The Dark Knight

The time has finally come for me to review one of the greatest movies of all time. The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan, and stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart. It came out on July 18, 2008, just two weeks before I came home from my mission.

As a missionary, I couldn't help but see some of the previews for this movie, and I was very excited to see it as soon as I came home. A lot of people warned me that I should wait a few weeks before seeing this dark film, but I couldn't wait more than a couple of days. I told myself that'd I'd close my eyes if it ever got too graphic, but I never had to, which is one of the great things about this movie. There's no sex, only a couple of swear words, and no overtly graphic and gory violence. It's also nice to see that many current superhero movies are also following this pattern. You don't need to be dirty to make a good movie. Now, on to the greatest Batman movie ever made (so far).

I love the beautiful opening scene of the Joker robbing the bank. In superhero stories, robbing banks has become quite basic and boring, but here it was exciting and interesting. The first time I saw this, I didn't know who was speaking because of the masks, which added to the ambiguity and surprise when the Joker finally revealed himself, which gives me chills every time. This was a wonderful way to set the tone for the movie.

It was nice to see the Scarecrow wasn't forgotten about, but it was kind of sad that he wasn't a major player. Of course, it kind of makes sense because he never really wanted to be a super villain in the first movie, and he's probably too crazy right now to really do anything bad.

I really like Batman's fighting style in this movie. It's slow, deliberate, powerful and unique. He also had a lot of really nice gadgets, as usual, including the upgraded Batsuit. It took almost 30 years for them to make a suit where Batman can turn his head, but I guess it was worth the wait.

When the gun was pulled on Harvey Dent in the courtroom, I was worried for a moment that he would turn into Two-Face right then and there. Luckily, he didn't, and we got to enjoy the charming and intense Harvey with his lucky coin for the majority of the movie.

It would be an understatement to say that Heath Ledger was perfect as the Joker. The first scene where he's openly the Joker with the mob bosses is simply masterful. Here we get the "magic trick" and the great exchange, "You think you can just come in here, take our money and leave?" "Yeah."

And then there's the Joker vs. Gambol scene! So creepy! So awesome! I think this when I realized that I was watching the best movie ever. And if you've been keeping track, the score is up to a 10 now, and it won't get any lower.

This movie really is just one powerful scene after another. Another great one is the dead fake Batman crashing into the window and the super creepy Joker home video right after. Yes, it was creepy, dark and scary, but never gory or grotesque. They really found just the right balance in this movie.

Heath Ledger's Joker is unique from all the other Jokers we've seen in the media, but he also channels a lot of important aspects from other Jokers in his role. One idea goes back to the first appearance of the Joker in 1940. In that story, the Joker repeatedly announces who he's going to kill and when. The police do everything they can to stop him, but they never can, which causes a great amount of panic. Another aspect I like is from the book The Killing Joke, where Joker said his origin story is multiple choice. He also had a firm belief in that book that anyone could go crazy like him if they had just one bad day. Combining these elements with Ledger's creepy performance truly makes the perfect Joker for this medium.

I loved the story about Alfred and the diamond thief in Burma. It shows that Alfred is more than just a butler and completely qualified to be Batman's advisor.

Batman using insane technology to find the fingerprint on the bullet was kind of cool, but mostly confusing. Even after repeated viewings of this movie. I guess it's just something we're not supposed to think about too hard.

It was a nice touch of realism to have somebody figure out that Batman was Bruce Wayne. I mean, he can't completely conceal everything. And of course, Lucius Fox's response to this threat was priceless.

This movie was so wild and unpredictable, that I was able to accept the fact that Gordon was killed. I didn't want him to die, but it looked like he did, and the first time I saw this, I believed it. That is a powerful movie that can attempt something that crazy and unthinkable in the comic world and have geeks like me ready to go along with it.

It was nice to see Dent start to turn into Two-Face before the accident happened. Just having your face blown up alone isn't enough to turn you into a super villain, but it can help bring out unstable elements already deep inside.

Just like with the shooting of Gordon, I was willing to accept Batman revealing his secret identity. I didn't want him to, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they actually did it.

The chase scene was simply wonderful. It had a little of everything: garbage trucks, semis, helicopters, a fire truck on fire, and a giggling Joker, who happily keeps upgrading his guns until he pulls out a rocket launcher. So much fun! I even liked the Batcycle.

The accident that turned Dent into Two-Face was incredible. Not only was it a fresh take on a classic tale in Batman lore, but it was a pretty sweet way to kill off Rachel. She wasn't that bad in this movie, but it still was kind of nice to see her die. And the silence afterward was so powerful. This movie really has a tremendous soundtrack, knowing when to build up tension, be big and loud, or just let the images tell the story. I'm actually kind of glad they didn't go with the original plan of using the Danny Elfman theme here, after they alluded to it in Batman Begins.

The first time we see Two-Face's face was just perfect. It was gross looking, but not unbearable to look at. It was so well-done that it made everyone say, "How'd they do that?" It was easily 1 million times better than Tommy Lee Jones' makeup in Batman Forever. It was kind of sad that he wasn't Two-Face for very long, but it is kind of realistic. Somebody with their face ripped open like that probably wouldn't be able to live very long anyway.

How wonderful was it to see Joker in a nurse's outfit? And when he took the time to grab some hand sanitizer before blowing up the hospital? Sublime! (I'm running out of positive adjectives.)

At the end of the movie, I do have a couple of small complaints. I didn't think Batman's voice was that bad, and I don't have any complaints about the ferry scene like some people (I actually thought it was a really important component of the movie). But it did kind of bug me how they showed the Joker right-side up, when he was upside down. It just seemed unnecessary and was a little distracting.

I also didn't like the kid who played Gordon's son. He did a good job of acting sad and scared when the gun was pointed at him, but he recovered way too soon from that traumatizing event to ask if Batman was alright. However, this little annoyance can in no way harm the reputation of this near-perfect film.

Like most good films, this one gets better after repeated viewings, especially in watching the corrupt cops' reactions to certain things. But there were some things that still are a bit confusing no matter how many times I watch this. When Batman interrogates the Joker, the Joker says he let five people die. Later, he asks a cop how many of his friends he killed, to which he says six. At the end of the movie, Gordon says (talking about Two-Face I assume) that five were dead, two of them cops. No matter how hard I try to figure out who these people are, I can't get the numbers to work. But again, it's not really that big of a deal.

I was worried about doing a new Joker in this movie, and I was also worried that having Two-Face in would have too many villains. But I trusted that the same team who did Batman Begins would be able to make a decent sequel. They not only did that, but they exceeded every expectation I could have had. Currently, The Dark Knight is the greatest superhero movie ever made. This summer, we'll see if that holds true.

Technically, this movie earns a score of 15 from me, but officially, I won't go over 10.

Final score: 10 out of 10.