The Dark Knight

Well, its about time for another Batman movie. Every couple of years the only really good superhero franchise has to be milked to make up for the general mediocrity that otherwise condemns the genre. I am aware that whilst I say that there are also a couple of sour grapes in the otherwise ripe fruit basket of the franchise.

Batman Forever starred Val Kilmer in yet another of his Most Wooden Actor Of The Year roles opposite Ace Ventura in a Gotham that could have been spawned by any 1970's pornographer. I'm being harsh, in the actual role of Batman Val Kilmer is actually quite good, it's only the directing (thanks Joel Schumacher), production and inclusion of the God-awful Chris O'Donnell that really make me dislike this movie.

Batman and Robin took everything that I hate about Batman Forever and then put Arnold Schwarzenegger in the middle of it all as one of the most preposterous villains of Gotham. And they gave the Batsuit nipples.

So, rushing past this tripe we come to Batman Begins. The franchise was saved in a delightfully dark manner that captured the very essence of decay and despair in Gotham and the darker side of Batman. Christian Bale, one of the true method actors of our time is perfect for the role of the Billionaire Playboy by day, masked vigilante by night Batman.

From the first hour of The Dark Knight I was beginning to feel that the movie had perhaps been mis-titled. "Joker: Also Starring Batman" might have been more appropriate. But don't be under any illusion, that is not an insult to the film.

Batman as a character has already been well developed, what with a back catalogue of comics and previous movies no longer being counted as canon it is safe to say that everyone gets the idea. Batman Begins was just there to refresh the concept of Batman, to bring his old origin story into the modern age (and the movie representation is far closer to the comic origin than Tim Burton's attempt was).

The Dark Knight focuses more on the other characters in the story, the Joker, Harvey Dent, Rachel etc, and it all works perfectly. We didn't need to be told who Batman was and so were given plenty of time to experience the growth and development of the supporting cast. And I really can find no fault in any of their performances.

I don't want to give away any of the story, that's not my job, but I will tell you that Aaron Eckhardt is superb opposite Christian Bale, and for his final performance Heath Ledger has shown what a real talent he was. The character of the Joker has the same nutty personality that we have come to expect since Jack Nicholson first donned the lipstick, but Heath Ledger brings such an undeniably sinister undertone that you can't help but love it.

Technically we have three DC villains in The Dark Knight, but unlike that bukkake session that was Spiderman 3 in which Sam Raimi tried to satisfy everyone in a great cinematic circle jerk but ended up only giving a phenomenally unsatisfying experience, this one actually works well. One gets defeated relatively early, one is the main antagonist and the other... well, its hard to really think of him as a "bad guy" in the strictest sense. You'll know what I mean after having seen it.

There are plenty of OhMyFuckingGod I can't believe that he just did that ROFL moments, and I am not just referring to Batman or the Joker when I say that, The Dark Knight manages to give all the supporting cast depth, something which is shockingly rare in modern cinema.

Some of the dialogue is just as astounding as it's delivery, but then it was written by Jonathan Nolan and his brother Christoper. One we already know to be the man who rejuvenated the franchise, the other (Jonathan) boasts 'Memento' and 'The Prestige' as his previous writing credits.

As far as complaints go, the BatBike is a fucking wank concept from the moment that you first see it, and then it appears throughout the movie. That's my second biggest gripe.

In summary, The Dark Knight is a fantastic film marred only by the most pants-on-head retarded closing monologue that I have ever heard since Michael Bay's Transformers.

Story great, directing great, production great, sound great, acting great, plot great. Closing monologue wank.

Rating: A