The Blog of Mr. Buckner

The Dark Knight is the sequel to the very well done reboot of the Batman series, The Batman Begins. Christian Bale is back as Batman/Bruce Wayne and so are Michael Caine(Alfred), Morgan Freeman(Lucius Fox), and Gary Oldman(Lt. James Gordon). Along with that Christopher Nolan is once again directing with newcomers Aaron Eckhart(Harvey Dent) and Heath Ledger(The Joker). To say this movie is awesome would be an understatement. It already broke the opening day record with $66 million. So let’s look and see why so serious…

I went into this expecting great things. After hearing the death of Heath Ledger and reading up on it I noticed that he, like many great actors, threw himself into the character. Not only that but it seems not only Heath, but Aaron Eckhart, Christian Bale, and hell the whole cast threw themselves into their characters. They knew they had to do everything picture perfect to get this right. Character development is the main factor in this movie.

Back onto Heath Ledger as The Joker and there are two words I can sum it up in, simply terrifying. I have never seen something so scary on the screen but at the same time more correct about the world around us. The Joker knew that some men can’t always stay good forever and he planned to prove it. Now whether his planned worked or not he changed the people of Gotham City forever. Now back onto Heath’s performance. Ledger killed himself for this role and it is the most eerily, energetic, amusing, and down right frightful performances of all time. He made me laugh at very sick yet humorous things. Heath’s walk out of the hospital as it blew to pieces cracked me up because he as The Joker knew he would find it amusing. Heath is going to get an Oscar for this role I believe and if he doesn’t it a great tragedy. He doesn’t deserve it for his death but for the performance of a lifetime. Also, his Joker is ten times better than Jack’s. Just my opinion.

Not all of the credit goes to Ledger as The Joker. Props have to be shelled out to Aaron Eckhart who as Harvey Dent proved that even the best of men can be corrupted. His slow decent into the Two Face was just as terrifying as The Joker but it left me wanting more of Two Face. That is my only gripe of the movie. Harvey Dent is a very emotional driven character and Aaron Eckhart threw everything he had into him and made him seem like he was a main player right beside The Batman and The Joker, just like it was supposed to be.

Christian Bale as always is solid. People complain about the dark growly voice he uses as Batman but I say it’s perfect as when he puts on that suit he is a different person. He is no longer the cool, cocky Bruce Wayne. He is the man who fights injustice. The Batman. If he simply used his own voice it would lead to people figuring him out in a minute. The Batman to Bruce Wayne ratio was favored for the mask but I got to believe it was the right choice as this movie needed the mask more than it needed the face.

Everyone else does a wonderful job in their roles. This time Rachel Dawes(Maggie Gyllenhall) was portrayed correctly. Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and others play theirs parts just like in the last movie. It was also nice to see Scarecrow(Cillian Murphy) continuing his path down the crazy lane to insanity as now he wants to do good.

Overall this movie is what you want in a summer blockbuster. Explosions, excitement, and exceptional acting. Go see it for the greatest villian in a comic book movie, great direction by Christopher Nolan, and of course, The Batman.

Final Verdict – 5/5