My Review of "The Dark Knight"

We went to the midnight showing of the new Batman flick last night. YEAH !! It was great. LONG !! But still great

Here is the review I wrote on the movies website

totally NOT disappointed

As a reader of comic books for 40 plus years, I was eagerly and cautiously awaiting this release. I sat enthralled in a theater packed with new teen aged Batman fans and hung on every explosion, every twist, every piece of the action. This movie jam packed the action into every scene. The story was wonderful. The dedication to the spirit of the comics (Batman's code of honor and the Joker's complete lack of one) was clearly defined.

The seething darkness beneath the calm exterior of Bruce Wayne was wonderfully captured by Christian Bale. His acting displayed the diversity of such a complex character as Batman and still maintained the simplicity of his quest.

Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker was stunning. Not to take anything away from previous actors filling this role, but he surpassed them all. In the original movie, Nicholson stole the show from the weaker Keaton Batman. Christian Bale's strength in this character pulled equal footing, which made the epic struggle between them all the more thrilling to watch.

Although time constraints did not permit for the full development of the Dent/Two-Face character, it was still a strong performance by Eckhart to manage the character. As a lifelong fan of Batman, I had the basis for filling in gaps necessarily left in the movie.

If there was a weakness in this movie at all, it was in the portrayal of Rachel by Gyllenhaal. In "Batman Begins" Rachel was a tough city prosecutor in a city run by it's lowest element. Holmes looked dainty but pulled off toughness. In this movie, Rachel seemed weak and directionless. This was further convoluted but her confusion as to which hero she wanted to be with. Her vacillating emotions between Wayne and Dent made her character seem weaker. Additionally, there seemed to be no real chemistry between either man and her. In "Begins" she had clear and concise purpose and did not let her emotional attachments sway her direction. This was a strength created in "Begins" and seemingly abandoned in "Knight".

The continuing development of Oldman's Gordan is phenomenal. The entire theater gasped when he was shot. (WARNING ~ SPOILER) When he showed up as the driver in the transfer scene, the theater erupted in applause. This is an emotional attachment to a movie character not often seen. Well done.

I loved the tense scenes aboard the two ferry's as the riders struggled with who and what they were. There was one line when the citizens were discussing the 'value' of keeping the prisoners alive at the risk of their own deaths. Someone spoke up and said that it was obvious that they hadn't decided to let us die, as we are still here. It was a great moment of the acceptance that there is good and evil in all of us.

Overall, this was a great movie. I highly recommend anyone to see this movie, comic fan or not.

Oh yeah .. and more on the job story is coming .. I promise