AICN’s Harry:

I’m late weighing in on this here DARK KNIGHT picture show dealio. The film is, in fact, superb in every way. A vast improvement on BATMAN BEGINS – amazing what happens when you no longer have to deal with an origin story and satisfying only the merchandizing interests of the parent corporation. Instead, Nolan has decided to treat Batman as only the best Comic Writers have dared to. Adult, scary and frightening.

AICN’s Capone:

Here’s the thing you must understand: even if you’ve dug up every possible trailer and clip of Heath Ledger as the greatest screen villain in any superhero movie ever, you really don’t have any idea how good his performance is in The Dark Knight. The true strength of his Joker isn’t his gallows humor one-liners or smart-ass quips he delivers as he tears apart what is left of the fabric of Gotham City (looking more like its filming location of Chicago this time out than the juiced-up version in Batman Begins). The true strength of the final complete performance of Ledger’s life lies in his much longer monologues.

AICN’s Mr Beaks:

Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT is the Batman movie I wanted in 1989: a savagely downbeat epic that views Gotham City as a disintegrating, crime-choked microcosm of the United States. It’s a film about the impossibility of justice in American life and the viciousness to which we’ll succumb in order to see another day; a cheerless summer blockbuster that ultimately exhibits just enough faith in humanity to keep from descending into utter misanthropy. It is a movie that enthralls one moment and punishes the next, lashing the audience for giving in to its IMAX-abetted exhilaration when the abyss is beckoning. It is, in other words, as hopelessly conflicted as its hero — and Batman fans shouldn’t want it any other way.

Cinematical’s Scott Weinberg:

Sometimes some folks just get it right. Bryan Singer was right for X-Men, Sam Raimi was right for Spider-Man, and dear lord is Christopher Nolan right for Batman. Maybe not the campy old Batman that the nostalgia fans know and love, but if the character had any clear path to follow after the disaster of Batman & Robin and the renaissance of Frank Miller, then this is where he should be: Anchoring a smart, dark, daring, and very intelligent movie that celebrates most of why we love the damn Bat in the first place: He’s hurt, he’s angry, he’s conflicted, he’s kinda weird … aside from the money and the suit, he’s pretty much just like everyone else.

Film School Reject’s Kevin Carr:

The Dark Knight absolutely delivers a riveting film with tons of action but not at the expense of plot or character. And it is a huge step up from Batman Begins.

Hollywood Chicago’s Adam Fendelman:

With only three short words comprising the film’s enigmatic title, “The Dark Knight” also boasts three epic claims to fame: the role of a lifetime for the late Heath Ledger as the hauntingly deranged Joker, one of the best films of 2008 and one of the greatest superhero films of all time.

Film School Reject’s Nathan Deen:

A heavy dose of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk have made me feel better, but walking out of The Dark Knight was nothing short of a breath of fresh air. My point is that other comic book movies just feel insignificant compared to this one. So finally, I think I can let go of my Spidey depression and forget about [Spider-man 3].

Film School Rejects, Neil Miller:

In summation, The Dark Knight is a rarity in Hollywood — a truly earnest adaptation that in many ways exceeds even the brilliance of the work upon which it is based. It is a film that is on a grand scale with larger-than-life characters, but also that is grounded by a plausible story and a very real environment. For the first time, a superhero movie could have us believing that this could all really happen. And whether or not this film will change the way superhero flicks are made in the future is unclear, but should more directors choose to go the route of Christopher Nolan and make films that are as jarring, as epic and as expertly crafted as films, not just as adaptations of a comic medium, then I certainly wouldn’t complain. For as much as The Dark Knight is not a perfect film, it is certainly pretty damn close.

IESB:

With a weighty running time on this one you’d expect to feel it, but I have to tell you this doesn’t feel anywhere near two and a half hours. It runs like clock work and keeps things boiling even between the action. I was worried when I heard about all the people in this thing and all the plot points getting covered. Spider-Man 3 couldn’t keep all its balls in the air and it had far less to juggle. But nothing is left to waste or shoe horned in to this story it flows effortlessly and entertains on a massive scale. Much like the Joker himself it doesn’t just threaten to do something it delivers on all counts.

