Reader review from aintitcoolnews:
"I'll start out this review by saying that I have not read comic books in years. When I was a teenager, I was an avid reader but I just seemed to grow out of it. With that said, I thought BATMAN BEGINS was the best comic book on film I had seen to date. After seeing DARK KNIGHT earlier today, I can safely say, this was the GODFATHER 2 of comic book films. (I owe an AICN chatroom attendee for that comparison.)
The film begins with the 6 minute teaser that some of you had seen previously in December on the front of I AM LEGEND. I read somewhere that Nolan was inspired by HEAT with this film. It shows. The bank robbery seems to almost be an homage. William Fichtner is even in the scene. His only scene in the film at that. I do not want to really go into plot details on the film as I want to try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible. I just want to comment on the various aspects of it.
First off, the look of the film is stunning. The last Batman film kind of reminded me in some spots as being very Londonesque, especially Wayne Manor. Gotham looks more like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles then any of the previous BATMAN films to date. Nothing at all seems like a soundstage. It surpasses THE PRESTIGE as Wally Pfister's most beautifully shot film to date, Do yourself a favor and see the film in IMAX if you can. Not an OMNIMAX screen, because they curve. And when a film is shot in Cinemascope, OMNIMAX makes it blurred and hard to follow action.
Next, the screenplay and direction. I am convinced after seeing this film that Nolan may be one of our greater talents out there today. He has not made a bad film yet and this film might be his crowning achievement. He and Jonathan Nolan co-wrote the script together and they seem to have such a firm grasp on the story and the characters of Gotham City that part of me wishes the Burton BATMAN films never existed. The Nolan helmed BATMAN films have been everything that Singer forgot to do with SUPERMAN RETURNS. You can pay homage to the past but make damn well sure you have a script to go with it. And unlike SUPERMAN RETURNS, which at times seemed intolerably long, THE DARK KNIGHT is 152 minutes on the edge of your seat. Nolan moves the camera in ways that he has never done in his prior films. There are 360 degree pans around characters in several scenes. You all know what that is normally. The Michael Bay special. Nolan never abuses it and keeps it slow enough that you can follow everything going on in the scene. And a true test to craftsmanship, never in this film was I distracted by CGI. When it is used, it is so beautifully handled that it never stands out. That is the true success of proper CGI.
The performances are all top notch. My theory has always been, the better quality of actors in an action film, the better your film will be. The holdovers from the previous films, Bale, Caine, Freeman & Oldman all have settled into their roles. Bale has the more demanding chore because he is Batman much more in this film then Bruce Wayne. My only complaint, and it's a minor one with Bale is at times, I think the Batman voice sounds too much like a grunt. Maggie Gyllenhal steps in for the completely replaceable Katie Holmes and gives her character a much more layered feel to it then Mrs. Cruise did. Aaron Eckheart is actually a prominent fixture in the film and if you don't want any more spoilers involving his character, stop watching the TV ads. He would not have been my first choice for Harvey Dent but he seems incredibly right for it. But, as you might expect, Heath Ledger's performance is nothing short of spectacular. Again, when I heard Ledger was cast, I had my suspicions. His take on the Joker is so menacing, it makes Nicholson's campiness look like Caesar Romero. With Ledger's Joker, you aren't laughing at him like you were with Nicholson. At times, you are laughing a nervous chuckle at his pure psychotic behavior. It is a mesmerizing performance that Ledger immerses himself in and truly makes it his own. He is a landmark villain for this genre of film. I would absolutely remember him posthumously at Oscar time. It's a shame he's gone. This would have moved him to the A list. A minor spoiler here, see if you catch the BROKEBACK joke Heath throws into the film.
While I know it is impossible to please everyone, Nolan certainly comes damn close here by delivering a film of such brilliance, that it goes beyond great comic book film to great film period."
f'in incredible!
