The Dark Knight

Story: 9
Action: 7
Acting: 10
FX: 8
Durability: 8

I finally saw The Dark Knight on my second attempt. I tried 2 Fridays ago for the first showing at the Lincoln Center IMAX and it was sold out. I just went for the normal format this morning and the crowd level was much more comfortable. There couldn't have been more than 30 of us in the theater.

Picking up where Batman Begins left off, The Dark Knight centered around Batman's most well-known rival, the Joker. They also worked in Two-Face, Boss Maroni and a short bit with Scarecrow, but the pieces to the plot were done so well that the overload of characters didn't detract from the storyline (as it did in Spiderman 3). The first movie was a re-introduction of Batman for the modern audience. Dark Knight did a good job of transitioning him over
from a beginner to an expert crime fighter. He did more detective work in this one and he also had the arrogant Batman swagger as he cleaned up the streets.

The action was up to par with the amazing fight scenes from Batman Begins. They used the same base fighting style of KFM (Keysi Fighting Method). The new suit, vehicles and gadgets added a lot to the action and special effects. It's so non-stop that it doesn't feel like 2 hours & 30 minutes running time. By the end of the movie, I actually wanted it to be longer!

So many aspects of this film were impressive, but it was carried mostly by strong acting. Without it, a genre like this could become a children's movie like the previous versions. As a life-long Batman fan, I'm really enjoying the Christian Bale era. He easily beats out all of his predecessors because he does a great Batman and Bruce Wayne. Bale, Caine, Oldman & Freeman all reprised their roles from the first movie and continued the same level of acting. Maggie Gyllenhaal took over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes. Gyllenhaal doesn't really look like Holmes, but I think she did a good job of continue the personality. She nailed down the attitude and mannerisms perfectly. The other new star was Heath Ledger playing the Joker. At first I thought that was an odd match. I couldn't see him in that role at all... very wacky compared to other characters he's played. Also, he doesn't really look like the Joker, who should be thin and elongated. This role really brought his acting up a notch because he played it just as it should be played. The Joker is supposed to be a psychotic serial killer, but still very smart and in control. Bale & Ledger are easily the best translation from comic to live action. I can tell that they also studied the voices from Batman: The Animated Series done by Mark Hamill (Joker) and Kevin Conroy (Batman).

I usually don't go to the theaters these days because of the prices, but just had to see this one on the big screen. So I spent $8.50 for a matinee showing & $10 on snacks... $18.50. The price of the special edition DVD will probably be $22... just a bit more!

Related: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Comics