The Dark Knight

This blog won't be all new film reviews, it may also involve other film related ramblings that my family and friends are becoming sick of hearing so I need to share them with you instead- whoever you may be!

People often ask me what my favourite film is and I honestly cannot answer that because when you sit down to watch a film you aren't always looking for the same thing; sometimes I want a great cinematic experience with Oscar worthy performances but other times I just want some silly humour which may not have any real film value at all!

However, one film I recently re-watched that would definitely make it into at least my top 5 is The Dark Knight! Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is amongst the best film franchises ever (I may have to compose a list of my favourite franchises in the future!) and The Dark Knight is, in my opinion, the best of the three. I think it's the best characterisation of Batman there's ever been and you have to give Christian Bale some credit for that. Whilst I don't particularly like him as an actor (or person honestly!) I think that works for the role, as Batman himself isn't necessarily likeable. The way I see Bruce Wayne is as an egotistical millionaire who has a desperate, verging on suicidal, hero-complex which stems out of a unattainable need to avenge his parents by combating any and all criminal activity he witnesses- not exactly the stable, all-American Superhero! What The Dark Knight does quite beautifully is show Batman's transition from vigilante to genuine hero when he becomes selfless enough to hang up his Batsuit for the good of the city!

A lot of people raved about The Dark Knight Rises and how it was the best one- I agree that is was AMAZING and very nearly on par with its predecessor however there were a couple of things I would have changed! Firstly, Bane's death was no where near spectacular enough for how much of an important and awesome villain he was! Secondly, I did not like Marion Cotillard's character very much..I know everybody loves her but for me she was not as endearing as Maggie Gyllenhaal's Rachel and was completely out-shined by Hathaway's Selina/Catwoman. (Moment of appreciation for Anne Hathaway in THAT costume!). Lastly, I thought it was fairly obvious that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Blake was supposed to be a prodigy/Robin type character- it didn't need to be thrown in at the end that his first name is Robin!

These may be trivial and minor improvements but the point is that The Dark Knight is FLAWLESS to me! There are very few movies that I would label as perfection but this one deserves it! From Heath Ledger's sickly gleeful Joker, to stupidly awesome Batcar/bike chases and perfect cameos from Freeman/Caine/Oldman- I can't see any possible improvement!

Rating 10/10
This is not something you will see often!
I will eat my words if I am wrong but I am not holding out high hopes for the reboot with Affleck next year, seems like a lame attempt to jump on the Avenger's hype with a Justice League lead-in and Affleck has the potential to return Batman to the cheese-fest it once was!