P has been pretty quiet on the postings front lately because she's been too busy going out! :-) Still at least it provides fodder for rather belated posts, like this movie review.

Pretensions went to the movies with some friends on Monday night and caught the new Batman flick, The Dark Knight. In the style of most comic book adaptations nowadays and in keeping with its title, the movie was very dark indeed and quite shocking at points. Though long at 2 1/2 hours, it never seemed to drag due to the non-stop frenetic action throughout, all the way to the bittersweet ending.

Yes, there are great special effects. Yes, there is lots of blood and mayhem. Yes, there are loads of cool gadgets and vehicles, but best of all there is a strong plot anchored by four excellent actors, as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon face off against archenemies, the Joker and Two-Face over the fate of Gotham City.

For those of you who may have been living in a cave,  The Dark Knight stars the brooding Christian Bale as the titular Batman, and the sadly mourned Heath Ledger as his psychotic nemesis, the Joker. Let me say that Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is truly frightening. I'd always thought that Jack Nicholson was the ultimate Joker, until I saw Ledger in this role. Ledger's joker is a Loki figure, completely demented and perfectly happy to sow chaos and mayhem for no particular reason. Like Loki, he brings Ragnarok to Gotham City in a series of escalating crimes that culminate in the explosion of a hospital. I mean, what sort of person blows up a hospital? In the way he approaches his victims, Ledger is reminiscent of Nicholson at his most frightening in The Shining; both actors manage to radiate mania and you can believe that they will do anything to their victims.

Ledger's suicide followed quickly after he completed shooting this picture, and P can't help but wonder if the manifest psychosis of the Joker might lie at the root of it.

Batman's regular supporting cast of Alfred (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) are excellent as always and both have slightly larger roles than in the first movie. P wasn't particularly convinced by Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes. P has read a couple of reviews talking about the chemistry between her and Bale - sorry, the fizzing must have taken place when P wasn't looking. His other ally, James Gordon finally gets the chance to don the Commissioner mantle that most fans of the comics would remember him for, and is convincingly portrayed by Gary Oldman (taking a holiday from the Potter movies?).

Unfortunately for Batman, the Joker isn't his only enemy. DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) starts the movie as Gotham's new white knight and indeed has Batman considering stepping down in favour of him. Unfortunately for Dent, one of the Joker's strikes at Batman leaves him hideously scarred both emotionally and physically and he takes the law into his own hands, becoming the villain Two-Face with his signature two-headed coin toss. Heads, you live and heads you die, that's the way it is with Two-face, and Eckhart portrays his character's descent into hell very convincingly.

For a deep dark thrill-ride with real character depth, see The Dark Knight. It is the best comic book movie P has seen for a long time. One warning: Don't bring the kids.