I really wasn't going to go see this movie.
The trailers looked too dark and I convinced myself that it wasn't a film I wanted to check out - but then my curiosity got the better of me.
Fueled by my respect for Christian Bale and my enjoyment of anything Heath Ledger had done in the past, along with the rave reviews he got for his swansong performance as The Joker, it had to be done. So did it disappoint?
No way!
Let's get something straight here; this IS a DARK movie - no doubt about it, but even in the midst of the darkness, themes of redemption and human decency do shine through. Look in most movies and you'll find it somewhere.
But what really impresses here are several key performances. In truth, Christian Bale in the title role is a little peripheral at times here, dominated as he was by his Australian counterpart (more on him in a minute). But whether it's in the role of wisecracking playboy Bruce Wayne, whose idea of fun is to take an entire boatload of Russian ballerinas out for a cruise, or the often tormented and obsessed superhero, Bale delivers, and gets the tone just right in both roles.
Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Aaron Eckhart put in solid performances, but you have to admit that the movie is stolen completely by an unbelievable and virtually unrecognizable tour de force from Heath Ledger.
On the one hand it makes me so very sad that we lost Ledger directly after this movie, but on the other hand, there's a certain irony, in that I doubt that Ledger, brilliant as he is, could ever have topped that performance. Ask any actor how he/she would like to go, and they will say "at the top", and Ledger's signature role will be The Joker.
And Ledger's Joker is a truly frightening, disturbing, grotesque, malevolent monster, played with such brilliance that at times you just have to chuckle.
This movie truly belongs to Heath Ledger, and make no mistake, he WILL get an Oscar nomination and could even win the gong.
SPOILER ALERT - READ PAST THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, AND WANT TO!!
Also noteworthy in The Dark Knight is Aaron Eckhart's transformation into Two Face, with some quite breathtaking special effects which left me baffled.
Okay this is most definitely NOT a family movie, but despite it's violence and dark nature, there are so many wonderful performances that it'l take a lot to top this for movie of the year.
Go see the Bat!
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