Review 65: The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight is an incredible sequel and one of the best-if not the best superhero movie ever, in fact its a movie that amazes me so much I am afraid of ranking it so highly.

The film continues the story of Bruce Waynes adventures as Batman. Bruce is under pressure because of his duties as Batman. His childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) meanwhile has fallen for for the new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Echart) and crime is still coming from the mob. Lietenant Gordon is trying to fight the mob and keep his trust with Dent. But Batman, Gordon and Dent can never be prepared for the the greatest threat Gotham has ever faced, The Joker (Heath Ledger). They now must face this mass murdering psychopathic. Has Batman finally met his match?

The plot is a work of share genius, it's so intricate, so topical that to call it a superhero movie would be a huge mistake. It's more like a crime drama, masquerading as a Superhero film with elements of Neo-noir thrown in for good measure.

It's an open-eye look at how corrupt and violent our society is.

It's also edgier and darker than Batman Begins.

According to screenwriter David S. Goyer, the primary theme of The Dark Knight is escalation: Gotham City is weak and the citizens blame Batman for the city's violence and corruption as well as the Joker's threats, and it pushes his limits, making him feel that taking the laws into his own hands is  further downgrading the city.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times has noted, "Throughout the film, [the Joker] devises ingenious situations that force Batman, Commissioner Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent to make impossible ethical decisions. By the end, the whole moral foundation of the Batman legend is threatened."

Other critics have mentioned the theme of the triumph of evil over good. Harvey Dent is seen as Gotham's "White Knight" in the beginning of the film but ends up becoming seduced to evil. 

The Joker, on the other hand, is seen as the representation of pure anarchy and chaos. He has no motive, no orders, no rules and no desires but to cause havoc and "watch the world burn." as Alfred rather eloquently puts it. He doesn't wreck hovoc across Gotham for money or recognition, he just does it to cause trouble and cause trouble he does.

The terrible logic of human error is another theme in this film: What do people do when they are put in the worst of situations? What would you do if you were given the ultimate power over someone else? People are so easily corrupted that even an initial desire to do good can ultimately lead to evil. There's a certain Ferry scene involving the Joker towards the end of the film which displays how humans can easily be enticed by iniquity. These questions on human nature are incredible fascinating and thought-provoking and really get us as an audience to think.

Chaos, Social Violence and Terrorism are also key themes: The Joker is very much portrayed as the Living embodiment of these themes: Throughout the film, he expresses a desire to upset the social order in Gotham City through crime and defines himself by his conflict with Batman, as he attempts to create that chaos. All in a twisted attempt to show that under the right (or in this case wrong) circumstances, anyone, sane or orderly can become like him.

Ultimately, The Dark Knight holds a mirror up to us as an audience and asks us to look closely, to inspect ourselves as human beings and as citizens. It doesn't do that gracefully 

Christopher Nolan's directing is sharp, the cinematography is breathtaking and captures the high class but also gritty and vibrant look of Gotham City. The score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard is sensational, the production design is beautiful, the make up is precise, the sound effects are terrific, the action scenes are incredible, the special effects are brilliant, there are some very authentic shock scenes, the Joker has possibly some of the best scenes ever in this movie such as the scenes where he assassinates the Gotham and specks all these misleading piceses of dialogue and the ending lingures in our heads long after the film concludes. 

The acting is incredible, Christian Bale gives another great performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman, now that he has fully embraced his role as Gothams Dark Knight, it does pose the dilemma as to wether his crusade against crime is something that has an end. Can he quit and live an ordinary life? That kind of manic intensity someone has to maintain, the passion and the anger he felt as a child and loosing his parents, takes an effort after a while, to keep doing that. At some point, he has to exorcise his inner demons.

Michael Caine is once again, an enormously welcome presence playing Alfred Pennyworth. He's very much Batman's Batman. 

Morgan Freeman

Gary Oldman 

Maggie Gyllenhaal proves herself to be a far superior Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes ever was. She genuinely adores Bruce but just can't bear to live with him if he keeps up his mantle as Batman, so that puts a strain on their relationship. At the same time, she is in a relationship with Harvey Dent - Gotham's White Knight.

Aaron Eckhart is just fantastic as Harvey Dent, he's very much the antithesis of Bruce Wayne, Gotham's White Knight to Bruce's Dark Knight - a symbol of Hope to the people through his campaign against the criminal underworld.

He's someone who operates inside the law and justice system who shares the same ideals that Bruce has and is working to make the city a better place only without a mask, someone who can make Gotham a city that doesn't need Batman.

The contrast between them is that while Batman is an ideal (a mask to hide behind, that can absorb any attacks and be whatever the city needs), Dent is just a man, someone who can be corrupted or destroyed. 

Eckhart beautifully portrays the character's humanity, his fall from grace and his decent into madness through his alter ego Two-Face 

However, Heath Ledger just steals the show as the Joker, The version of the Joker that we are treated to is very much very much inspired by Alan Moore’s controversial graphic novel “The Killing Joke” published in 1988: An Agent of Chaos who defines himself by his conflict with Batman and his psychotic maniacal desire to prove that the only thing standing between sanity and insanity is “just one badly day.” He plays the Joker perfectly and nails villains personality. He is this constant and near-unstoppable force whose origins are inexplicable. He's an unpredictable character who can't be reasoned with. He's also, as described by Heath Ledger himself a psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown who possess zero empathy whose desire to upset social order through crime comes to define himself by his conflict with Batman. Because of these traits he is a truly a one-of-a-kind villain.

It’s such a shame he died soon after making this film and at such a young age too.

The Dark Knight is a masterpice of a superhero movie and even today I wish I new what was going through Christopher Nolan's head when he was writing this and I look forward to the third film coming out in 2012, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic