Rating of
4/4
Nolan’s Opus
James - wrote on 09/08/22
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight has always been my favorite movie its respective genre since its release in 2008. It’s one of the only films of its ilk to feel like it could have been something else. Even Logan wore its mutant identity on its sleeve. In fact the first time I ever watched it I found myself telling someone it was my favorite film of the decade up to that point.
I am going to cliche route and start my review by praise Heath Ledger, may he Rest In Peace. What can I say about this performance? It’s one of those star turns that would have sent him into the stratosphere if he had lived. The mannerisms, the laugh, the entire persona. You couldn’t even tell it was him if you didn’t know to look for him. His performance is the only performance of its kind to win the Oscar. I think giving such a strong performance as to breakdown those walls is impressive.
The supporting cast around him were fine, with the exception of Maggie Gyllenhaal. She just seemed to be struggling. She wasn’t god awful like someone on the CW but her performance was jarring enough to notice she wasn’t on the same level as everyone else. Christian Bale was good, Aaron Eckhart was great, especially near the end of the film. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were their same old selfs. Cillian Murphy was good and Gary Oldman was good despite accent problems.
I need to nit pick the script. When watching this film I couldn’t help but think about how Joker’s plan went by too easily. I’m sure that it is okay for Batman stories but a lot of writers who might write a story like this aren’t going to have Batman as a character. It’s hard to see everything in this movie as not being a battle between the Batman side of the story and the street clothes side.
Conversely Hans Zimmer did a world class job on this score, as per usual. The score was never dull, fit with the motions occurring on screen, had emotional depth to them, and were good for listening to outside of the movie theater. Hans really does know how to make some of the best scores ever when it comes to film.
Enough technical talk. What really makes this film so above average when it comes to superheroes is that, while it’s script could handle it better, it is something grounded in some sort of realism. It’s in that realism that you see a lot less outlandish things occur. While Bruce is Bruce to some extent, his role in this version of the lore is closest to normal that any version of Bruce has ever been. I really like the nature of that even if the script needs to catch up.
I couldn’t finish my review without giving props to Christopher Nolan who made the best film of 2008 and the last DC property to smash Marvel. It really does make me wonder what would have happened if he had stayed.
