I AM BATMAN!!! (SPOILERS AHOY)

I haven't been able to post here for a few days because I haven't had a decent internet connection for 3 days now. But enough about that, my weekend's lousy anyway.

The reason why I'm posting a new one now is to profess my love to Batman!!! Oh yes, I've seen the movie... it's awesome!!! Two and a half hours of pure genius.

The Dark Knight takes place probably months after the first film. Gotham City has a new knight sweeping the streets clean of mobsters and criminals in the form of new District Attorney Harvey Dent. The only way for the mobs to actually stay in business is to enlist the help of a deranged sociopath named Joker. The villains actually succeed and even effectively plants seeds of doubt on whether the city really needs a hero like Batman. And that's actually just the first half of the film.

What I like about The Dark KNight is that it's got a very rich story. WHen you thought that the story reaches it's climax, another thing happens that takes it to the next level. Christopher Nolan directed possibly my favorite film of the year. People might expect senseless violence when they watch the film, but I don't think that's the case. Yes, buildings explode, people die violent deaths, and a lot of people shoot each other up, but it's not in a way that people expect. Actually, thinking about it, the film is in the same league as Michael Mann's films. Fight scenes are few, but they move the story along. It may not be that colorful (say ala Matrix or Wanted), but it is necessary to see the big picture.

I guess one of the strengths of this film is it's actors. Everyone pulled brilliant performances in this movie. Heath Ledger is legendary in this one. To be honest with you, I hated the actor specially with his choice of films (A Knight's Tale, Ned Kelly), but in this one... Perfect. I doubt anyone could ever play the Joker as effectively as Heath did here. The Dark Knight is definitely not a Batman film, it's actually the story of Harvey Dent and his fall from grace. Aaron Eckhart plays Two-Face just as perfectly as Ledger played Joker. I am just in awe when I finally see the face of Batman's other nemesis. Too bad, we won't be seeing him in the next sequel. Actually, everyone needs to be praised in terms of excellent acting.

Like with the past film, one of the things that takes away my joy in watching this film is Batman himself. Why do they insist on having him change his voice when he's in costume. It's like it's not even close to how Christian Bale is as Bruce Wayne. I know it's so that he won't be recognized, but it's too over-the-top. And one more thing, I'm not pro-Katie Holmes, but Rachel Dawes is supposed to be pretty. I have nothing against Maggie Gyllenhaal, because she portrayed the character very well. She even sounds like Katie Holmes, it's just that I've seen Batman Begins the other day, and she looks older... and not so prettier. Oh well. And oh yeah, I want more Two-Face. As I know that this is supposed to be a trilogy, I was actually expecting for the villain to have stayed longer. But alas, it seems that he's only bound for this one. His actual demise is rather easy, so it wasn't that satisfactory, given that the first half of the film is a build-up to Two-Face.

BUt you know what, these are shallow complaints. Nothing that could affect how I feel about the movie. It's still awesome!!!

Wow, I haven't done a movie review in a very long time. I think the last one was for Speed RAcer a few months ago. I've seen alot of the summer blockbusters, and most probably at the end of summer, I'll list down the 10 best films. But don't expect to see Speed Racer there.

SCORE: 10 out of 10