(andPOP) - Big screen motion pictures have this terrible habit of ruining the entire film by revealing the movie's best scenes in the promotional trailer. When Warner Bros. first teased "The Dark Knight," viewers were bombarded with clips of a darker and a bolder re-invention of the iconic comic series which led many to assume the film was a vast improvement from its 2005 prequel "Batman Begins."
But after the initial oohing and aahing, does "The Dark Knight" film truly bring something more to the screen than an impressive marketing campaign aimed at primarily showcasing the callous portrayal of the Joker by the late actor Heath Ledger?
It certainly does. And Ledger's role as the crazed clown is nothing short of brilliant. The witty and clever one-liners the Joker delivers—along with his immensely terrifying presence as the movie's villain— revitalizes my fear of clowns to unimaginable levels.
And although audience members will be easily captivated by many of the other actors' performances, most notably with Aaron Eckhart's character, the movie's storyline is relatively well scripted and rather easy to follow. At no point in the film is the plot nearly as chaotic as Gotham City.
In this sequel, Batman (whose other alias is Bruce Wayne) struggles with deciding if he should continue living as Gotham City's hero or whether he should return to his life as a "normal" billionaire and rekindle his romance with Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Since district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) has been cleaning up crime in the city with the help of Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman), Batman believes that Dent is the hero his city needs—someone who doesn't have to hide behind a costume. When a mysterious sociopath mastermind known as the Joker creates inconceivable chaos in Gotham, Batman must stop the madman's campaign of destruction.
Not only has Christopher Nolan directed and written, along with brother Jonathan Nolan, a screenplay that will easily satisfy all DC Comic fans and fanatics, "The Dark Knight" will keep any audience member enchanted by its darkness, suspense and intensity. A few shots were filmed with IMAX cameras—bringing scenes in the film to extraordinary levels.
It's fair to say that the Ledger's performance easily steals the spotlight. Even before the actor's untimely death in January, movie critics were raving about the actor's performance and now many are predicting Ledger will receive a posthumous Oscar nod. And such positive words of appraisal are justifiable.
Although this movie is not a masterpiece, Nolan has potentially created the best of all comic superhero movies of the year. The film has its flaws but when watching Ledger as the distraught Joker, you just don't give a damn.
