~~The Dark Knight~~A Dark Reeling Masterpiece~~

I was waiting for this movie since the day I saw its posters and finally it was released here. Initially I was unable to get the tickets of the movie as server at my place is down and to my dismay all the seats are full in an hour of opening of advance booking but thanks a lot to my friend who arranged tickets of “The Dark Knight” (TDK), I dunno how but yes finally I got the opportunity to watch this movie.

When I came back from watching TDK, my hands were a little sweaty cos of thrill and awe. I felt that it is quite unfair to write about a such a briliant movie after just one watch, what is needed is to watch it for a few times to capture each and every detail, to have a serene vision of the different levels of the plot and the actual symbolism behind each and every scene and frame. But still i am writing it.

Plot Synopsis: Inspite of detailing the plot I will tell the basic story. Batman, Gordon, and Harvey Dent are on a mission to get rid of organized crime and go to great, even illegal lengths to accomplish their goal. With the pressure really on, the mob turns to the Joker to kill Batman so they can be free to run their criminal enterprises. This sets up the confrontation between Batman and the Joker that eventually leads to Dent’s downfall and his transformation into Two-Face. This is all set against the background of Gotham which is being terrorized by various attacks by the Joker in an attempt to bring chaos. There is not a weak point in this film from start to finish. But be aware that this is not a light-hearted movie but is brutal, horrific, tragic and has the ending that needs to happen.

Acting:
Heath Ledger: This movie totally belongs to JOKER. Heath's Joker has cracking white paint on his face, a swollen red smile, and hair tinged with green. He wears a suit and gloves, and moves his tongue out of his mouth when he speaks. He threatens others with a knife in their mouths and a different story every time about how he got his scars on his face.

He is wild, anarchist, who enjoyes watching Gotham tear itself to pieces- for example in the scene where he forces boats (ones full of citizens, ones full of prisoners) to choose what boat they'd like to blow up so that the two boats will in turn blow each other up and. People can say what they want about Heath getting too much praise just because he is no longer with us because it just isn't true. Alive or gone, this was the performance of a lifetime. The make-up, the laugh, the mannerisms, every little thing he did was perfect.

[The Joker holds Rachel Dawes out of a window]
Batman: Let her go.
The Joker: Hmm. Poor choice of words.
[The Joker lets her drop as he laughs maniacally]

When he explains that why he use knife instead of pistols he says “I use a knife because guns are too quick. Otherwise, you can't savor all the emotions. You know who people are in their last moments.”

He is frightening and the definition of villain- playing the role more psychotic and more evil than Jack Nicholson's Joker because of true unpredictability.

The Joker refuses to let decency win out. He stands as an agent of absolute chaos and he wants to show the world that deep down, when you strip away all hope for justice, everyone is capable of destruction. He never wished to kill Batman, but just want to humilate him.. "I don’t want to kill you. What would I do without you? You complete me"
The Joker constantly throws pain and aggression into the faces of this city and forces everyone to show that they are capable of unimaginable cruelty, just like he is.

"Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"

Christian Bale has done a tremendous job as our beloved super hero Batman, who hangs helplessly in between righteous and crazyness. His view of justice causes an emotional and personal shift and thats the reason he have to fight hard with his emotions. If there was an excellent Batman, this is the real deal. Besides Bale has a particular slurring lips that suits him quite well as charming millionaire Bruce Wayne and a dangerous Batman (giving him his particular killing smile).

Aaron Eckhart (as D. A. HarveyDent) is as selfless, noble and a symbol of faith and hope and change. And he does his Harvey Dent/Two-Face character justice, with a strong sense of righteousness/betrayal /twistedness up his sleeve, as well as Bruce Wayne's rival in love. His acting is strong here. His acting is superb specially after he was converted in TWO-FACE (when he use our Sholay wala coin). He follows the line of a movie

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Maggie Gyllenhaal is a great replacement for Katie Holmes as Wayne's love interest Rachel Dawes, as she shows more sensitive and caring side towards Bruce, other than Holmes' nearly flat performance.

Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne's loyal butler Alfred delivers, as well as Morgan Freeman as the CEO of Wayne Enterprises done great jobs in giving the pace to the movie.

Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises has done great jobs in giving the pace to the movie.

Music: The poignant and evocative music is composed by Oscar winner and multiple Oscar nominee Hans Zimmer ("The Lion King," "Gladiator") and seven-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard ("Michael Clayton," "The Fugitive"), and suits completely to the theme of movie.

Cinematography: Wally Pfister’s cinematography is simply stunning. Gotham has never looked so good, so big and deep. Technically speaking, six sequences of "The Dark Knight" were filmed with IMAX cameras, including the opening six minutes, which represent bravura filmmaking. His wide shots purvey a dirty aura and contribute to the feel of the film. Without it, it may not have been the same.

Direction: Direction by Christopher Nolan is par excellence,exalted aloft, the pace of the movie is properly managed to keep the audience enthralled and glued to their seats for almost 2 and half hour movie. There were several shots in the film where i was forced to say "how, the hell did he do that!!!” to my friend (specially when Joker switched Rachel and Dent’s place of captivity, which finally leads to the generation of Two face).
If you ask me, i will say that the creation of Two-Face is one of the smartest moves of the movie, which has not been just thrown at us as a villain and expect us to be afraid or to sympathize with him but shows how circumstances changes a good man to a bad one.

My Take: It is the best of times; it is the worst of times to write a review. The Dark Knight is probably one of the few examples where I am unsure how to rate it. It has awesome action sequences, rather deep plot, a charismatic villain and the charismatic hero. The Dark Knight is a poem of nobility and justice; a story about the futility and illusions of control. This This is a story of the struggle between two sides of the same coin, the good and the bad.

The world that this film lays out is intricate and layered and everyone crosses paths in some way or another that completes the tragedy of their own individual tales. Gotham feels alive, real and visceral. This could easily be any real city in the US. The chaos and murder that envelopes here, feels sincere with it's choices and consequences that are, surprisingly, even beyond Batman's grasp. That's where fantasy hits the wall and reminds you reality is steering the ship.

In the concluding part Batman says, "Sometimes, truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded." Me too couldn’t agree more.

Perfect [5/5] for it. Watch it on IMAX screen to fully enjoy the movie.