I had the craziest expectations going into this film. I mean, after watching “Iron Man” earlier this year, I seriously doubted I’d see a superhero flick of equal or greater quality this year. Logic and probability could simply not allow it, even if I fucking loved “Batman Begins” and gobbled down Nolan’s “The Prestige” raw. But then the torrential down-flow of insanely good reviews started pouring in, calling The Dark Knight “the best superhero movie yet”, “Oscar worthy” and “The Godfather 2 of superhero films”. I couldn’t resist the hype, and when I got the quality confirmed by Loki (a Batman connoisseur if you’ve ever met one) who gave it a meagre 10/10, I was just about ready to spin off this side of the Earth.

Now I didn’t just expect The Dark Knight to simply blow me away, because I was so hyped up that that a tornado of fell proportions would have had trouble swaying me. I’d have sniffed and said sarcastically, “Is that all you got?”, and left the cinema feeling utterly dismayed if the movie wasn’t a cataclysmic, apocalyptic, world-shattering experience of pure existential awesomeness.

So I sat down to watch it, feeling pretty doomed and also a little bit silly. Nothing could live up to what I was there to see, and obviously it didn’t because, well, you’re still here right? No worlds got shattered, no apocalypses, however slight they might have been, did come to pass. But I did feel a more than a little rattled when I walked out, and also more than a little bewildered. Despite the extensive amounts of reviews I’d read, nothing had fully prepared me for what Nolan had thrown together. I had to watch it a second time before I could post my review. I had to have a second chance at examining the nuts and bolts and which wheel went where and when.

And now that I have done that, I kinda just want to go back and watch it one more time.

Please…

Just one more time!

The Dark Knight is the sequel to the lauded origin story aptly named “Batman Begins”, which hit the box offices in 2005, though the two films aren’t dependant on each other at all. You’re of course more likely to enjoy The Dark Knight on more levels if you’ve seen its predecessor, but I actually brought with me someone who hadn’t seen BB on my second trip to Gotham City, and he said it was the best film he’d seen… well, he said “ever!“, but I’m sure he meant “in a very long time”. He also had the benefit of not seeing Katie Homes in the part of “Rachel Dawes”, because she was replaced with Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Donnie Darko”, “Secretary”) in The Dark Knight due to “conflicting schedules” (i.e. get the crazy scientologist the hell away from this movie!).

This movie takes it cue from the ending of BB where Batman is handed a joker card and told that there’s this lunatic clown that’s been causing all kinds of mischief in Gotham City. Batman is doing his best to shut down the mob and clean up Gotham, so this two-bit criminal is naturally some way down on his to-do list. But when the movie kicks off with a bank heist scene (that totally kicks ass btw) where the Joker plays an integral part, Batman and Lt. Gordon has to push forward with their plans to cut the mob where it hurts – their wallets.

I won’t go into further detail about the plot of the movie right now because the guy who spoils The Dark Knight for you is someone who deserves more than a pitchfork or two. I will, however, say that this film is quite different from any other superhero movie that I’ve ever seen, because it doesn’t really feature the superhero – Batman – as its one and only protagonist. He is obviously the most important cast member, but he’s used sparingly and more as a bystander ready to step in if he’s ever needed. Does that sound a bit lame? Well, trust me – it isn’t. It’s fucking brilliant, because it helps Nolan bring the film into the gritty, realistic vein he’s aiming for in a way no one’s ever done with a superhero film before, and it’s probably also why this movie is the first in the genre that can be a serious contender for a Best Picture nod. Because The Dark Knight is a film so filled with drama and awesome performances that it in my opinion leaves this year’s winner, “No Country for Old Men”, eating bittersweet dust. This movie has twists, it has turns and it has a real venomous bite…

… And by all that is holy, it is a triumph of style in every way. It’s beautifully shot, giving you the wide look when it’s needed as well as the up-close and personal angles that brings the characters to life. If there is one area that Nolan can improve, it’s his action sequences who’re sometimes a little too chaotic and not as stressful as some directors make them. It’s better in this movie than it was in Batman Begins, but there are a few sequences that could have needed ironing out in this one, too. Another thing that bug me with these movies are the horribly generic background chatter that we have to put up with while Batman is flying over roof-tops or getting hit by flying projectiles. I guess they’re meant to be funny, but they’re really not. For example, there’s a scene where a helicopter crashes during a car-chase scene where a police officer goes “That’s not good!” when it starts to go down and follows up with “That’s not good!!” when it hits the ground. I guess I’m just nit-picking now, but I this movie is so spotless that I have to pull the scab off something…

Like Heath Ledger’s new portrayal of “The Joker”. Ledger, who recently passed away after having completed this movie, does the performance of his lifetime in this role, and anyone who says Jack Nicholson did it better is a lying bastard or does simply not have any comprehension of what goes into the part. Ledger is plays the Joker as true psychotic, and when he says he’s got no rules, that he’s an agent of chaos, he leaves you no choice but to believe him. But the part of the Joker isn’t only (the litotes are truly overflowing tonight) terrific because of how remarkably well played and believable he is, but also because he’s a plot device that every writer must dream of. He can do anything and be believed to be behind everything. Every action he takes can be justified by saying, “Well, he’s the Joker! What did you expect?”. And that’s probably why I had to watch this movie twice to fully wrap my head around it. ’cause some of the twists aren’t fully comprehensible if you don’t understand what lunatic the Joker truly is.

As for the characters, I couldn’t find a flaw there either except with Gyllenhaal, whom I never really warmed to. She was good and did her job just fine, but man, I loathe it when they change actors in the same roles. It’s jarring and it takes away something of my suspension of disbelief, but then again, everything is better than a scientologist in a leading role, so I guess I should shut up. Aaron Eckhart (“Thank You For Smoking”, “The Black Dahlia”) pulls off a smashing performance as Harvey Dent, though I’d have been surprised if he’d done anything less. The guy’s an outstanding actor. The Batman himself, Christian Bale, is not in my opinion as good as Eckhart or Ledger (who is?), but he does fit the bill perfectly and he continues to deepen the character with The Dark Knight. Hopefully the rumours about Bale beating on his sister and mother are untrue (unlikely as it might seem at this point), because I’d have to actively dislike him if they weren’t, but for now I’m content to say that he does a good job here. Nothing can change that, just like nothing, apparently, can change the fact that he’s an unbelievable asshole. Who knocks around their own family? Sheesh.

I could go on and on about this movie, but I have to wrap things up sometime, and since I can’t think of any major sticking points against it, besides, you know, that it has an ending (a good one, too), I’ll leave you with these thoughts: The Dark Knight is for me the closest thing to perfection this genre has ever produced and if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out on one of your generations cultural highlights. Remember Star Wars? The Godfather films? Grease? Titanic?

Someday it’s going to be, “Remember that Batman movie, The Dark Knight?”

And if that isn’t the strongest recommendation anyone could give, I don’t know what you’re looking for.

10/10