Dark Knight Review

Remember the days of Adam West as Batman? With his flying text describing BASH's, BOOM's, and THWACK's.

What about the Michael Keaton Batman? Dark, but humorous with Tim Burton behind the lens.

Can we forget the Joel Shumacker Batman's (Batman Forever, Batman & Robin)? With the nipples on the bat suit and robin costume.

Well, all of those have taken a backseat with the new, Christopher Nolan version, the sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight...and boy is it pitch black!

The setting is this. Batman has been cleaning up the streets, while the police have been trying to find the menace, the Joker (the late Heath Ledger). In that time, DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) has taken over, and become the "White Knight" of Gotham, and is putting thugs and mob bosses in court and convicted.

Also in that time, Bruce Wayne has been running Wayne Enterprises, but has a void in his life left by Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhal). Wayne finds out that Dent and Dawes are quite smitten with one another, creating a love triangle in the film. But that is just one conflict hidden behind the crime drama wrapping paper and interwoven in this action packed, philosophical mind bender that has been presented by Nolan and the cast.

This film delves into good vs evil, what the good must give up to combat the evil, because evil (the Joker) "has no rules" as the film so eloquently puts it. Also, themes of anarchy, mob rule, democracy, privacy, and corruption with and for power all are brilliantly submersed in the story.

The action is top notch (and was shot in IMAX). From taking on Yakuza guards in Hong Kong, to the Joker driving a semi, to a SWAT team filled building, The Dark Knight is at no loss for action.

But the film isn't all about action. The action is equally dispersed between pivotal scenes in which the tension is so tight you don't even need a knife to cut it.

The acting I thought was very good, the strongest performance coming from Ledger. Imagine Jack Nicholson's Joker. Now make him grungier, meaner, more sadomasochistic, abusive, and more diabolical. The way his voice changes tone with the situation, his seemingly tight rope walking on sanity and insanity (and the blurred lines in between). All the hype about him receiving a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod aren't far fetched.

Bale plays Wayne well, but sometimes overdoes the Batman "gruff" voice. Gyllenhall is 10,000 ways an improvement over Katie Holmes. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman fill their roles well, and play them perfectly.

Really, this isn't a typical comic book movie. Now flashy, CGI opening with fancy pictures and titles. This movie just starts. It isn't corny, hokey, or any other synonym of the sort that has come associated with comic book movies in the past few years.

This is a crime/mob drama that is portrayed using comic book characters. It doesn't sound different, but once you see Dark Knight, you will experience the difference.

The run time of 2.5 hours I thought would be an issue, but it was 2.5 hours that flew by in 12 minutes seemingly. The film ended and I wanted even more.

The only real issue I have with the film is that Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman didn't have enough lines, but their screen time as Alfred and Lucious Fox advance the story.

I give Dark Knight a 5 out of 5. This may be the best movie of the year, and is the best movie of the summer.