Not just another comic book film this is high art wrapped in one.

AICN — Quint:

Mark my words: Ledger will be nominated, Wally Pfister will be nominated, Chris Nolan will be nominated for direction, Jonathan and Chris Nolan for script and if the movie Gods are feeling kind early next year we might even see a Best Picture nom.

It really is that good. I am already giddy about seeing it again in 15 hours

Cinematical’s James Rocchi:

After critic David Denby savaged one of his Batman films, noted hack Joel Schumacher defended the idiotic excess of Batman and Robin and Batman Forever by asking “Well, it’s based on a comic book; what did he expect, Long Day’s Journey into Gotham?” What Shumacher did not understand — and that Nolan, thankfully, does — is that while any Batman film is by definition based on a comic book, that film can still have actual drama, actual characters, and something to say beyond Biff! Bam! Pow! action and simplistic camp. The Dark Knight may be based on a comic book, but it’s a real movie made by real talents — exciting, engaging, gorgeously crafted and thematically rich.

Justin Chang, of Variety, has posted his review of The Dark Knight movie,

“An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some .… Using five strongly developed characters to anchor a drama with life-or-death implications for the entire metropolis, the Nolans have taken Bob Kane’s comicbook template and crafted an anguished, eloquent meditation on ideas of justice and power, corruption and anarchy, and, of course, the need for heroes like Batman — a question never in doubt for the viewer, but one posed rather often by the citizens of Gotham.”

Kirk Honeycutt of Hollywood Reporter also has is say, once again the review just oozes praise, now with comparisons to Scorsese:

“The Dark Knight” is pure adrenaline. Returning director Christopher Nolan, having dispensed with his introspective, moody origin story, now puts the Caped Crusader through a decathlon of explosions, vehicle flips, hand-to-hand combat, midair rescues and pulse-pounding suspense.

Nolan is one of our smarter directors. He builds movies around ideas and characters, and “Dark Knight” is no exception. The ideas here are not new to the movie world of cops and criminal, but in the context of a comic book movie, they ring out with startling clarity. In other words, you expect moralistic underpinnings in a Martin Scorsese movie; in a Batman movie, they hit home with renewed vigor.

Rope of Silicon Review:

Heath Ledger presents himself as The Joker in a role that defines a career. It is unimaginable it would come to the point that a film based on a comic book character could actually have such an impact on one person. On a generation. Ledger’s decent into what is, and has become, The Joker makes Jack Nicholson’s interpretation look like nothing more than a simple clown. “Wait until they get a load of me,” says Jack… Wait until you get a load of Heath says I.

Moriarty of AICN:

You’re talking about an $85 million film for HELLBOY 2, and about $100 million more than that for THE DARK KNIGHT. These are gigantic investments for the releasing companies, and it would not surprise me in the least to see them diluted or dumbed-down. That’s just the nature of this industry, and we’ve come to expect it. So when you see films that truly seem to represent someone’s personal take on such gigantic archetypes, it’s bracing. It’s not just entertainment for a few hours in a theater… it’s an affirmation that there is room for greatness in this business, and sometimes, it’s allowed to happen, or even encouraged to flourish.

Describing The Dark Knight as a thunderbolt that rips through a summer of bland movies, Travers heaps praise on the mad-crazy-blazing brilliant Heath Ledger as The Joker. I’ve picked out the part I love the most:

The haunting and visionary Dark Knight soars on the wings of untamed imagination. It’s full of surprises you don’t see coming. And just try to get it out of your dreams

Once again the full review comes after the break. We’ve already posted an unofficial review from a well known Spaced character.

Rolling Stone Review

Heads up: a thunderbolt is about to rip into the blanket of bland we call summer movies. The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan’s absolute stunner of a follow-up to 2005’s Batman Begins, is a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie. Feverish action? Check. Dazzling spectacle? Check. Devilish fun? Check. But Nolan is just warming up. There’s something raw and elemental at work in this artfully imagined universe. Striking out from his Batman origin story, Nolan cuts through to a deeper dimension. Huh? Wha? How can a conflicted guy in a bat suit and a villain with a cracked, painted-on clown smile speak to the essentials of the human condition? Just hang on for a shock to the system. The Dark Knight creates a place where good and evil — expected to do battle — decide instead to get it on and dance. “I don’t want to kill you,” Heath Ledger’s psycho Joker tells Christian Bale’s stalwart Batman. “You complete me.” Don’t buy the tease. He means it.

