Film Review - "The Dark Knight"

by von Richthofen

The Dark Knight takes the entire comic book movie genre, grabs it by the neck and careens full force off the tracks. Equal parts thriller, action movie, crime drama, romance, and horror film, this movie does more than set the bar high for all comers. It snaps the bar in half. Free of the restraints of telling an origin story, The Dark Knight explores all new territory. I'll keep my review spoiler free even though knowing FAR too much about the film going in did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for what I saw.

Picking up where Batman Begins left off, The Dark Knight finds Batman rounding up the scores of punks and lowlifes that have been plaguing Gotham City. Batman wannabes in homemade costumes have begun to emulate his tactics. The unrest serves as a perfect backdrop to the new alliance made between Batman, Police Lt. James Gordon, and new Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent. The trio form an uneasy but solid partnership to take down the remaining elements of organized crime in Gotham by targeting their bank activity and cutting off their funds. Refusing to go quietly, the mobsters agree to a last ditch effort to cause chaos and anarchy in the highest levels of government led by a quiet lunatic who calls himself the Joker.
We also find Bruce Wayne at another crossroads in his quest to retire the cape and cowl and settle into a quiet life with his childhood best friend and love Rachel Dawes. But Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal who is a huge upgrade on Katie Whatsherface) refuses to wait for Wayne to give up his secret life and begins a serious relationship with Harvey Dent. Still, her feelings for Bruce are strong enough to give her pause.

Director Christopher Nolan clearly found every flaw in Batman Begins and eradicated them from The Dark Knight. The pacing is fantastic. The editing is flawless. CGI? It is so sparse and well done that you won't notice a single moment on screen. The colors of Gotham City are muted. Thanks to lots of location filming in Chicago and Hong Kong, nothing looks staged. The story is never overly complex or hard to follow. Each character is given enough screen time to develop, each story is realized to completion. The music holds the tension at a fever pitch throughout. Visually, the movie is a clear homage to Michael Mann's crime drama Heat. Especially the bank heist opening scene. The cinematography is heightened by Nolan's decision to shoot several key sequences in IMAX (it's not just for National Geographic you know).

Nolan is not afraid to question Batman's heroic status. Do we really agree with his methods? Do we feel safe having justice dispensed by a masked vigilante whose real identity is shrouded in questionable mystery?
Contrary to other reviews I have read, Heath Ledger doesn't steal the show. His performance is beyond stellar. Rather, it is because of the totality of Christopher Nolan's rock-solid casting that Ledger is able to move in and out of scenes in a reptilian manner. His facial expressions are so nuanced and effortless that you really forget that you are seeing Heath Ledger at all. One moment he is a cackling psychopath bent on utter chaos and the next moment he is playing it straight and direct. Ledger's Joker bares no resemblance to Jack Nicholson, Cesar Romero, or any other incarnation. He truly has no boundaries, no motivation, and no story arch. I love that Nolan chose not to explain the Joker. The only glimpses into his past are recounted by the Joker himself in a misguided attempt to connect with his victims. Even when the movie gets incredibly heavy, Ledger interjects humor and levity. The laughs are well placed and always much needed.

Aaron Eckhart is phenomenal as Harvey Dent in what will certainly be his first of many star-turns. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are perfect in their respective roles as Bruce Wayne's moral support system. Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon plays a grizzled realist counterpoint to Eckhart's optimist Dent. And Bale shifts seamlessly between spoiled playboy and troubled hero.

This movie will leave you unsettled. Ledger's tragic death may play some role in this. It is a shame that we will never know where else Ledger could take the character. If he doesn't win the Oscar, I'll cease to care about the stupid things. For me, it was the constant moral tug of war that held my attention. I got completely lost in the proceedings.

Nolan's decision to leave it all on the screen is rewarded in what I now regard as the greatest comic book adaptation of all time. It is clear that he had no thoughts of developing any plotlines that "needed" to be resolved at a later date. If a trilogy is in the offing, The Dark Knight will undoubtedly go down as it's defining moment.