Is the latest Batman movie – The Dark Knight any good. Well, if the box office is anything to go by it can’t be all that bad! For my money, it’s simply the best, most original Batman movie so far. Batman The Dark Knight is a careering behemoth of a blockbuster. It carries on from the re-modelled Batman Begins and finds Bruce Wayne (he’s Batman you know), played by Christian Bale battling with his old adversary the Joker played by Heath Ledger. Of course, the original movie Joker was played fantastically by Jack Nicholson, but if you prefer your villains darker and certainly more sinister then you are going to love Ledgers portrayal – oh and look out for Two Face as well. The only unfortunate thing about Ledger is that, for obvious reasons, he won’t be able to play the role again – internet source have suggested that Johnny Depp might take over the role in future outings – I for one would love to see that!
Batman The Dark Knight also introduces a lot of new cool Bat-stuff to us. Batman has a new vehicle called a Batpod. Within the film it is actually a detachment from the Batmobile (now called the Tumbler) after that vehicle is catastrophically damaged by an RPG fired at close range by the Joker. Batman also has a cool new Batsuit. The original BatSuit was changed both for story and production reasons. During the production of Batman Begins, Christian Bale and the stunt men were constantly in danger of overheating because of the type of foam latex used to create the suit, so the new suit is made of polyurethane; it’s a lot cooler and more durable, despite being eight pounds heavier.
So what about the villains? Well, obviously there’s the joker – played magnificently by Ledger. He treats a stunningly staged bank robbery like his private video game with accomplices in Joker masks, blood spurting and inevitably only one winner. This Joker is a million miles from Jack Nicholson’s funny role the Batman movie. This Joker is a mad shadowy figure and Ledger doesn’t wear any of the all too common prosthetics to make his character come alive; his face is caked with mouldy makeup that highlights the red scar of a grin, the grungy hair and the yellowing teeth of a hound fresh out of hell. As the Joker says, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.” But if you think he’s bad – just wait till you see Harvey Two Face – this guys on another planet – but I’ll leave that one for you to find out for yourselves!
So, there you have it Batman The Dark Knight has it all. Fast action, great gadgets, deep, sinister characters and an ongoing struggle between the forces of darkness and .. well more darkness really. What more could you want?
So is Batman The Dark Knight and good – you betcha it is, as they say, if you don’t see another film all year – make sure you see this one!
I don’t need their names, just how many.
