A true dark adventure

Rating: 10/10 (29 August 2008)

The new Batman series, made by Christopher Nolan, may be considered a true consequence of the contemporary tendency of rationalizing the imaginary. We are trying to find a reasonable and scientific explication for all the fantastic elements with whom we meet. In the first episode of the new series, Batman begins, we see a Batman who could very easily exist in your own town, with a perfect plausible explication for everything, suit, vehicle, mantle and so on. As an obvious continuation, in The dark knight the battlefield is extended to a larger area witch includes Honk Kong, a more palpable location. But the feeling of a fantastic novel is returned by the character named Joker. The whole line of events revolves around this character, a man with no identity, no personal history and no actual explication of his deeds. Only his line explains: This town deserves a better class of criminals. The good vs. evil battle is not very well shaped in the first episode, where an almost moralizing character, Ra's Al Ghul, whose destiny is connected with the mysterious organization, The league of shadows, does not succeed in creating a veritable negative character. His goal, destroying the evil, purifying the world, is not a brutal or sadistic purpose, it is born out of a tragic past. All this changes in The dark knight with the help of the Joker who shows the true essence of comics, the battle between good and evil, with both sides very well shaped so that the audience would not be confused about the identity of sides. The defeat of the negative character gets more important after Christopher Nolan gives the simple citizen a different role other than a simple observer, a simple victim. He is now an active element of the story , well emphasized in the boat scene, a true suspense moment. The connection between Batman and the population he saves in everyone of his adventures is stronger than ever in The dark night. The joker is defeated but not terminated, leaving a reasonable reason for the story to go on.
Christopher Nolan's production becomes an outstanding episode in the cinematographic representations of Batman, a real proof of contemporary cinema. We can say that this is the most intense continuation of the first episodes, true expressionistic manifestations signed by Tim Burton.