"The Dark Knight"
2008
PG-13
Produced by: Christopher Nolan, Lorne Orleans, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Johnathon and Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
Warner Bros. Pictures


5/5 Stars
Consensus: The Dark Knight is hands down the best super hero movie ever made to date. It will be extremely difficult, if at all possible, to top this perfect blend of casting, directing and brilliant screenplay. Seeing it for the previews when it came out for the first time in July of 2008 are among my fondest cinema memories. Seeing it then changed my life and seeing it now makes my life a little better each time.

Plot: Continuing off of the first film, Batman Begins(2005), "Bruce Wayne"(Christian Bale) continues to fight mob crime under the alias "Batman." As tensions with the mob increase, and with the election of new DA, "Harvey Dent"(Aaron Eckhart) Gotham crime families grow uneasy and hire the psychotic "Joker"(Heath Ledger) to help restore them to power.

Directing: Christopher Nolan directs the gritty super hero epic with all the intensity, and density a hero such as "The Dark Knight" needs. You can tell how well he knows his action, his grit, his characters. Due to Nolan's directing this film is one of the most vivid retellings of Batman that has ever been created. *****

Acting: Heath Ledger's "Joker" will, and has, gone down as one of the best played villains in film history. Everybody else does a superb job at what they do. But the Joker is the best part of the film, even to the point that I almost wanted less of everybody else and more of the Joker, like a Joker movie, with Batman as a side character. The villains monologues are among the best in cinema history. "Wanna know how I got these scars?" and "Why so serious?" are so quotable. Classic. And made perfect by Heath Ledger. Contrary to popular belief this was actually his 2nd to last ever film, his last film was The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus(2009). He passed away while the film was still in shooting stage and his role was filled by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Firth. Just a fun fyi. *****

Editing: The sheer pacing of this film is exhilarating  Every minute of it screams Batman. Every minute is intense and on your feet, with a couple moments of quite for you to take it all in. This my friends is how you edit an action flick. Shot by shot and frame by frame we are taken on high speed chase to plot thickening essentials with such flawless precision as one could hope for. *****

Art Direction: Gotham really comes alive and is as gritty and realistic as ever. Nolan and crew have succeeded in creating a world that is believable and virtually tangible. From Bruce Wayne's ever so classy pent-house to the grimy Gotham underground, the art direction is awesome. One of my favorite bits of the film comes during a tunnel chase sequence in which the Joker is shooting at an armored S.W.A.T vehicle. As the Joker pulls up you see the logo for the trucking company he and his henchman have high-jacked. It originally reads "Laughter is the best medicine!" but he or one of his croonies has spray painted an "S" in front of laughter so it now reads "Slaughter is the best medicine!" This is exactly what the Joker would do, or feels like the exact thing he would do if he were real. The psyche of each character is brilliantly reflected in the art direction *****

Cinematography: The Dark Knight was shot on IMAX cameras, or in other words it was intended to be panoramic and big. And it is. From the opening long shot of buildings and skyscrapers to an awesome angling of the Joker with a tommy gun firing into the night and at oncoming traffic while muttering to himself, the cinematography, like the rest of the film, is big and exciting. Oh and its really pretty to look at all the mayhem with such nice framing and angling and shooting etc.  *****

Screenplay: Epic Joker monologues? Check. Intense interrogation scenes? Check. Philosophical insight on idealistic paradigms? Check. Whitty banter between Bruce Wayne and Alfred(Micheal Cane)? Check. Gangsters talking believable slang? Check. My favorite word on this blog? Brilliant. Just like this screenplay. *****

CGI/Special Effects: The explosions were consistently the coolest thing ever. And there were lots and lots of them throughout the film. A scene where a helicopter gets taken down with grappling hooks is also very realistic and cool. All of the graphics follow suit and put a wonderful 5 star cherry on top of this 5 star film! *****