Impressive blockbuster with dark tone, plot, characters and delivery making its satisfyingly "grown-up"

Rating: Null/10 (11 September 2008)

Batman has proved successful in cleaning up the streets and a fresh new DA, Harvey Dent, is keen to clean up the mobsters in one big conspiracy case. Naturally an unpopular move, particularly with the psychotic villain known as "The Joker", who makes it his mission to unveil the identity of the Batman, before killing him. The Joker begins his reign of terror, forcing the citizens of Gotham to wonder whether or not it was worth having a Batman if this is the sort of chaos that his presence unleashes. With the stakes raised higher than ever, Bruce Wayne struggles to hold onto his moral code in the face of villain whose only aim is to unleash chaos and panic across the city.
I waited a few weeks for all the hype to die down, but I was looking forward to seeing this film because Batman Begins had done a great job of repairing a character and franchise that was in tatters as Schumacher's gaudy and unlikeable Happy Meal-selling film had finished with it. I was hoping for more of the same as The Dark Knight did not disappoint as the tone continues to be dark and as realistic as a film can be when it is about a man dressed as a bat. The film is a summer blockbuster but yet it manages to at least get close to a really engaging and interesting plot  this is a joyful far cry from The Fantastic Four and the like, this feels like a film that is marketed to me, not my children. As such the plot does offer some good moralising and conflicts that are what I expected from the damaged "hero" of Batman and the freaks he is up against. Again, it is not a "proper" drama but these elements are effective within the bigger picture and they only help draw the viewer into the story and characters.
The fact that it does engage also means that the action is much more effective. I watched Wanted the other night where everything was so simplistic and dumb that I never cared and the action was only effects. Here the tone is deadly serious and the action feels urgent and dangerous. This has produced the problem in the UK over the rating and I do think that it should have been a 15, although I can understand why it got a 12A. Problem for the certification body is that the film doesn't contain much in the way of graphic acts but it is the tone that is so very harsh and dark, thus making it feel much more violent than it actually is. For me this is not a problem as the film is not for children and I am not a child, but I can sort of see why The Daily Mail jumped on it as the destruction of the mankind or whatever they said it was going to do to our children. I do like the dark tone though and it is not just a visual thing or something in a specific few scenes but rather woven through the whole film. It starts with the characters and performances and of course comes across in the direction and cinematography, which is suitably dark and Gothic without being camp or unrealistic.
The cast do good work but all are in the shadow of Ledger  not because it is fashionable to praise him but because his is a great turn and makes the film. I do feel sorry for Jack Nicholson because his Joker now looks like a childishly simple creation that is a bit of cheesy fun but no more. With Ledger we genuinely feel unnerved with him on the screen, his clothes and make-up being all part of this unhinged creation with his ticks and hair-trigger air; his performance is part of the film working as well as it does as he sells the character and the material. If he does get an Oscar nod, it will not (just) be for sympathy, but because he genuinely is that good. Bale finds himself a supporting player in his own film but deals with it well; not sure about his laughably gruff voice as Batman though  it just distracts. Eckhart is a good bit of casting because he normally plays morally dubious characters, so the contrast works at the start and he can work with the later stages. Gyllenhaal has her critics but she is much better than Holmes and stands up well with the all-male cast. The supporting cast offer the usual quality in Oldman, Caine and Freeman as well as other faces in minor roles such as Roberts, a returning Murphy, Carbonell, McFarlane, White, Fichtner, Lister and others.
The Dark Knight is a great film. The dark tone, good plotting, strong characters, performances and overall design and delivery all make for a grown-up blockbuster that is heads and shoulders above its peers. Ledger is impressive and drives the film forward in an adult and engaging way. Parents with the legal ability to take their four year olds should think twice, because this is not a kiddie blockbuster, but for everyone else there is a great deal to enjoy here.