The trouble is that Batman, a.k.a. playboy Bruce Wayne, has had it up to here with being the white knight. He’s pissed that the public sees him as a vigilante. He’ll leave the hero stuff to district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and stop the DA from moving in on Rachel Dawes (feisty Maggie Gyllenhaal, in for sweetie Katie Holmes), the lady love who is Batman’s only hope for a normal life.

Everything gleams like sin in Gotham City (cinematographer Wally Pfister shot on location in Chicago, bringing a gritty reality to a cartoon fantasy). And the bad guys seem jazzed by their evildoing. Take the Joker, who treats a stunningly staged bank robbery like his private video game with accomplices in Joker masks, blood spurting and only one winner. Nolan shot this sequence, and three others, for the IMAX screen and with a finesse for choreographing action that rivals Michael Mann’s Heat. But it’s what’s going on inside the Bathead that pulls us in. Bale is electrifying as a fallibly human crusader at war with his own conscience.

I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker. Miles from Jack Nicholson’s broadly funny take on the role in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, Ledger takes the role to the shadows, where even what’s comic is hardly a relief. No plastic mask for Ledger; his face is caked with moldy makeup that highlights the red scar of a grin, the grungy hair and the yellowing teeth of a hound fresh out of hell. To the clown prince of crime, a knife is preferable to a gun, the better to “savor the moment.”

The deft script, by Nolan and his brother Jonathan, taking note of Bob Kane’s original Batman and Frank Miller’s bleak rethink, refuses to explain the Joker with pop psychology. Forget Freudian hints about a dad who carved a smile into his son’s face with a razor. As the Joker says, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.”

The Joker represents the last completed role for Ledger, who died in January at 28 before finishing work on Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It’s typical of Ledger’s total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I’m Not There that he does nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked. If there’s a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976’s Network, sign me up. Ledger’s Joker has no gray areas — he’s all rampaging id. Watch him crash a party and circle Rachel, a woman torn between Bale’s Bruce (she knows he’s Batman) and Eckhart’s DA, another lover she has to share with his civic duty. “Hello, beautiful,” says the Joker, sniffing Rachel like a feral beast. He’s right when he compares himself to a dog chasing a car: The chase is all. The Joker’s sadism is limitless, and the masochistic delight he takes in being punched and bloodied to a pulp would shame the Marquis de Sade. “I choose chaos,” says the Joker, and those words sum up what’s at stake in The Dark Knight.

The Joker wants Batman to choose chaos as well. He knows humanity is what you lose while you’re busy making plans to gain power. Every actor brings his A game to show the lure of the dark side. Michael Caine purrs with sarcastic wit as Bruce’s butler, Alfred, who harbors a secret that could crush his boss’s spirit. Morgan Freeman radiates tough wisdom as Lucius Fox, the scientist who designs those wonderful toys — wait till you get a load of the Batpod — but who finds his own standards being compromised. Gary Oldman is so skilled that he makes virtue exciting as Jim Gordon, the ultimate good cop and as such a prime target for the Joker. As Harvey tells the Caped Crusader, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” Eckhart earns major props for scarily and movingly portraying the DA’s transformation into the dreaded Harvey Two-Face, an event sparked by the brutal murder of a major character.

No fair giving away the mysteries of The Dark Knight. It’s enough to marvel at the way Nolan — a world-class filmmaker, be it Memento, Insomnia or The Prestige — brings pop escapism whisper-close to enduring art. It’s enough to watch Bale chillingly render Batman as a lost warrior, evoking Al Pacino in The Godfather II in his delusion and desolation. It’s enough to see Ledger conjure up the anarchy of the Sex Pistols and A Clockwork Orange as he creates a Joker for the ages. Go ahead, bitch about the movie being too long, at two and a half hours, for short attention spans (it is), too somber for the Hulk crowd (it is), too smart for its own good (it isn’t). The haunting and visionary Dark Knight soars on the wings of untamed imagination. It’s full of surprises you don’t see coming. And just try to get it out of your dreams

This review contains spoilers — full article included after the break.

