Published: Monday, 21st July, 2008 11:00
Cinema Release of the week: Friday July 25th.
By Harry Smyth
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The Dark Knight(12A)
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman.
The Dark Knight, the hugely anticipated sequel to Batman Begins finally arrives in UK cinemas on Friday. It has already broken box office records in the US for both the highest grossing opening weekend ever, amassing a quite staggering $155 million and the largest opening day figure also. The tragic death of Heath Ledger in January has undoubtedly created even greater interest in the movie as his role as The Joker marks his final completed performance. There is even suggestion that he may receive a posthumous Oscar nomination for the role and praise for the version of the infamous villain he has created has been unanimous from early reviews.
The story follows on closely from the conclusion of Batman Begins as Bruce Wayne/Batman(Bale), realises that a more sinister and chaotic force than he has previously encountered threatens to destroy his hopes for harmony and justice in Gotham City. This force is the deranged Joker who is intent on inflicting as much damage and chaos as he can with no regard for human life. Assisted by Lieutenant James Gordon(Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent(Eckhart), Wayne must put all his efforts towards bringing The Joker to justice. However he is also fighting a personal battle as he begins to question his own morals and whether it might even be time to let go of his alter ego Batman and attempt to lead a normal life. This doubt is heightened by his realisation that he risks losing the love of his life Rachel Dawes to Harvey Dent(Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel). Stellar actors Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman return from Batman Begins to reprise their roles of Alfred and Lucius Fox and again prove to be Batman's most trusted confidantes.
Reviews have been generally very positive thus far with many describing this latest entry to the Superhero genre as perhaps the best comic book movie ever made, high praise indeed. It is said to be even darker than its predecessor and the complicated themes of good versus evil are sure to put the audience in a refective mood. It must be hoped that director Christopher Nolan chooses to make a third film and complete the trilogy but for the time being just concentrate on getting your ticket as soon as you can for what it likely to be the cinema experience of 2008.
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