top 6

I just saw 'Dark Knight' and I think it may bump out one of my top 5!

So here's a review I wrote of it for somewhere else, so I'll paste that here cuz I can!!....

Christopher Nolan, ‘You had me at hello’ the title ‘Dark Knight’ smacks of post modern sentiment and had me intrigued from the get go. But fearing a high expectation would leave me disappointed, I went in with trepidation. After hearing certain scenes were shot for the purpose, I figured IMAX could be the only venue. At times I forgot I was watching a very large screen and at others times I thought I was the yet to be hatched Robin along side the pointy-eared hero. But IMAX may not necessarily take all the credit for that. Batman is a 3-dimensional character with depth. And he’s not even the total focus on this trip! Heath as the Joker gave justice to a portrayal that the script demanded and in fact pushed BM into a supporting role for mine.

All that aside, it's the script that really shines, a beautifully crafted web of metaphor and profundity. To be completely honest, I became so engrossed with the sub-plot that I missed a lot of what was to be taken at face value! I knew that something was up with BM. Why didn’t I like his character? and why wasn’t he as sure of himself as a super hero ought to be? Then when Morgan Freeman questioned his motives of surveillance my suspicions were confirmed. I think a repeated viewing is in order after my slowness off the blocks on this one.

So it’s not my perfect flick, but perfection as far as Hollywood goes in the sense of a first class script which manages to still satisfy its demographic. How Nolan cheekily squeezes all that out of what is in essence a cartoon character in a rubber suit amazes me. Questioning a super-power’s (oops, did I say that?) I meant a super-HERO’s motives would have at one stage have been unheard of! Seriously, I could go on for ages about how the themes in this film are as rich as the Batman franchise no doubt has become. But I’ll leave that for others and just address the I guess overall moral of the story in that Nolan suggests society has been told that we need to choose between either a wild murderous wasteland or lawless authoritarian rule. In fact neither absolute works and the present day mystic concurs on this – of course it’s everyone’s psyche that we need to address and it’s ironic that he uses a psychotic advocate of chaos in the Joker to enlighten us of this!

I love this age we live in, and to see a post-modern mystical message explored in front of one of the biggest grossing films ever is nothing short of awe inspiring. ‘Hats off’ Nolan, if this sort of mind-set continues to be embraced by society, perhaps we may in fact fulfill the worlds potential rather than just completing its trajectory.

5 stars

Don’t point the finger in accusation, your own 3 fingers will always point back to you. - Norman Vincent Peale