The Dark Knight

Last Wednesday I decided that it was really about time that i went to see the Dark Knight. Having enjoyed Christian Bale's previous outing as Batman, Batman Begins, and having heard nothing but good about his latest, I expected this to be a good movie.

And my God was it a good movie.

Everytime I've tried to describe how good The Dark Knight is, I find myself repeatedly using the word amazing. Not since The Lord Of The Rings, The Return Of The King in December 2003 have I been more amazed by a film. The action sequences, the plot, the acting - I could not fault any of it. At first Christian Bale's "Batman voice" seems a bit stupid but after a while I stopped noticing as it just seemed to fit in with the character's persona. Gary Oldman shone in the role of Jim Gordon, the soon to be Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department as did the rest of the cast including Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney, Harvey Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal seemed more at home in the role of Rachel dawes than Katie Holmes ever did.

But one man stole every scene he appeared in. I'd even go as far as to say that he stole the whole movie. Heath Ledger in what proved to be his final movie gave what proved to be the greatest performance of his career. There are so many words that can be used to describe his Joker. As you would expect he is funny, but not in the comedic sense of the word. He is funny in a psychotic and sadistic manner. It's clear from every picture of him that he's creepy, yet not frightening. Ledger succeeds in creating a Joker who loves anarchy, who loves the chaos created when things don't go according to plan and yet at no point does it seem like he's out of his mind. It's very clear that the Joker does these things because he finds them, well...funny.

There has been a lot of talk recently about a possible posthumous oscar for Heath Ledger for his portrayal of The Joker and I for one think that he fully deserves it. The Dark Knight is not your run of the mill summer blockbuster with a big budget and big special effects, it is a great movie in every respect and just as good if not better than any of the movies that have won big at the oscars in recent years.

For those of you that haven't seen it, I leave you with a little something to show you just what you're missing. For those of you that have, it'll probably make you want to see it again.