The Dark Knight (DVD)

...mind Batman Begins was probably the first superhero film since Superman The Movie that had its feet firmly placed o the ground in terms of story telling and plot. The long awaited sequel is about to be released and this for some is what the fans have been waiting for, that is the return of The Joker.

Just watching this film and the fact there is a sequel to Batman Begins is a bonus on its own. People though that this would never get ...
...the original cast from the first film is a true achievement and goes to show how much belief the cast have not only in the Director, Christopher Nolan, but also in the script writers. I say the majority of the cast as Katie Holmes (Mrs Tom Cruise) has not returned, she has been replaced with the excellent Maggie Gyllenhaal, who in my opinion more than makes up for the departing Ms Holmes quite effectively and also looks a better actress as a whole ... more

In my mind Batman Begins was probably the first superhero film since Superman The Movie that had its feet firmly placed o the ground in terms of story telling and plot. The long awaited sequel is about to be released and this for some is what the fans have been waiting for, that is the return of The Joker.

Just watching this film and the fact there is a sequel to Batman Begins is a bonus on its own. People though that this would never get off the ground at all, so seeing the majority of the original cast from the first film is a true achievement and goes to show how much belief the cast have not only in the Director, Christopher Nolan, but also in the script writers. I say the majority of the cast as Katie Holmes (Mrs Tom Cruise) has not returned, she has been replaced with the excellent Maggie Gyllenhaal, who in my opinion more than makes up for the departing Ms Holmes quite effectively and also looks a better actress as a whole for the part of Rachel Dawes.

At the end of the first film, Batman gave his word to Jim Gordon that he will investigate the actions of a criminal called The Joker. This film continues the story a year later but takes it to another level entirely. Batman, Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent have joined forces to combat the crime levels within Gotham City, remember all the patients that were released by the Ra's Al Ghul from Arkham Asylum in the first film? Well they are still at large in Gotham City so it is up to the newly formed alliance to deal with this terror. Working together they basically break up the criminal organisations that are attempting to run the City for there own good.

While this is going on The Joker raises his head again and this time Batman is ready for him, what appears to start off with run of the mill bank robberies soon turns into homicidal acts of terror and something that Gotham haven't seen before, a criminal who can stand up to Batman. It is this that makes Batman re-think his role in society and what he has to do to reclaim his place.

Batman as a character has also changed, a new costume and a new location, instead of Wayne Manor, you see Bruce Wayne based in his company building. Christian Bale looks settled and comfortable in the row of Wayne/ Batman, and actually looks fitter than what he did in Begins. The one thing that I respect Bale for is the fact that he goes to some depth about researching the character he plays and this is evident he is on-screen as Batman. His stance, his mannerism and how he talks all changes. He becomes very aggressive and this only allows the audience to differentiate effectively between the two characters he plays.

Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman return as Alfred and Lucious Fox respectively, again both actors appear settled in the roles and play the characters for who they are in the story. It's interesting to note that these actors have more screen time than the first film, they are also involved in a number of sub plots that involve Wayne and the methods involved in tackling the crime. A relevant subject completely that is tackled as part of the story. If anything Alfred is playing as more of the father figure in this film.

The main difference between this and the previous film is that there are a lot more characters added to the story and the plot, the introduction of Harvey Dent for instance is a good addition to the story , but I cannot help thinking that we should really have seen him in the third film. Dent's character does change and evolve throughout the film and this is entirely true to the legacy of the comics. Aaron Eckhart who plays Dent, is in my mind the best choice of actor for the role, when the character itself takes a turn for the worst then you see Eckhart really give a strong performance in the dual role that he now plays. Fans will know what I'm talking about so I won't go into any details. It does feel that he has been bought in far too early into the series and I hope this isn't a wasted opportunity.

Gary Oldman returns as Jim Gordon, this time around he has been promoted to Lieutenant from Detective. Oldman just looks the part straight away, he has a bushy moustache and glasses, all he actually needs is pure white and that will be Commissioner Gordon off to a tee. Gordon as a character has a destiny and I hope that in the following films that this plays out to entirety. Oldman's performance in The Dark Knight is spot on.

