A Towering Achievement

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2008)

Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" reminds us that even a product of mass-market pop-culture can, if done correctly, be a work of art. This thrilling, densely plotted and beautifully crafted sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins" is, quite possibly, the finest comic book superhero movie ever made. In addition, it boasts, in the performance of Heath Ledger, one of the definitive screen villains of all time.
As the movie begins, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) - with the unofficial aid of the "vigilante crime fighter" known as Batman (Christian Bale) - is getting ready to indict most of Gotham City's most notorious criminals and gangsters on racketeering and money-laundering charges. The fly in the ointment is the psychotic, face-painted super villain, self identified as The Joker, who's joined forces with the seedy criminal elements of the city to bring both Batman and the terrorized inhabitants to their knees. Meanwhile, billionaire Bruce Wayne is trying to find a way to render his Batman alter ego unnecessary by finding an incorruptible civic leader who will be able to rid the city of its criminal elements through wholly legal means and, thus, become the heroic figure for the city that Batman himself can never be. He alights on Dent as the man for that job.
As writers, the Nolan brothers, Jonathan and Christopher, have created a work that is so dark and despairing in its probing of the evil that infests our world that it makes the 1989 Tim Burton version look like an episode from the campy TV series in comparison. The forces of good in this movie are entirely at the mercy of the forces of evil, so terrifyingly embodied in the Joker figure. With his face painted into a ghoulish grin, Ledger's Joker strikes terror not merely into the characters in the movie but the audience as well. Not since Anthony Hopkins did his turn as Hannibal Lecter (a character Ledger himself cited as a primary source of inspiration for this role) has one actor imparted such a quality of dread and menace to the character he was playing. It is, indeed, a tribute to Ledger's greatness as an actor that, even after all the myriad screen villains we have encountered over the years, he has the power to makes us cringe every time he appears on screen. Indeed, so convincing is Ledger in the part that we sometimes wonder if even Batman himself will have what it takes to defeat him (and isn't that the measure of a truly effective bad guy?). For this Joker's true strategic advantage lies not in all the weapons of destruction he has at his disposal, but, rather, in his astute understanding of human psychology, particularly in his knowledge of how to make terror and fear work to get him what he wants. His delight in mind games, his devotion to torture, and his love of violence for its own sweet sake make him a figure fit to haunt one's dreams.
There are other fine performances as well in the movie, including Eckhart as the honest D.A., Maggie Gyllenhaal as Bruce's former (and the D.A.'s current) flame, Gary Oldman as the ever reliable Lieutenant Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Wayne Industries' most erstwhile employee, and Michael Caine as Wayne's devoted and down-to-earth butler. It's inevitable, perhaps, that Bale, as the good guy of the piece, would fall under the shadow of Ledger's towering achievement, but he provides the strength and solidity the picture needs to keep it from going out of whack.
Using what would appear to be a minimum of CGI effects, Nolan has mounted his film with a fine eye for detail and a great deal of jaw-dropping visual artistry. The cityscapes alone are enough to take the audience's breath away. Moreover, the screenplay weaves seamlessly between full-throttle, pull-out-all-the-stops action sequences and intense, highly intimate exchanges between characters.
Like all movies that run a little longer than they should, "The Dark Knight" does hit a point of diminishing turns long about its last half hour, as the story loses its way a bit and the thematic point-making threatens to run it into the ground. Heck, even Ledger's performance loses some of its edge towards the end, as the novelty begins to wear off due to overexposure (he is probably in one or two scenes too many in the final analysis).
Still, these are minor quibbles about a movie and a performance that will go down as classics in their respective categories.