The Dark Knight.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale
Michael Caine
Heath Ledger
Aaron Eckhart
Gary Oldman
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Morgan Freeman
Many a time when we like one movie so much the expectations for its sequel will be soaring sky high. Due to the same many sequels fail... because they just can't live up to the expectations of the audience. There are few exceptions... like Spiderman-2, POTC- Dead Man's Chest, even The Godfather 2. The same question was in my mind while in the parking for the dark knight. Will Nolan be able to recreate the magic of Batman Begins ( which according to me was the best attempt to bring the greatest comic book hero to the screen ).
All previous versions of The Batman were lacking spirit, the darkness of the villains ( which more often than not were played by comedians ). No.... no.... all the Val Kilmer or George Clooney versions of the movie were rubbish, they made up with glamor what they lacked in content. But when I saw Batman Begins I knew that this is it.... a dream come true to many of Batman comic fans like me. It was darker, more realistic and definitely genuine. All the same it set the standard pretty high for its sequel, and add to that the aggressive viral campaign for this movie and the tragic demise of Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight became one of the most awaited movies of the year.
After seeing the movie all the doubts I had in the back of my head were driven out... by the suave CGI, spectacular stuns and Ledger. True... he stole the lime light from Bale.... but the character was finical, the way he lived the role is laudable and he makes the Jack Nicholson's take on Joker look like a clown. Everything he went though in three months of seclusion for this role can been seen in his eyes.... in his gait.... in his hollow laughs..... and in his voice. As to the other aspects of the movie, Bale did reasonably well to reprieve his role but seriously falls undershot of performance because of the Joker. They could have done more justice to Dent/Two-Face (maybe in the next flick) and Katie Holmes was a shade better Maggie Gyllenhall who took up the role of Rachel in the new film.
The plot is reasonably faster and darker than its previous movie keeps you at the edge of the seat for most of the time. Easy to say that.... Hands down... this movie is the Greatest superhero movie of this age.