The saddest part of the cast is the late Heath Ledger; we all know that Ledger passed way earlier this year. His input into this film is staggering. His take on The Joker is what the cinema just hasn't seen for years and I think that it is this film that Ledger will be remembered for as he effectively grounds the character and totally rebuilds him into a totally different type of villain that we haven't seen before in this genre of film. His Joker has all the trademarks of the comic character in appearance such as the green hair and build, but what Ledger has done is to take his attitude towards life and increase it by 200% so that the character in the film has something against everyone and everything that means he has no boundaries or more importantly ethics, which his style towards destruction and death is shown a number of times in the story and at some points you feel guilty for laughing at what he does as the darkness of the action is truly pitch black. Forget about Jack Nicholson's version as he was overweight, and very much overpaid to play the Joker. Ledger looks the part, memorably plays the part and is awesomely mesmerising on-screen. Joker's back-story was not covered I the film at all. Thinking about it, this is actually a good idea as it means that what you see on the screen is what you get on the screen.

Visually the film is stunning, the locations used are spot on and make you believe at how big Gotham City actually is, they represent the city which is shown in more detail than before and even though Chicago was used for shooting, you see on screen a city that doesn't resemble one that you've seen before. Thankfully there is no sound stages used for external shots at all, something that Batman and Batman Returns suffered hugely from. This film has been shot on location and gives a location of reality rather than one built inside a big warehouse, and this attention to little things like this allows the audience to relate to it further and immerse themselves deeper in the story. The strange thing was that a lot of the locations were here in England, look out for Battersea Power Station in the opening minutes of the film!!!

You do get to see the Batmobile again, now the design of this I thought was magnificent as this was total 'out of the box' thinking and after I saw it again in this film I thought it was awesome!!! In this film you get to see a number of other vehicles and gadgets that our hero uses personally would like to see les as this starts to go down the Adam West road of Bat Gadgets.

Again Nolan has utilised CGI, but has deliberately kept these to a minimum. When they have been used they have been used to good effect to establish a diorama that the story unfolds ion such as the city scape or an action that was hard to shoot. What I'm saying is that the CGI utilised by Nolan is there to add to the story.

The film isn't perfect, such as the size of the cast of actors, but in all honesty I can say that these doesn't distract from the story or the plot, yes there are more Bat-Gadgets and Bat-Vehicles than before and yes the character of Wayne/ Batman has grown and evolved and his immediate colleagues have also evolved with him, but there is some points in here that feel as if the story is going by the "golden rules" of hero films, one example is at a slow point ion the film when Wayne is contemplating giving up the Batman mantle as he feels he is in second place to Dent who is on a personal crusade and basically feels as if he is not required anymore. The film has more emotion and feeling that gives it a lot of gravity. In this film there is just a hell of a lot of stuff going on that is told throughout the length of the film.

Nolan's direction of the film is what we have now come to expect from him as the Director, sharp and allows the shot to be held long enough for the film to tell its own story. You can see this man is a big fan of the graphic novels and comics in the way that he seems to have thought about every shot and every equivalent angle used. I hope the third film doesn't go like the original four films, that is change of production team, loss of balance between the main character and villains and most important of all a cast change. If the last one was to happen then I seriously think that that would impact the films credibility entirely. Nolan wrote the screen play with his brother Jonathan and I think they have produced an excellent follow up to Begins and thanks to the writing skills of David S Goyer who co-wrote with Nolan they have given us a film which has more meat on it than the original, with enough room for a sprinkling of humour as well as absorbing a number of topical subjects into the story that are dealt with throughout. The action scenes are finely balanced and do generate a healthy amount of suspense and excitement, the interesting thing is that you shouldn't go on what has happened in other Batman films as this film delivers a number of surprises especially some of the main characters in this film, who in some places don't necessarily act in the way that we have come to expect.

Naturally with Ledger's passing this has probably changed the focus of why people will go and see it. If you ask me, this is a high quality Batman film, strangely without 'Batman' in the title, that will be something that people will enjoy immensely. Be aware that this is a dark film throughout and a lot darker than the previous one. The set pieces are excellent, but in places can be quite violent in nature.

The film is also longer than the first; this one comes in at 152 minutes in length. 

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