Get out your wallets and be prepared to spend your money on “The Dark Knight”, more than once. The must see movie of the year arrived with much fanfare and hype and it did not meet that level. No it very well exceeded these expectations and more. “The Dark Knight” set multiple box office records over it’s opening weekend. The film took in $158.3 million in the box office over the opening weekend surpassing “Spider-Man 3” which previously had the biggest opening weekend all-time with $151.1 million. “The Dark Knight” has everything you want in a movie: action, drama, comedy, suspense, and even romance. This is a “can’t miss in theaters” type of movie.

Christopher Nolan returns as the director for this sequel and does not disappoint. The movie is paced perfectly keeping the movie interesting throughout the runtime of 150 minutes. The visuals are amazing as the crew transformed Chicago into a very believable Gotham City. The action sequences will have you on the edge of your seat. Also the characters are very well developed and every character is interesting. So in between semi-trucks being flipped over and buildings blown up, there is a lot of interesting story being told.

Now, this movie has 2 components to it, “The Dark Knight” the movie and Heath Ledger. In January 2008, Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment after finishing shooting the film. What was initially thought to be suicide was later concluded that it was an accidental overdose of some sleeping pills and other painkillers. Some believe that it was his character, the Joker that led him to the pills due to the psychotic nature of the Joker. In the film, the Joker steals the show. When he is on screen your eyes become glued to him. When he’s off screen, you wonder when he’ll be back. His character is very frightening and also comical.  This performance may very well earn Heath Ledger an Oscar nomination, if not a win. It’s very unfortunate it has to be in this circumstance but credit needs to be given for the work on display.

For the movie “The Dark Knight”, it very well keeps up with the level the “Joker” sets for the film. The story takes place about a year after “Batman Begins” and is at a point where Batman (Christian Bale) has demoralized the criminals of Gotham City. With the criminals looking for answers, the Joker (Heath Ledger) provides them a solution. As Batman begins to find his limits on what he can do for the city, he realizes that there needs to be a face to a hero. He begins to entrust Gotham’s newest District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to be that hero. The Joker has other plans and it is a delight to see his plan unfold throughout the film and the heroes fighting back.

As Christians we can take in this story and really find a valuable message. So many times in life we think we can do everything with our own strength. We try to be that hero in our own lives. We push ourselves to the limit and eventually fall or give up. We forget that God is just waiting to help us. Let us not forget that God is there to be that hero and what better hero is there than God. Even Batman sought out help. We should too. We cannot run this race alone.

The acting in this film is most definitely superb. Not just Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, but Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman all make their presence felt when they are on screen. This is the perfect summer flick. It should be watched more than once and at least once on IMAX as some scenes and all the action sequences were shot on IMAX cameras. The IMAX cameras provide a higher quality picture and sound and have a different aspect ratio than the rest of the film. This plays perfectly into the skyline of Chicago or Gotham City in this case, to really give a sense that it is a huge city. The buildings, sites, and the action sequences are breathtaking. Please do not miss out on this one.

On a side note, this film is very dark. There are sadistic scenes and light violence. The movie is PG-13 and should be watched at your own discretion. I know there are many people and Christians out there that are absolutely against violence in films. If you are one of these people, then you may want to research carefully before watching this one. Personally for me, as I try to break into this industry as a film artist, I view films as more of an artistic mean and I am not bothered by these issues because I can see the artistic value behind it. Everyone has an opinion of what is right and wrong and this is my opinion. Please proceed to watch this movie at your own values and morals.

For more information on the film, visit http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/

Comments (2)

yoojinhan wrote on August 08, 2008

Title: ... Precisely defiant in his actions, the Joker is the steal of the show. On another note, Batman speaks of the truth of being a city's hero. This is a stretch on how a fictitious hero can relate to the reality of Christ, but it's the idea of people who are generally compelled to accuse someone who holds the power to change a place. Jesus... he gets this kind of rebuke from the mass all the time. Constantly, accused for the work he did or didn't do, it seems Batman struggles with this as well. Strong in its motives that heroic actions are sometimes put in the dark, never quite brought out in the light because natural heroism isn't about claiming a name. Maybe it's about being that constant force changing the situation for the better amidst name-calling. For sure, God still remains everywhere even though negativity is drilled on his name by so many of us. Thank God he has the everlasting power...and not the ephemeral. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Paul Kwak wrote on September 05, 2008

Title: ... Great review, Dennis and excellent parallel to Jesus, Yoojin. I thought this was a very good film. I wish I would have read the graphic novel with the same title that this film was based upon. I personally still prefer Burton's vision because it's more comic-book like and just more fun. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0