There are very few exceptions to this rule: sequels and prequels are not as good as the original. But every now and then, a director comes along and is the exception. The Dark Knight is one of those exceptions.
The Dark Knight exceeds Batman Begins in every imaginable way. I thought that Liam Neeson was spectacular in Batman Begins but Heath Ledger re-creates the persona of the Joker and portrays one of the greatest serial killers/mass murderers/anarchists/terrorists in cinema history.
(SPOILER ALERT) Batman is still struggling to bring in the escaped inmates of Arkam and the remains of the mob. The new district attorney, Harvey Dent, comes into the picture as the white knight of Gotham, legitimately cleaning the streets. But then a terrorist, known only as the Joker, starts to wreak havoc on Gotham and the only way to stop him is for Batman to reveal himself. In one of these events, Bruce’s love interest, Rachel Dawes (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal), is killed (at this time she was dating Harvey). Harvey becomes severely burned on one side of his body during this attack. The Joker confronts Dent in the hospital and “pushes” his mind into madness. (END OF SPOILERS)
One of the improvements to the previous film is Rachel Dawes. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a breath of fresh air from Katie Holmes. She does a much better job at portraying the emotion and conflict than Katie Holmes’ vacant expressions. There is more enthusiasm in her portrayal than Holmes, as well.
I believe Aaron Eckhart is one of the most under-appreciated actors in this movie. Most reviewers talk about Maggie or Ledger, but hardly ever does someone praise Eckhart which is really upsetting to me. Harvey has been seen in both of the previous directors’ movies: Billy Dee Williams in Tim Burton’s Batman and Tommy Lee Jones in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever, but this performance surpassed both, giving a more realistic tone than the other two. Admittedly, he does lose some affect when he yells and screams, but that is who Aaron is and in actual fact he adds more to the character.
However, this movie is not without its flaws. I do give it five stars, but there are a few lines and story plots that I have not understood since I first watched it. First of all, I am still confused about what Bruce Wayne was trying to do with the gun and bullet (he was trying to get fingerprints off of a shattered bullet but the process is surprisingly complicated). Secondly, there is a line that the Joker says that I don’t agree with. He says in his confrontation with Harvey: “Nobody panics when everything goes according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I say a gangbanger will get shot, or a truck load of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it is all part of the plan. But if I say one little old mayor will die, then everybody loses their minds.” And lastly, (SPOILER ALERT) at the end of the movie Gordon said to Batman that there were five dead and two of them were cops, I only counted three that Dent killed and one of those was a cop. (END OF SPOILERS).
So see this movie. Rent it, buy it, it is worth the money. But don’t watch it without seeing Batman Begins first. The two go hand in hand.
Next time, X-Men.
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