The Dark Knight

Set just one year after he began (or begun?), Batman continues the seemingly endless effort to bring order to Gotham, with the help of Lt. James Gordon and newly appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent. But a new threat has emerged on the streets, The Joker.

The follow-up to the action hit “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham City for good.  The triumvirate initially proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces The Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. 

 

 

                    This is one sequel that certainly lives up to all the hype.  In fact, in my humble opinion it surpasses its predecessor.  Bale is excellent as Batman and Bruce Wayne once again (although his husky Batman voice does border on the ridiculous), but Heath is the real star here.  There was talk of a posthumous oscar for him but lets be honest, if the film hadn’t endured such a tragedy then they would never even think to nominate anyone for a performance in a superhero film.

Aaron Eckhart does well as Harvey Dent, and the effects used for his alta ego are both amazing and sinister.  He gives a convincing performance both as Harvey the up and coming District Attorney, and two-face, the psychotic killer hell bent on revenge.  Gary Oldman is back as Lieutenant Gordan and Maggie Gyllenhall adequately replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes.

The action is superb and breathtaking in the Dark Knight, most importantly though it does not feel like a standard usual superhero film where each story line seems to just be a set up for the next action piece.  Nolan has expertly managed to create a comic book movie that crosses genres which makes me want to call it an action/thriller movie first and superhero movie second.

I’m sure it will lose some of its lusture as it transfers from the big screen to DVD but this is still one of the must have discs of the year.

DVD Special Features

• Gotham Uncovered – how Christopher Nolan and his team developed the new Bat-suit and Bat-pod and composer Hans Zimmer musically characterized The Joker’s reign of chaos.
• The Dark Knight IMAX® scenes: view these 6 action-packed sequences
• Gotham Tonight - 6 episodes of Gotham Cable’s premier news programme
• The Galleries: poster art and production stills