Just after watching The Dark Knight. I see no reviews are online so I
thought Id send you my review.

Ive kept this review as spoiler free as possible as I dont want to ruin anything like someone did recently with another Christian Bale movie!!!

Ill start by saying that I was a fan of Batman Begins and am a huge admirer of Christopher Nolan’s body of work. I had my faults with BB mainly to do with how they shot and edited the fight sequences but felt it was a great start to a much larger story and I jumped with joy when Gordan pulled out the Joker card at the end.

The Dark Knight opens with a bank heist sequence that highlights how the joker is always one step ahead of the criminals he is working with and the police who are after him. Numerous men break into a bank controlled by the mob wearing clown masks and comment on how The Joker
has put the whole thing together. This is the catalyst for which the rest of the events in this movie takes place.

The heist does not go to plan well at least not for all the gang. Its a great set up and payoff and a unique way of introducing the ace in TDK’S whole or in this case its Joker.

Heath Ledgers performance of the joker is truly one for the books. A man of no remorse or morals who simply wants to see things burn. There is no back story or establishing the character. He is fully formed. He does have some dialogue scenes that reveal a bit of his background.
Lets just say he has some issues with his father and that smile of his is rooted in a gesture of love. He is far from a caricature and has depth . He realises that without Batman he would not be. The Joker is almost more of a terrorist than criminal. He is not motivated by money. He wants to see people suffer. Its a damn shame that this was Heath Ledger’s final major performance as it shows a whole different side to him as a performer and I now know that he was endlessly talented. To watch him walk away from an exploding hospital dressed as a nurse is probably my favourite moment Ive seen on film so far this
year. Also look out for when he makes a pencil disappear such a cool moment! Best supporting Oscar anyone?

Gotham is still engulfed by crime. Falcone’s reign as the head of the mob is over and that seat has been filled by Salvatore Maroni played by Eric Roberts. What becomes clear is that there are also numerous other gangs within Gotham. Its no longer just one syndicate. They are all in some way in cohoots but the arrival of Batman has made it harder for them to operate.

Batman has inspired the city officials particularly Harvey Dent. The
DA for Gotham city. This is really his story. The rise and fall of the white knight. He is Bruce Wayne’s hope for Gotham City. A hero who doesn’t have to wear a mask. A man who can inspire hope in the masses. If BB was about fear then TDK is about hope and is relevant in today’s times. Harvey Dent is a good honest man who is willing to bear the weight of bringing down all the criminals on his shoulders and what that means for his own life and those he loves. In terms of his transition to Two Face all I will say is that everything online that Ive seen is fake. The moment we first see him in hospital when Harvey
Dent asks Gordan what his nickname used to be in Internal Affairs and Gordan says Harvey Two Face and Harvey turns to him . Such a clever way of establishing the character. Even down to his double sided coin. Lets just say Aaron Eckhart puts Tommy Lee Jones to friggin shame!

The film feels more like a crime drama in a grand city scape than a typical comic book movie. It feels like Heat except Batman is Al Pacino and The Joker is Robert De Niro and just like in that film we have a great scene between Heath Ledger and Christian Bale across a table. There is also an element of a Greek Tragedy.. There is a vast
sense of morality at play within the film.

Dent is trying to bring down the criminals and wants to bring them in under a RICO charge. To do this he needs Batman’s help as he has to bring in the man who takes care of all their money. A glorified accountant as Rachel Dawes puts it.Think Al Capones accountant in the Untouchables. So Batman ventures to Hong Kong. It adds to the idea that this is very much set in the real world and its not just Gotham that Batman can access.

