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Aug 24, 2017TEENREVIEWCREW rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Prior to the release of this film, it remained a great mystery as to how a director with Christopher Nolan's sensibilities would tackle the fantastical and fanciful world of superheroes. The result is a surprising, rousing, and astonishing superhero film which combines Nolan's ingenuity with fan-service beautifully. Credit must be given to Nolan for giving us an impressive retelling of this generic good vs. evil conceit. Here, he makes it a character-driven journey, and the fact that the characters are remarkably written makes for an unusual experience. Take Bruce Wayne for instance; he's not going around just so he can beat up the bad guys. He must deal with his own inner demons and turmoil before he can go around beating up those bad guys. The treatment of the plot is refreshingly realistic, and right from the word-go, the film maintains a very gritty and dark tone. Nolan incorporates a lot of his own signature strokes into the tight screenplay, like the criminal undertones, the metaphysical themes, etc. It also helps that Nolan respects the material he's given to work with. We are still won over by the extravagant action set pieces, and whistle-worthy superhero genre toppings. The Dark Knight also benefits from a solid technical team. Wally Pfister's cinematography is beautiful, and it superbly manages to capture the night life in the brilliant set design. The music by Hans Zimmer is superlative, and his background score is instrumental in keeping you hooked. The editing is fairly competent, though there are a few wasted moments. It's the performances that take you by surprise. Christian Bale is as wonderful as always, but it's truly Heath Ledger who delivers the finest performance I've seen till date. The conviction he manages to bring into his role, yet while keeping it subtle in accordance to the film's smartly subtle narrative, was delightful to watch. One grouse I had with the film is that the female lead, played by a dull Maggie Gyllenhaal, is underwritten. However, Nolan isn't really to blame, considering that his focus is different in this film. To sum it up, The Dark Knight is one of the finest films, at least of this genre, I've personally seen. It benefits from stupendous writing, solid technical value and stunning performances (except for Maggie Gyllenhaal). Do go watch the film, for it's both a wonderful experiment by Nolan (whose horizons seem to be widening) and a delightfully surprising and gripping superhero film. @SSGDP of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library This movie was a sequel to the first batman begins movie. This is one of the most respected and best superhero movies. This movies main villain is the joker. It showed how villainous and scary and violent the joker was. The movie started off with the joker and his goons robbing a bank. It made is seem as if the joker didn’t care much about the money or killing people all he wanted is to prove a point to batman. This movie contained many fight scenes and they were all shot well and looked really good. There was also amazing special effects and CGI in this movie. This movie felt very realistic to how the character is supposed to be. In the ending scene Batman killed the joker and then had to kill Harvey Dent because it became evil. I would recommend this for people of all ages. @ButterChicken of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library