Review: "The Dark Knight"

We don't often review movies over here at the kids' table. But while the eagerly-anticipated Batman sequel The Dark Knight isn't really gay enough to cover over on our main page, over here on the blog things are just loosey-goosey enough to allow for this kind of thing. Being as how I know many of us hold a special place in our hearts for Heath Ledger, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the movie ... I won't get spoilery until the end and will give ample warning, so consider this a pretty safe read for those of you who don't want your Knight to be kept in the dark until showtime.

Here's the long and short of it: The Dark Knight is perhaps the greatest superhero movie ever made.

It is an epic, complicated, and relentlessly disturbing meditation on terror, fear, honor, and responsibility that grabs you in the opening scene and drags you by the throat through 150 minutes of intrigue, drama, and jaw-dropping action. From its grim palette to its wonderfully eerie minimalist score, everything about the film is a departure from what Hollywood has always told us a superhero film should be. This is something altogether more complex, more unsettling, and more rewarding.

The main reason that the film works is the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker. It's simply riveting. After the carefully-crafted origin story of Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan wisely shifts the focus off of the Pointy-Eared One and onto the villain who would make him fully realize his potential as Gotham's savior: the mysterious and horrifying Joker, whose refusal to compromise plays foil to Bruce Wayne's own internal conflict. And I cannot imagine that any other actor could have realized this part with the nuance, the bravado, and the sheer balls that Ledger brought to the role.

This is Ledger's film, start-to-finish. Which is interesting, considering that at no point do we actually learn anything whatsoever about the character that he plays beyond his simple philosophy: Chaos reigns. As he himself points out in an early scene, he's not crazy ... he simply has a singular desire: to see everything fall apart. And if that's crazy, then Batman must be crazy, too, because they are two sides of the same coin: Control ... and chaos.

Fittingly, the coin-flipping villain Two Face (nee Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart) enjoys the most satisfying character arc the film has to offer. We actually see the new District Attorney (Gotham's "White Knight") transform from the city's greatest hope to the city's greatest threat, a journey that further amplifies Batman's yin-yang relationship with The Joker.

What's really most impressive about The Dark Knight is its scope and scale, which makes even Batman Begins, which itself felt impossibly thorough and wonderfully grand in its exploration of the hero's origins, look like child's play by comparison. Batman Begins was literally the setup, and The Dark Knight is where the bat hits the fan. At the heart of the story is Gotham, in all its corrupt, overpopulated, mismanaged, crime-ridden glory. And Gotham is its focus through and through, as public servants fall prey to The Joker's plans, innocent civilians are transformed into gun-toting clowns, and, in the film's most harrowing sequence, two ferries loaded with citizens are asked to play jury, judge, and mass executioner.

I know that I called this the greatest superhero movie ever made, but it's almost inappropriate to call it a superhero movie at all. Sure, the most ambitious superhero movies (Spiderman, Iron Man, Superman) have wrestled with "big themes" like responsibility, family, and greed ... but not nearly to this extent. This is the anatomy of a society hobbled by corruption and driven by fear whose parallels to our own world are alarmingly tight. It's not about the suit, and it's not about the gadgets (although they're amazing), and it's not about the clown makeup (which is never explained, or even addressed): it's about the clash of good and evil and the sacrifices that those who protect the greater good make in order to keep order.

And it's wonderfully, exhaustingly thrilling. 

Okay, enough of that. On to the fun stuff! (More details after the break, but don't worry, nothing spoilery until a ways down...)

Heath will get an Oscar nomination

Count on it. His performance is the best I've seen so far this year, turning from lucid to loony in a twitch and swaggering to limping on a dime. It's actually hard to remember it's even him in that purple suit and smeared greasepaint, and his performance certainly bears no resemblance whatsoever to Ennis from Brokeback Mountain (another role which he played with uncommon sensitivity and for which he was nominated for - and robbed of - an Oscar). It's crazy that this young man turned in not one, but two truly iconic performances in his relatively short career. And while I'll never forget him as Ennis, he's effectively bumped off Jack Nicholson as the definitive Joker. I know a lot of people are wary of seeing an actor who means so much to them play such a dark role, but seriously, it deserves to be seen.

When the credits roll and we see that the film is dedicated to Ledger, it's beyond upsetting, it's infuriating. He was arguably the greatest actor of my generation, and in a film about corruption, the greatest crime is that its star won't be alive to see his masterwork received by the world.

You will be shocked. Several times.

Characters appear that you thought were gone. (From the first film, even.) People will die that you can't believe are dead. (Some of whom ... aren't?) And some of the stunts, explosions, and scares (there are a few, be warned) will make your jaw drop and your buns hop out of your seat. And if you haven't been spoiled yet on the design of Two Face .... eesh. Be prepared. I'm actually a bit surprised that such a dark, violent and thoroughly adult film didn't get slapped with an R.

If you have an IMAX near you, you MUST see it there.

This is a movie about a city. And in that respect seeing it in IMAX (whose aspect ratio is taller than it is wide) is incredibly appropriate. I got vertigo from several shots, and overall found the experience to be perfect. And coming from a guy who looooves his widescreen, this is something. 

Watch out for some great cameos.

From Anthony Michael Hall in a bit part as a newscaster (?!) to William Fichtner as a bank manager, the movie is filled with faces and characters you'll recognize (including the welcome return of Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow, albeit briefly). And notice the rather brilliant casting of Nestor Carbonell (who of course played Batman knockoff Batmanuel in The Tick) as The Mayor. Also, comics fans will notice the seeds planted of several other storylines and characters from different series. Whether any of them will return in the sequel we won't know for a while.

Christian Bale fans beware: He steps back.

Yes, after blowing us all away in Batman Begins, Christian Bale does the gentlemanly thing this time around and takes a step back. He actually probably gets less screentime than Ledger, and possibly even Eckhart as well. This isn't a huge character-building story for Batman or Wayne (he gets a little, mostly involving Rachel Dawes, but not much), so he is there mostly to chase the bad guys. It's honorable for Bale to allow "his" franchise to put him on the back burner for an installment, and it really does serve the film well. But those of you who were expecting another buffet of shirtless Bale, you may be disappointed. (Okay, he is shirtless once and daaaaamn he still looks good.) 

And since we're on the subject, here's the only really spoilery bit of the whole review (which I'm putting out there for folks catching early screenings who want to discuss), so if you don't want to know the fates of a few of the characters, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN. Also, if you have seen the film and want to discuss spoilery items in the comments, please be polite and do not spoil anything in your comment subject lines.

***MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!!*** 

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The filmmakers have a very, very tough decision ahead of them in regards to what to do with The Joker, clearly envisioned as a multi-film villain (when we last see him, the cops have caught him for the umpteenth time but we have no idea what they do with him). Now that Ledger is no longer with us, this is a big, big problem, particularly given that the other villain introduced in the film (Two Face) dies at the end and given that The Joker is responsible for the death of Wayne's true love, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal ... and damn if she wasn't good, but is it wrong to have wished that it was Katie Holmes getting blown up instead?).

At this point there's really nowhere for them to go with all of the setup from this film ... Batman wants revenge on The Joker for taking down Dent and killing Rachel, but without Ledger they'd be insane to have the character appear in another film. Seriously, NOT a good idea. Sure, Scarecrow is still running around but he's a punk compared to The Joker. If they want to preserve the integrity of the character, they're going to have to retire him and bring in a new villain, which means starting from scratch. True, if anyone can do it, it's these guys. But it is a shame that the momentum from this installment will be lost. Agreed? Yes? No?

****END SPOILERS!!!****