The Dark Knight

I have made the trip to the cinemas every time a new Batman movie has come out. From 1989's Batman starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson all through the increasingly campy and crappy sequels, ending with one of the worst movies of all time Batman and Robin, in 1997. Therefore, when the powers that be decided to resuscitate the franchise with Batman Begins in 2005, I was understandably very concerned. Batman Begins of course was exactly what the doctor ordered and was (to me) the best comic to film adaptation to date.

In case you were living under a rock, Friday was the release of The Dark Knight starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger. First off the movie review then a few words about Heath Ledger.

First off The Dark Knight is story driven, not special effects driven. Yes there is action but the film does not rely on it. As usual I won't give away any crucial plot lines for those of you who read this and want to see the movie but just let me say that the on screen time of the guy in the bat suit is kept to a minimum. Honestly Aaron Eckhart's character of Harvey Dent gets as much on screen time and character development as Bale's Bruce Wayne and Ledger's Joker.

The special effects weren't all green screen and computer generated, which was a breath of fresh yet nostalgic air. Most of the big "stunts" were done for real, and when watching the film you can tell. In the movie trailer where the big truck does a flip and crashes to the ground, that's the real deal. You cannot make something like that happen with a green screen and get the effect that The Dark Knight pulls off.

All in all I have to rate this movie as a must see. The acting is superb, the directing is awesome, the special effects feral, the casting of even some of the small players was perfect also.

-Twiz