A fantastic cinematic achievement. There is no way you can avoid the hype this movie is bringing to cinema – biggest opening weekend in AU & US, Christian Bales masterful reprise of a role which bought credibility back to the franchise and the spellbinding performance of Heath Ledger, in his role as the mad as a hatter Joker.
The opening sequence is simplistic in its brutality and insight into the criminal mind who is on the outer edge of society – raw, violent, take no prisoners attitude and outcomes. The social experiment the Joker conducts is one you truly hope never eventuates. And that’s the heart of this movie – in the space of 2.5 hours, it covers social aspects and circumstance that you just honestly wish don’t EVER happen, all from the jaded eyes of a madman and the haunted vision of a hero who is battling his own demons.
In saying this, the movie isn’t perfect. The plot bogs down in the middle with an incidental visit to Hong Kong to tie together the underlying story, however it feels like the visit was more to show off some neat gadget trickery and an additional stunt sequence. Additionally, some of the character development, dialogue and banter which hallmarked Batman Begins is left behind to be replaced by a string of action scenes.
Dark Knight redeems itself in the basic principles of good cinema – interesting, well scripted plot backed by a strong supporting cast, cinematography and musical score. I’m adding it to my DVD collection.
The Culture Mind 