The Dark Knight (2008) 12 *****

The Dark Knight (2008) 12 *****


Dir: Christopher Nolan


Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart


Synopsis: Continuing a year after the events of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight follows Batman, Gordon, and the new Detective Attorney (DA) Harvey Dent in their war on crime, in which a new and extremely dangerous villain has appeared who 'Just want's to watch the world burn'.


Verdict: Where to begin with the second instalment of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is a tough question to ask. Do you focus on the tension created throughout the film, the acting talent, the brilliant plot, or the tragedy linked with the film?

Those who have already read my Batman Begins review will be aware of my views towards Nolan's re-imagining of the Batman story, and The Dark Knight continues to build on this style effortlessly. The main feature of the second film in the series is the tension that is created due to the character of Ledgers Joker.

This is achieved in an impressively simple way: to use a discordant soundtrack to add to Ledgers performance - a single reverberating note causing discomfort and providing an aural representation of the mentality of the Joker character.

The other feature, which reflects again the style of the films and the psyche of the character is the make-up effects used for the Joker, with his 'war-paint' being as much a part of the him as the performance. The stark difference between this and the make-up used in the camp-tastic TV series and Tim Burton's Batman (and the characterisation by Jack Nicholson) reveals the dark nature of the films.

This brings me onto Ledger's outstanding performance. The way he creates the clearly unstable psyche of the Joker is far and away the best performance in the film, as his character drives the other characters responses. Bale and Oldman's performances show a heightened desperation and urgency, and the 'breaking of rules' that the characters have in order to beat him.

Eckhart also shines in the film with his Harvey Dent (known from the comic's as Harvey Two-Face), portraying the good side of the chracter, shot through with the darkness that is fed by the Joker to become the 'villain' known as Two Face.

Again with this film, as with the last, Hans Zimmer writes the score, and the soundtrack is one of the stand out features of the film, as it has been with Inception and Batman Begins, Nolan's other films which he has produced music for.

Sadly, the over-riding feature of The Dark Knight's media coverage is the death of Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, after an accidental overdose a few weeks after filming had finished. Despite, or possibly in part to this unfortunate publicity, the film still became a hugely successful sequel at the box office, and he received posthumous awards from both the BAFTA's and Oscars for Best Supporting Male Actor.