Very Good, But Yikes, Let's Keep Things in Perspective

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2008)

Whatever else it may be, "The Dark Knight," Christopher Nolan's follow up to his "Batman Begins," the film that resurrected the Batman franchise, is the most ambitious superhero film ever made. It's full of brooding ruminations about the inherent nature of humanity, obviously fueled by the troubled state of a post-9/11 world, and it packs an awful lot of plot into its two-and-a-half-hour running time. However, be cautioned, and don't let its #1 rating at IMDb set up expectations that the film can't possibly meet. I doubt any experienced film goer is truly going to think that this is the best film ever made.
The praise heaped on Heath Ledger for his performance as the Joker is well deserved. Indeed, the Joker becomes the focus of this movie, which may not be such a desirable thing, given that this is...you know....a Batman movie. The caped crusader fades into the background in this installment, to the point where you might leave the movie and forget that he was in it. Ditto Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays the love interest, and who, true to the superhero movie formula, gets practically nothing to do. But Ledger you WILL remember. He creates a fascinating character in the Joker, and it's through him that the movie poses all of its major moral questions. Is it human nature, as the Joker suggests, to devolve into chaos when the illusion of order is taken away; or do humans have an inherent kindness that will cause them to look out for one another even when circumstances seem to call for self preservation? One of the most fascinating things about Ledger's creation is that the Joker has no more motive as a criminal than to pose questions like this. He's not out for money or even power -- he just wants to create anarchy and see what happens.
I was not prepared for the other villain the screenplay throws into the mix: Two Face, played well by Aaron Eckhart. The film is too long, and it's this storyline that makes it so. Chrisotpher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, the co-writers of the film, would have done well to leave this plot line out. By the end of the film, there are too many characters doing too many things independently of one another, so that the film loses focus slightly.
The movie looks fantastic though, and the production team does wonders with Chicago (where I live by the way). In fact the look of the film is one of its major selling points, and I was pleased to finally see a superhero film that looks cinematic rather than cartoonish.
So...an excellent addition to the superhero genre and a completely entertaining experience....but it's still, after all, a Batman movie, and it's not the best film since "Citizen Kane."
Grade: A