Movie Review: The Dark Knight (2008)

Christian Bale as Batman

Nolan’s epic starts with a bank heist in motion. As the robbers start killing one another, we are introduced to one of a kind mastermind. A brain that is intelligent and crafty to the nth degree.

Batman, working with Lt Gordon has the mob in retreat. The new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), assisted by Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes) is working around the clock to put the mob behind bars.

The mob under considerable pressure from the combined onslaught, hire the aforementioned mastermind, Joker (the late Heath Ledger). Joker emerges as an agent of chaos and has only one goal: unleashing anarchy in Gotham. He plans to achieve his ends by making Batman reveal his identity, failing which Joker will kill one person each day.

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Even as Bruce Wayne struggles to make a decision, he faces trouble on an unexpected front. Reese (Joshua Harto), an auditor working Wayne Enterprise’s records finds heavy irregularities and the prototype designs for Batmobile and puts two and two together. He comes forward to disclose Batman's secret identity.

There a lot of plot points and threads that I have not discussed in this review. As the movie is quite densely plotted, the review will be quite long if I were to do so.

Suffice to say that this movie turns the entire superhero movie genre on its head and comes out an out and out winner. Batman’s decisions have far reaching consequences for other characters, some of whom are quite dear to him. From the start to finish, the screenplay is taut and the movie rushes forward at a blistering pace.

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent

Hans Zimmer is in top form as always. His Joker theme is probably the best in the album. 

The acting all around is excellent. As good as the returning players are, it is the newcomers Aaron Eckhart and the late Heath Ledger who make the best impressions.

Harvey Dent’s character has arguably the best character arc in the movie. As Gotham’s White Knight, Dent is looked upon by Bruce as his rightful successor. Bruce intends to hang up the cape and the cowl. But things take an ugly turn, thanks to the Joker’s machinations. Eckhart is great in the role and conveys the pain of losing the love of his life to a madman.

But the movie on the whole, belongs to Heath Ledger. His is the kind of performance for which the term “tour-de-force” was coined. This is a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Each scene featuring Ledger as Joker is intensely riveting. Whether Joker is narrating the stories of his scars or the prison scene with Batman, Heath grabs our attention and is totally captivating. RIP, Heath.

Heath Ledger as the Joker

But the movie is not without its share of flaws. In the bank robbery scene, the Joker drives the much damaged school bus out of the bank and joins a group of school buses full of children. Even for a realistic Nolan movie, this is quite a leap of faith, considering that none of the other bus drivers or other people on the street do not notice the gaping hole in the bank out of which the considerably damaged bus came out.

Another point to be pondered over is the Bruce’s fundraiser for Harvey at his penthouse. The Joker arrives with his cronies and takes over the party. Batman jumps out of the window to save Rachel and the movie moves to the next scene. We never know whether Batman returns to rescue the rest of the people at the party or did the Joker decided not to harm anyone else or did he continue his search for Harvey in the penthouse.

Despite these flaws, this is a movie from a director at the top of his game. Christopher Nolan dealt with the concepts of Fear and Chaos in the first two movies. We need to wait for couple more days to see his take on Pain in the trilogy finale.

Heath Ledger as the Joker

Over to you, Chris. We look forward to be dazzled!

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Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

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Movie Review: Batman Begins (2005)

As one of the millions of audience all over the world awaiting the release of The Dark Knight Rises, I decided to take a trip down the memory lane  ...

Christopher Nolan’s trilogy is bound to go down in Hollywood as the definitive depiction of Bruce Wayne’s story and possibly the finest movie trilogy ever. The cinematic journey of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) begins with Bruce imprisoned in an Asian prison. After witnessing his parents getting murdered by a stranger, Bruce is consumed with vengeance towards the man responsible. Due to unforeseen turn of events, Bruce is disillusioned with the legal system and leaves Gotham quietly to begin his study of the criminal classes.

