Very Dark and Grim..but Never Dull

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2013)

I have a tough time with this flick because it is so dark and depressing in places it almost undermines the action, which is the best of any comic book movie to date. I think part of the problem..and I put the blame partially on critics for this..is the demand for something "more" than a comic book adventure. Hate to break it to you snobs, but no matter how much drama, conflict, and misery you put into a comic book adventure, that's still what it is. To try and make it something else kind of defeats the purpose.
That said, The Dark Knight is one awesome tour-de-force, with some of the finest action sequences ever shot (even the CGI looks good..and I HATE CGI). Add to that a very good story and compelling characters, and what you get is one helluva ride. Christian Bale picks up right where he left off with Batman Begins, as the finest Bruce Wayne/Batman ever to grace the big screen. In this movie, Batman's whole belief system gets tested to its limits..and beyond..by Heath Ledger's Joker (WHAT a performance), who takes evil to a whole new level. This Joker is the very definition of a monster; a complete psycho who kills and maims not for money, or vengeance, or a cause. He does it purely for kicks. The only thing he's out to prove is that other people can be just as evil as he is if you just push the right buttons, which he's more than happy to do. He does this by creating scenarios which result in moral dilemmas for Batman and the rest of the "good" people of Gotham City (i.e...two people are about to die, and I'm only giving you time to save one of them..which will you choose?). To quote Alfred, he just wants to watch the world burn.
Speaking of Alfred, chalk up another great performance from Michael Caine, who provides most of the very few moments of levity in this movie. Morgan Freeman is also outstanding as Lucius Fox, the guy who creates most of Batman's toys. Fox also finds himself with a moral dilemma when Batman uses one of his innovations to turn every cell phone in Gotham into a listening device. Maggie Gyllenhaal does as well as she can with the one really annoying character in this particular Batman series, Rachel Dawes (I was able to tolerate Rachel when Katie Holmes played her in the last movie because Katie was so damned cute). Gary Oldman (another true actor's actor) turns in one of his usual flawless performances as Gordon, one good cop in a cesspool of corrupt ones. And then there's Aaron Eckhart as the doomed Harvey Dent, crusading DA-turned-disfigured homicidal maniac Two-Face. His performance is heartbreaking; even with all the horrible things Two-Face does, we still feel bad for him, even as we watch him turn into the very thing he waged war against. Unlike the silly Jones/Schumacher version in Batman Forever, Eckhart and Nolan got Two-Face right. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of him. As for the story itself, it's complex enough to be interesting but not so much that you can't follow it (as opposed to, say, Vanilla Sky).
The Dark Knight is a harrowing 2 hours and 32 minutes, without a dull moment. That's an achievement. The acting, characters, and story are all top notch. So are the effects and the sets. The seedy, dark backdrop of Gotham City (this version done in Chicago) is perfect. Painstaking attention to detail was paid to every aspect of this movie, and it shows. Like said backdrop, this movie is grim, depressing, and violent (not for younger kids). Personally, I prefer a bit more levity in movies derived from comic books. Maybe I'm not being fair. Given the nature of this story, there really isn't much room for that. Whereas Tim Burton made Batman almost a black comedy (as he tends to do with a lot of his flicks) and Joel Schumacher's versions were silly and over the top, Christopher Nolan went in completely the opposite direction..maybe too far..into comic film noir. But I'll still take it. Nolan gets a lot more things right about Batman than his predecessors did (Two-Face is the most obvious example). The Dark Knight may not be a happy movie, but it is a great movie..almost as great as the first Spider-man.