Superhero Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (15 August 2008)

Think of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gladiator, Armageddon, The Fugitive. And then there was one. The Dark Knight, easily the best movie in years, and quite possibly the best sequel ever made (sorry Empire Strikes Back), may be the first superhero movie to win Best Picture. You've read the accolades. Heath Ledger's demon-comic Joker has outshone filmdom's most frightening antagonists, from the mesmerizing and insane Jack Nicholson in The Shining (hey, wasn't he the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman?) to Anthony Hopkins' insidious, and hungry, Hannibal Lechter in The Silence of the Lambs.
The Dark Knight's rating is PG-13, yet Ledger nevertheless one ups all other film villains by possessing a calculated, sneering and twisted soul whose heartless acts of manic aggression could even frighten Darth Vader. Witness 1/ the film's opening bank heist double cross and the Joker's Nitzschean misquote, when he places a grenade in the foolhardy and overzealous bank manager's mouth, telling him, "that whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you STRANGER" (this immediately establishes the Joker's morbid and memorable insanity), 2/ the Joker's own horrific recollection to others of how he received his scars and the carving up of a gang leader, 3/ the planning of Rachael Dawe's untimely death and the birth of Two Face (Aaron Eckhart you were terrific too), and 4/ his disregard for greed and money (who else would burn his share of the stolen millions, then boldly state, "This city deserves a new breed of criminal, and I'm going to give it to 'em.").
There's also the ultra bleak dystopia created by the brilliant Christopher Nolan. Not since Blade Runner has civilization seemed so dark and helpless. Where Blade Runner portrays the future as a destitute and empty society, Nolan places the Dark Knight's blackness in the heart of US. This present, and our Heart of Darkness, is a Gotham City so recognizable in its corruption that it strikes a raw nerve in every film viewer.
The Dark Knight is indeed a dark movie, but sociologically and ideologically real to the bone. This Batman movie brings out issues that we see in the news daily: terrorism, unrelenting crime, cyberspace hijacking, even villainy in the best of us: does Batman give in to his emotions and pound The Joker to a pulp? Or does he become the sacrificial lamb of Gotham, the Savior that we deserve, and one who carries on his shoulders the sins of all our actions? In the end, both Commissioner Gordon and The Dark Knight realize they must preserve the dignity of the law and continue the good name of Harvey Dent. Batman not only races off with his sorrows, but also with the brunt of Gotham's problems on his shoulders, and his hidden identity of ultimate sacrifice. The greater good must be restored, and Batman knows this.
That's why The Dark Knight is the ultimate blockbuster, the ultimate superhero movie, and the ultimate cinematic masterpiece that it will be cherished as. For its taut action, thought provoking moral drama, superb visual effects, pulse-pounding musical soundtrack and flawless direction, it rates an 11 out of 10. The Dark Knight is Cinema Art, and it will be Movie of the Year.