Justice is an ideal that must be protected at all costs

Rating: 9/10 (15 August 2013)

The Dark Knight is the crown jewel of Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy. It is a story that is leaps and bounds ahead of average Batman Begins and not even from the planet as the garbage The Dark Knight Rises.
The Dark Knight is about the same idea as Batman Begins. The idea that justice trumps vengeance. The Dark Knight takes this idea to extremes to suggest that justice is an ideal that must be protected at all costs. It demonstrates this idea with the main plot of Save Gotham's Soul. This is supported by an internal plot that takes place within Harvey Dent, his seeking of revenge or justice, which is irreversibly broken when the Joker kills his girlfriend Rachel. Joker's actions ruins Harvey and Rachel's chance at love and sets Dent on the path to destruction. Finally, Batman is not only the main driver of fights to save Gotham, he also sacrifices his reputation to Save Gotham's Soul. Thus, the idea that justice is an ideal that must be protected at all costs is demonstrated. Justice as an ideal must be protected even with Rachel's death, with Dent's false hero status, and with Batman giving up his reputation.
It's a great story and a triumph of movie making in the age of fluff and crap. Too bad the final part of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises turns out to be as empty as this one is full.
My Story Chart of the movie is at storycharts.ca.