Bruce after witnessing his parents' death

Bruce is contacted by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who offers to train him. Ducard works for The League of Shadows, a shadowy organization based in the Tibetan mountains. Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) is the mastermind behind this organization.  Ducard teaches Bruce not only the necessary martial arts, but also the need for theatricality and deception. As the final test, Bruce needs to decapitate a petty criminal. Being a man of strong morals, Bruce objects and is forced to fight his way out. The League of Shadows’ headquarters is destroyed. Ra’s Al Ghul and his followers are presumed dead, though Bruce does save Ducard’s life.

Bruce returns to Gotham and becomes the masked vigilante known as ‘Batman’. He is helped in his mission by Alfred Pennyworth (Sir Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).

Batman makes his first appearance in Gotham

With the reluctant assistance of Sergeant James Gordon (Gary Oldman), Batman successfully apprehends the local mob boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) who are working together to poison the water supply system in Gotham. However, more powerful forces are at play and Bruce has to face them as the movie reaches an action-packed climax.

Prior to this movie, Christian Bale was famous for his work in ‘American Psycho’. No doubt, his work in that movie helped him in getting the much coveted role of Bruce Wayne. Bale captures the pain and the anger that are the defining characteristics of Bruce Wayne. Bale essentially plays 3 characters – Batman, the public image of Bruce Wayne as a drunken millionaire playboy and the real Bruce Wayne. The casting of Bale as Wayne is to me, as superb a choice as that of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Christopher Reeve as Superman/Tobey Maguire as Spiderman.

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Sir Michael Caine is a veteran in the industry and brings a lot of wisdom and warmth to the role of Alfred Pennyworth, the man who has been with the Wayne family for a long time. He is the closest thing to a family Bruce has and provides the much needed moral support.

Alfred and Lucius, the closest allies of Bruce Wayne 

Morgan Freeman plays Lucius Fox, the equivalent of James Bond’s Q. Morgan Freeman‘s voice and authoritative deportment have remained the hallmarks of his career. That Freeman’s performance as the cool and classy Lucius Fox is a standout in a movie that boasts of other powerhouse actors like Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson and Caine, speaks volumes of his acting talent. Christopher Nolan is a fan of the James Bond series and quite possibly, he based Freeman’s performance on Desmond Llewelyn’s venerable portrayal.

Gary Oldman has been cast against type as Sergeant James Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham. Oldman brings out well the world weariness we expect from Gordon’s character. Gordon is the official counterpart of Batman and both these men work together to rid Gotham of the corruption that has reduced it to a shadow of its original greatness.

Gary Oldman as Sergeant James Gordon Cillian Murphy plays Dr Jonathan Crane better known as Scarecrow, the villain who uses fear-inducing gas on his unsuspecting victims. Murphy is suitably chilling in the role. Trivia: he originally auditioned for the role of Bruce Wayne. Liam Neeson has had a lot of success playing the role of a mentor in his recent movies and this is no exception. His towering height and rich voice help us in accepting him in these roles. To the best of my knowledge, no other actor has the distinction of training not only Batman but also Obi Wan Kenobi (Star Wars) and the much lesser known Balian de Ibelin (The Kingdom of Heaven). Henri Ducard puts Bruce Wayne to the final test Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer and Linus Roache are competent even when they make very brief appearances. If there was one bad casting decision made in this movie (as well as in the trilogy), that would be the choice of Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. I at least never bought her as the Assistant District Attorney that Rachel Dawes is supposed to be. I only saw an untalented but well-connected actress bringing down the quality of the movie whenever she was on-screen. I wonder what factor(s) forced Nolan to cast her. Of course to Nolan’s credit, he recast the character in the sequel.  There are some fine dialogues in the movie. I present here my favorite one: “Why do we fall, Bruce – So we can learn to pick ourselves up” This is a gem of a movie and a must watch for fans of the caped crusader.  If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here. Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

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