero movie does it great injustice. It is a cinematic event. A benchmark that all future movie makers can only aspire to attain.

The Dark Knight's central theme is not really too different from other super hero movies. The secretive protagonist cannot reveal his true identity; his biggest fear is the fact that his loved ones are exposed to great danger. He struggles with a love/hate relationship with the public. Ultimately, he is forced into a massive showdown by the villain, and defends his city putting himself at great peril. Sure, this story reads a bit like Spiderman 3. Heck, even the rather pathetic Hancock had similar story elements. However, the storyline forms only a tiny portion of what The Dark Knight has to offer. The movie's zing comes from the unrelentingly dark screenplay.

The comicky feel of super hero movies can often be attributed to caricatured villains (remember Spidey's wussy dialogue "oh green goblin, what have you done....") These traditional villains have something logical (at least to their twisted minds) to fight for. And that is where The Dark Knight makes a radical shift from its genre. Batman's nemesis is the Joker. And the Joker wreaks havoc for one simple reason - because he can. As the movie progresses, the Joker's antics become increasingly terrifying - even Gotham's conventional villains (the mobsters) cannot survive. The Joker does not really want to destroy Batman - he needs Batman's good to contrast with his evil.

Much has been said and written by Heath Ledger's performance. He deserves every accolade and then some more. With his greasy hair, chilling voice, mirthless laughter, macabre makeup and scars across his cheeks (a tiny hint into the horrors he suffered as a child), Heath takes method acting to heights never before scaled by any other actor on this planet. I would love to watch this movie again, just to experience Heath's spine chilling performance.

While The Dark Knight belongs to Heath all the way, it would be a shame to ignore the supporting cast - Christian Bale as Batman, and Aaron Eckhart as the city's district attorney shine. Maggie Gyllenhal replaces Katie Holmes. I found her performance a tad disappointing - there was at least some chemistry between Katie and Christian. She also did bring some urgency and earnestness to her character.

The musical score by Hans Zimmer is simply brilliant. Also notable is the gritty action - there is very little use of CGI. Every stunt has been painstakingly executed. Even the heart stopping 18 wheeler chase was shot using actual vehicles, right in the narrow streets of Chicago. And speaking of Chicago, the director makes splendid use of the grand old city, transforming it into Gotham just by using strategic art direction and muted camera work.

Watch The Dark Knight. It is brilliant. Thank you Heath. We sure will miss you.