The Dark Knight Returns

I must warn you before continue reading, you may find the following review to be exaggerated, or hyperbolic, but believe it or not, it's the only way possible to describe how great this movie really is. The film itself carries a heavy burden due to the magnificent viral marketing throughout the year, and the success of other superhero movies like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Hellboy II. So, does it live up to the expectations? Hell yeah. I must warn you, though, this isn't your ordinary comic book movie. It sure doesn't feel like it. The Dark Knight is the anti-thesis of Iron Man, or Spiderman.

First, and foremost, The Dark Knight is a crime drama. The kind of crime drama that has the same tone as The Departed, or Heat. Secondly, it's not solely focusing on the hero, but rather to the whole cast. This is the main strength of the movie. The cast, that consists of Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine, have done a superb job in their role. Bale is undeniably the best Batman of all. He manage to capture the billionaire playboy in Bruce Wayne and added some scary intimidation vibe for his alter ego, Batman. The always reliable Gary Oldman shows his versatility as he resumes his role as Lt. James Gordon. Gordon has been a big part in Batman's tale of saving his city, a fact that has been ignored on the early 4 Batman films. It's really enjoyable to see Gordon got the proper amount of screen time to make us care about his character. Aaron Eckhart is on top of his game with his scarily moving character, Harvey Dent/Two face. He owns the character. I think his brilliant performance is only overshadowed by the terrific Heath Ledger. And i am so relieved to get Maggie Gyllenhaal instead of Katie Holmes-Cruise (is that what they really call her these days?). Gyllenhaal is easily twice the actress Katie Holmes will ever be.

Of course, the most talked subject in the movie is Heath Ledger's Joker. You may see Jack Nicholson's Joker back in the first movie and thought that he was the perfect Joker. To me, Nicholson's Joker isn't the real Joker that has been written for so many years in the comic book. His Joker is more of a failed comedian rather than a mentally crippled mass murderer with no code or whatsoever. Ledger cleverly modeled his Joker as the combination of Alex from A Clockwork Orange, and John Doe from Se7en. That is the first time i'm seeing the character alive. He manipulates, plans, and never once hesitate to kill everyone in front of him. This is the definitive Joker, and Ledger delivered the character perfectly. His presence will be sorely missed. If Nicholson managed to get an Oscar nomination when he played Joker in the first film, Ledger should win it.

Christopher Nolan has never failed to deliver a great story to audience with with the perfect execution. He dare to question the morality of the actions that is taken by Batman, Dent, and Gordon, something that is often left out by other superhero movie. This question haunts the movie until the very end. An end that ultimately answer the question, as Batman did the most heroic act no other superhero has ever done. In terms of action scenes, it's a relieve that the action scenes uses as little CGI as possible. I'm getting tired of action films that relied heavily on CGI (I'm talking to you, Michael Bay!). As a result, the action scenes looks very realistic, believable and superbly crafted.

All that being said, The Dark Knight will not only be the best superhero movie ever, but also possibly one of the best film of the decade. Iron Man, and Spiderman 2 may be the definitive superhero film, but The Dark Knight is not just another superhero film, it's a superhero epic. It's the first Oscar worthy superhero film, it's the Godfather of superhero films, it's the Empire Strikes Back of all Batman films. And, in my own case, this is easily the best movie of 2008 so far.


*this is attempt number 42 in reviewing this film. I had a hard time putting the words altogether. But hey, like the Joker said, "Why so serious?" right?