The Dark Knight, a new kind of comic book movie

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2008)

Last night I was privileged enough to see The Dark Knight. The local radio stations offered press screener passes in exchange for waiting in line for more than three hours (don't mock me, I was number 80 in line, number 1 got there 4 hours before I did). I had been anticipating this release for months now, and I was not let down. Before I go into specifics, let me tell you that all the hype, all the crazy viral campaigns to build up support for this movie did not oversell it. All the waiting was worth it. The Dark Knight is the best Batman movie yet. First, let's discuss the elephant in the room, Heath Ledger. There has been a lot of talk about how his portrayal of The Joker might get him an Oscar. I think there is a good chance he will. I say this because last year's Supporting actor award winner was the same level of insanity. The Joker is to The Dark Knight what Anton Chigurh is to No Country for Old Men. Instead of a villain with any moral convictions or rules or even goals, you get something almost elemental. Every time Joker is in the scene you tighten up because you don't know what he's thinking (just wait for the magic disappearing pencil scene). The acting is superb. I had to stop and remind myself who was behind that makeup. Ledger was able to take a character that is so complex and bring him to life. I will grant that the sick and twisted games played by Joker are the writing of Christopher Nolan, David Goyer, and Nolan's brother, BUT that's not what makes the Joker complete. It's all the little things. It's the way he stalks around people, the way he licks his scars, those little... quirks that make him real. One scene still gives me shivers just because of the way the Joker responds to a cop when the cop says that Joker killed six of his friends. There is almost a torture movie slant to the character. What can I do to inspire the most possible terror in this city? The relationship between Joker and Batman is very loyal to the comic books as well. Nolan doesn't even try to explain the Joker's past existence. As far as we should be concerned, he didn't exist until Batman came to Gotham city. One of the parts I loved about the movie was how Joker puts together stories of his past that keep changing. In truth, everyone seems to bring their A-game to the show. The Dark Knight adds depth to all of the characters. Gary Oldman makes Jim Gordon come alive. Hell, there's one part of the story that pretty much brought tears to my eyes concerning Gordon. Michael Caine gives more depth to Alfred, providing some clues to his background. Aaron Eckhart does a fantastic job as Harvey Dent/Two-Face (I'm assuming that's no spoiler. If you don't know Harvey Dent is Two-Face, then you shouldn't care about my review in the first place). Eckhart makes for an excellent pretty boy DA who has real thoughts and real qualms about Gordon and Batman, and his transition to Two-Face is startling. It's hard for the audience to hate him as Two-Face after we loved him as Harvey Dent. Christian Bale does some fantastic work with the Batman persona and the Bruce Wayne persona. Both have added depth and weaknesses which are addressed. The methodical detective that I have come to love about the Batman is more evident in The Dark Knight, as are the repercussions for such a life. In one scene, Bale removes his shirt, showing a series of scars all over his back. That really helps to show the hard life Batman leads. The only negative side is I don't care for the raspy voice Bale uses for Batman. I know Bale has to change his voice and make it menacing, and there are limits to the vocal abilities of a man, but when Batman is involved in lengthy dialog is seems evident Bale is having trouble with the voice. As for the story, the plot is surprisingly the main focus. This is not a comic book movie that has you waiting for the big fight scene, the plot is actually rather complex. There are a lot of elements of movies like The Godfather and The Untouchables which add depth to the story. When The Dark Knight ends, you don't feel like everything has been resolved and everything is going to be OK. It's almost upsetting, the way the movie treats these comic book characters so realistically. When Bale lifts his shirt revealing all those scars, that's how everyone ends up when the credits roll. Remember how the sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean decided to add complexity to the plot and ended up making the whole thing such an incomprehensible mess in those 2 1/2 hours? The Dark Knight does not do that. All of the plot lines are kept in order and there is very little quick explanations. One thing about the movie that I enjoyed was the realism of the action. There was no crazy kung-fu or spectacular acrobatics involved. The fighting was kept very realistic. Actually, the way the Joker fought was just as creepy as his acting. "You've changed things... forever. There's no going back." I think when Nolan wrote that line it was more for himself. See, this movie is different. It's not a movie about superheroes fighting super villains. It's rough and gritty and you come out feeling a little disturbed. I think this movie is going to be much like Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, a new age of realism and adult themes in these movies. I would like any adult friends of mine to see this film, but keep the kids out. The Dark Knight's PG-13 rating should be R. This isn't like Saturday morning cartoons.