I was waiting for this movie since the day I saw its posters and finally it was released here. Initially I was unable to get the tickets of the movie as server at my place is down and to my dismay all the seats are full in an hour of opening of advance booking but thanks a lot to my friend who arranged tickets of “The Dark Knight” (TDK), I dunno how but yes finally I got the opportunity to watch this movie.When I came back from watching TDK, my hands were a little sweaty cos of thrill and awe. I felt that it is quite unfair to write about a such a briliant movie after just one watch, what is needed is to watch it for a few times to capture each and every detail, to have a serene vision of the different levels of the plot and the actual symbolism behind each and every scene and frame. But still I am writing it.
Plot: Inspite of detailing the plot I will tell the basic story. Batman, Gordon, and Harvey Dent are on a mission to get rid of organized crime and go to great, even illegal lengths to accomplish their goal. With the pressure really on, the mob turns to the Joker to kill Batman so they can be free to run their criminal enterprises. This sets up the confrontation between Batman and the Joker that eventually leads to Dent’s downfall and his transformation into Two-Face. This is all set against the background of Gotham which is being terrorized by various attacks by the Joker in an attempt to bring chaos. There is not a weak point in this film from start to finish. But be aware that this is not a light-hearted movie but is brutal, horrific, tragic and has the ending that needs to happen.
Acting:
JOKER (Heath Ledger): This movie totally belongs to JOKER which has white painted face, a swollen red ear to ear smile and green tinged hair. He wears a suit and gloves and moves his tongue out of his mouth when he speaks. He threatens others with a knife in their mouths and has a different story every time about the scars on his face. He is wild, anarchist, who enjoyes watching Gotham tear itself to pieces and turns the lovable Harvey into Two-face. People can say that Heath getting too much praise just because he is dead but alive or gone, this is the performance of a lifetime. The make-up, the laugh, the mannerisms, every little thing he did was perfect .
[The Joker holds Rachel Dawes out of a window**]
Batman : Let her go.
The Joker : Hmm. Poor choice of words.
[The Joker lets her drop as he laughs maniacally]*
When he explains that why he use knife instead of pistols he says “I use a knife because guns are too quick. Otherwise, you can’t savor all the emotions.” He is frightening and the definition of villain- playing the role more psychotic and more evil than Jack Nicholson’s Joker because of true unpredictability."Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" He never wished to kill Batman, but just want to humilate him.. "I don’t want to kill you. What would I do without you? You complete me"
Christian Bale** has done a tremendous job as our beloved super hero Batman, who hangs helplessly in between righteous and crazyness. His view of justice causes an emotional and personal shift and thats the reason he have to fight hard with his emotions. If there was an excellent Batman, this is the real deal. Besides Bale has a particular slurring lips that suits him quite well as charming millionaire Bruce Wayne and a dangerous Batman (giving him his particular killing smile).
Aaron Eckhart (as DA Harvey Dent) is as selfless, noble and a symbol of faith, hope and change to Gotham. And Eckhart has done justice to his Harvey Dent/Two-Face character, with a strong sense of love/righteousness/betrayal /twistedness up his sleeve. He did well even as potraying Bruce Wayne’s rival in love. His acting is superb specially after he was converted in TWO-FACE and when he uses our Sholay wala coin). He follows the line of a movie"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Maggie Gyllenhaal is a great replacement for Katie Holmes as Wayne’s love interest Rachel Dawes, her performance is much better than Holmes’ nearly flat performance. Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises has done great jobs in giving the pace to the movie. Gary Oldman does an excellent portrayal of Lt. James Gordon aiding Batman in his quest for justice. And a special mention goes to Eric Roberts as a crime lord, who surprisingly does a great acting job.
Music: The poignant and evocative music is composed by Oscar winner and multiple Oscar nominee Hans Zimmer ( for "The Lion King, " "Gladiator") and seven-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard (for "Michael Clayton, " "The Fugitive"), and suits completely to the theme of movie.
Cinematography: Wally Pfister’s cinematography is simply stunning and superb. Gotham has never looked so marvelous, so deep and dark. Various sequences of "The Dark Knight" were filmed with IMAX cameras, including the opening few minutes and various action scenes. These scenes represents the excellence of filmmaking and will surely create a new path. His wide shots perfectly covers the dirty aura of the Gotham.
Direction: Direction by Christopher Nolan is par excellence, exalted aloft, the pace of the movie is properly managed to keep the audience enthralled and glued to their seats for almost 2 and half hour movie. There were several shots in the film where I was forced to say "how, the F**K did he did that!” to my friend (specially when Joker switched Rachel and Dent’s place of captivity, which finally leads to the generation of Two face). If you ask me, I will say that the creation of Two-Face is one of the smartest moves of the movie, which has not been just thrown at us as a villain and expect us to be afraid or to sympathize with him but shows how circumstances changes a good man to a bad one.
My Take: TDK is the best of times and genre and is probably one of the few movies where I am unsure and totally confused how to rate it. It has awesome action sequences, quite deep and superb plot, a franatic psychic villain and the charismatic superhero. The Dark Knight is a story of a lifetime;a story about the justice, futility, illusions and fight for gaining power. This is a story of the struggle between two sides of the same coin, the good and the bad. In the concluding part Batman says, "Sometimes, truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded." Me too couldn’t agree for more. Perfect [5/5] for it. Watch it on IMAX screen to fully enjoy the movie.
P.S. (Waiting for your valueable comments and ratings)