This all happens within the first third of the film. The run time is
two and a half hours. It doesn’t feel that long as there is so much going on within the film. Ive always felt Christopher Nolan was able to handle pacing unlike many movies that are over two hours these days. This is also his first entirely linear film and he proves himself to be a gifted storyteller and a master of utilising film as a visual medium. He fills each frame with so much scope and detail. You can tell he is enjoying himself with the amount of money he is being allowed to play with and wants to better himself and the franchise. Although this movie doesn’t feel like an instalment in a franchise.
The best thing I can think of for comparison is The Godfather Part 2.

There is no sign of the Batcave in this film. Although Alfred does make mention of it saying how he looks forward to it being finished. Bruce now lives in a pretty sweet penthouse apartment and his new batcave is in an underground layer in the docks. Bruce and Lucious Fox have been working on the suit and toys although to my surprise the Batpod was in BB and nobody spotted it. It’ll put a smile on your face when it makes its introduction.

Christian Bale owns this role. He is Bruce Wayne and he is Batman. He
is also a third character in some regards as there are almost two sides to Bruce Wayne. The public figure, a playboy billionaire who knows how to spend his money and the Bruce Wayne behind closed doors who only Alfred and Rachel get to see. A man covered in bruises and wounds who desperately wants be free of Batman but is compelled to make a difference as no one else can. He can play the villain to be the hero as he does.

The second third focuses on the capturing of The Joker. The city is living in fear as he makes threats on national television that he
always follows through with. You simple have no idea what he will do next. There appears to be no reason to his madness although that proves to not be the case.

I don’t really want to give away anymore. I will say there is death but not in the way some of the fan boys who have watched the trailer are thinking. There is a prestige moment within the film that is a true Chris Nolan moment. The scarecrow is in the film but has a very minor role.

Just go see it on opening day in a room full of fans. Ill be doing the
same and have no doubt Ill enjoy it even more the second time round.

Enjoy.

Tim Bisley

OK friend, you’re up to bat now. You have yourself a new assignment: Operation Slipknot.

Linking to a new Gotham Major Crimes Unit page dedicated to “Operation Slipknot”.

Clicking each of the police images reveals details about the individuals. The assignment states,

OPERATION SLIPKNOT

Gotham Police Major Crimes Unit, in cooperation with the GPD Internal Affairs Division, needs you to help track down numerous offenders that are fugitives from justice. Interestingly, we’ve tracked all of these individuals to the same last known location: Gotham Intercontinental Hotel. But we don’t know where they’ve gone from there.

Call the hotel and convince the concierge to ship you a certain package that’s been sent there for each fugitive. Use the provided intel and whatever means you can to convince him that you’re the intended recipient, your travel plans have changed, and he needs to send the package to you. Once received, you should have all you need to fill in the blanks as to that fugitive’s location.

We will add details about additional fugitives as they become available. Time is of the essence, as we have only a short time before the trail runs cold. Your cooperation in this operation will go a long way. Good luck.

Heading over to the Gotham Intercontinental Hotel, we are presented with a telephone number to call their concierge — 1 866 306 5589.

The aim is to state that you are the officer and provide your reference number — as outlined by the INTEL:

You should have received your duplicate care packages by now. If not, contact the concierge at the Intercontinental and have him forward you your original package (reference #‘s, as always, the total number of letters in your name followed by your last name shifted forward one letter, like 15DBOEPMPSP). He’s been instructed to send no-questions-asked if these ref #‘s are used. Do NOT contact me.

Bon Voyage!

Then you must state that your travel arrangements have had to change, the concierge shall ask for a mailing address and then confirm that a package shall be sent out to that address overnight. You also need to provide a telephone number in case of problems. The phone lines are VERY BUSY and new fugitives are being added regularly

When you get your package, their is a submit button to provide the relevant details and turn them in:

If you have received a package, enter any pertinent intel on your subject here: the confirmation # of their ticket, the last name of the alias they’re traveling under, and the city they’re flying to. If everything checks out, we’ll forward it so that appropriate action can be taken.

Thanks Bruce, Maeghan and Carlos!

Update: All fugitives have been assigned and packages sent out. The game has gone quiet until tomorrow morning, when I’m sure it will return with more surprises!