The Dark Knight: A Review

You know, I'm not usually a big movie critic. It doesn't take much to entertain me, and there are very few movies out there that I outright detest. Then again, it takes a bit to make me positively enamored with a movie, too; the characters have to be memorable, they have to have a certain attitude about them that sticks with you, the setting of the movie has to be good-looking, fitting, and beautiful, and hey, action that captivates you and makes you go, "No way!" is a big plus, too.

As for The Dark Knight?

Add it to the list of movies that I am completely enamored with.

First, let's discuss what this movie is actually about. Essentially, this movie, though about Batman, is not about him - it's about something bigger than just one superhero, one rich playboy-turned-protector. This movie is about Gotham, about a city torn apart by rampant crime who turn against their own vigilante savior because they fear the dark that is coming upon them, the dark that always comes before the light. It's not about Batman himself, but more about whether or not a superhero who is still a human being can have the strength of character, not physically, to do what is right in the face of adversity.

Given all of this, I feel like Christian Bale did a fantastic job of his role taking more to the sidelines than in the previous Batman Begins. That film's purpose was to set up Bruce Wayne's story, to give rhyme and reason to his "no-kill" policy, and to help the audience understand just what makes him tick. Not so in The Dark Knight. The audience, already familiar with his story, is spared a redundant rehash and is instead treated to watching the Batman deal with a whole new breed of criminal: The Joker (I'll talk about him in just a second - there's just not enough space in this article to really do him justice, anyway). It is quite true that one of the movie's central devices is the ways in which Bruce struggles with his new status as a vigiliante, a "criminal" in the eyes of some, and whether or not he can shoulder the burden of being Gotham's true protector - a burden which comes with great sacrifices. Regardless of this being a central theme and a device which drives the movie forward, I still don't feel like this movie was really about Batman. Though Batman is the "Dark Knight" of the title, and is the central character of the movie, it is less about him than everyone else.

Really, the supporting cast is what makes this film so unbelievable. Aaron Eckhart was a perfect Harvey Dent; he looked the part with his square jawline and pretty-boy blond hair, and played Dent with a fervor that matches his character(s) perfectly. I hardly recognized Gary Oldman as Gordan, but maybe that's because he's stuck in my mind currently as Sirius Black...either way, he was also perfect for his role as a doubtful cop who still holds hope in the elusive Batman, as well as perfect for that mustache.

Maggie Gyllenhaal I wasn't as enamored with (how often in my life am I going to say I liked Katie Holmes better?), but I thought she did a good job filling in a roll that was already played by someone else, and she gave Rachel, at the very least, a personality - something I suppose the previous Rachel rather lacked, in retrospect. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were brilliant as Lucius Fox and Alfred the Butler, respectively, in roles that nobody would otherwise care about had they not played them so well.

And then...there's Heath Ledger's Joker. He is what this movie is about, whether it intended to be or not. He stole the show in every single scene he cackled his way into (which, by the way, was deliciously creepy). A far more psychological and downright disturbing Joker than that of Jack Nicholson from 19 years back, this Joker doesn't laugh at his cynical Batman jokes - instead, he laughs at his own little plots, his schemes devised to bring anarchy upon Gotham so that he can stand and watch the city burn down around him...just for the hell of it. The Joker explains himself at one point as a "dog chasing a car...I wouldn't know what to do when I got it," and I think that's pretty accurate of the character himself: the audience wouldn't know what to do if they ever managed to understand him. That's the thing about the Joker, really, what makes him so disturbing to the common person: there's no reason to anything he does. He's not after money, he's not after glory - he just really likes to blow stuff up. We, as people motivated by goals, find this impossible to believe, and that's what makes Ledger's Joker all the more terrifying.

There is, of course, his appearance itself. No longer is he cartoonish and ridiculous-looking with his shock of green hair, cheerfully-colored suits, and carefully painted clown makeup; instead, his clothes are darker, his hair has only a tinge of green hiding amongst all of the grease and who knows what else, and his makeup is caked on haphazardly...the only thing he seems to apply with care is the blood-red line across his face, twisting his white, crackly visage into a grotesque grin. "Why so serious?"

As for the Joker's personality, he's a character that, though it rather repulses you, you can't help but love him. That's really part of the horror of the Joker in this film...he performs these terrible acts (for example, his first full scene where he performs a "magic trick" in which a pencil vanishes...into someones face), yet you still laugh at them ("Ta daaaaaaaa!"), then are immediately horrified at yourself for finding such grotesque actions funny. He seems to bring out not only the worst in the characters on-screen, but in the people watching it as well. Ledger's performance was quite simply cinematic brilliance - the ultimate villian, the ultimate antithesis to an already-conflicted hero.

I give this film an A+: the effects were fantastic, the stunts were believable, the action was simply badass but not over-the-top or excessive, the plot was intriguing, the dialogue was believable and engaging, and the acting was unparalleled - and not just for a comic book movie, or even a summer movie, for that matter. By breaking many hero film conventions (one in particular - trust me, you'll know which should you see it), this film, and particularly Heath Ledger, have some serious clout going into Oscar season.