Film Review: The Dark Knight

I just saw the movie of the summer everyone has been waiting to see. And I am pleased to report, that it was the bomb. Well, not in every way. I was more impressed by Heath Ledger's Joker and Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent, than by Bale as the Batman.

Great actors. All three of them. But, Christian Bale sounded like he had throat cancer every time he dons the cape and cowl. He was forcing it a little to hard in some scenes. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, however, was a more natural performance. I felt like he did not have to try as hard to be the billionaire as opposed to the BATMAN.

Ledger's performance as the Joker is the end cap of a very promising career and a life that ended too soon. IF Batman is the anti-hero (a dark heart with a soul)then his arch nemesis the Joker is the consummate villain (a dark heart with no soul). Ledger's Joker does what he does because he can; he is evil, pure and simple. We may never no how the Joker came to actually be in this case. His story is told in dialogue with other characters. In one scene, he says his father scarred him and in another he implies that he did it to himself. One thing is certain, Heath Ledger put his whole heart into making a believably electric performance. And I will always remember him for that.

Aaron Eckhart is also not just another pretty face. As Gotham City's DA and future villain (the notorious Two Face), Harvey Dent was Gotham's hope personified. It was tragic to watch his character change and become corrupted like his face. But, with or without the cool make up, we see an irrevocably broken man. And with him (because of the Joker's meddling) went the hope of a city without crime and an easier life out of the shadows for Bruce Wayne.

All in all, an entertaining film.

To my other cohorts on this blog, sorry I beat you to this.