The Dark Knight, the much-hyped sequel to 2005 film Batman Begins, features Batman's most formidable nemesis - the Joker.
SPOILER WARNING: If you haven't seen The Dark Knight, stop reading right here!

The Plot

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.
[Source: IMDB]

The Movie

In one word, The Dark Knight is sublime. Of all films I've seen, none have come so close to perfection as The Dark Knight - there's always something missing, but in this movie, nothing. Gotham city looks a lot like New York, but it was instead filmed in Chicago, plus Hong Kong. The atmosphere of the film is dark & stressful, since the theme of The Dark Knight is the battle between good & evil, with emphasis on the killing of innocents (hence, to some certain extent, a portrayal of the War on Terror). It's also ominous because Batman is also waging a war against his inner demons.

The Dark Knight is very far from your common superhero movies - Iron Man, Spiderman, X-men, etc. Of course, Batman is the only superhero who's not a superhero & the Joker isn't just a joker. More importantly, this is not a just movie, it's pure art.

The Batman/Bruce Wayne

Batman is no superhero - he's just a watchful protector... a normal human being who has his own flaws & weaknesses. & his relentless pursuit against criminals forced the mob to turn towards someone they didn't really understand. Throughout the whole film, Batman's purpose is to clean up Gotham & pass on his legacy to the White Knight, the DA, so that he could finally quit being Batman & get reunited with his love. But as expected, things didn't turn out that way...
Btw Batman drives a Batmobile that ejects as a Batpod. :P

The Two-Face/Harvey Dent

Harvey Dent is the District Attorney of Gotham, who is equally as stubborn as Batman in fighting the mob. However, when the Joker succeeds in misleading Batman in rescuing him, half of his face is burnt, leaving him as Two-Face. Although Two-Face was a big Batman foe in the comics, Two-Face managed to appear only in the climax & since he's already dead, he won't be returning in the next Batman...

The Joker

The real hero of The Dark Knight is... the villain. The Joker is not the buffoon depicted in previous Batman films & comics. He's a sadistic killer, a scheming madman, a knife-wielding psychopath - evil in every sense. His plans are incomprehensible to anyone but himself. The Joker's painted scarred face is nightmarish as well as his facial expressions - rolling his eyes, licking his lips.

If Christian Bale was excellent in his role as Batman, it's nothing compared to Heath Ledger as the Joker. No one would have believed that this is the same Brokeback Cowboy. The fact is that to really get into the role, Heath Ledger spent one month locked in a hotel room rehearsing his dialogues & practising his expressions. The end-result was terrific, producing one of the greatest villains of all time, more evil than Hannibal Lecter. But it was perhaps the Joker that drove Heath Ledger to severe depression ending into his death by prescription drug overdose. He rightfully deserves a posthumous Oscar for that outstanding piece of acting. & as a tribute to Heath Ledger, Christopher Nolan decided not to add any special effects to any of the Joker's acting.

The Murciélago

Bruce Wayne is one of the richest man in the world, so obviously he'll have one of the best cars - the Lamborghini Murciélago, meaning Bat in Spanish. Too bad he crashed it to save the squealer... & btw such a crash in real would have completely destroyed the car.

The Tube

Batman is a geek! Yeah, he has Nokia's first touchscreen phone, the 5800 XpressMusic.

& Batman went beyond & transformed the phone into a sonar, sending & receiving high frequency pulses for echolocation exactly like in a BAT submarine. Although in reality, such a concept won't work.

The Soundtrack & Special Effects
The Dark Knight's OST has a dark tone, but it harmonizes perfectly to the scenario. Hats off to Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard!
The mantra of any blockbuster movie is special effects (CGI). But in The Dark Knight, Chris Nolan has kept special effects to a minimum, but still ended up with a great film. There were no animated monsters, nor transforming robots - only a few big explosions & the Batpod. :)

The Dialogues

But the real driving force behind The Dark Knight is in fact the dialogues... you really need to be a genius to think up of such dialogues! & I believe these will become iconic lines that will quoted forever... Some of my favs:

- See, I'm not a monster...I'm just ahead of the curve.
- This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
- Y'see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little...push.
- The world is cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is chance.
- I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair.
- I'm not wearing hockey pads! :P

More here!

11 out of 10

The Dark Knight is a masterpiece - not only the best movie of the year, but the best movie I've ever watched…
If you haven't re-watched it yet, The Dark Knight is still running in theatres or you can wait for the Blu-Ray release on 9th December.

Wiki: The Dark Knight
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