More than an action movie?

Rating: 7/10 (3 August 2008)

This is an action movie first and foremost and as such I guess it's a pretty good one. If like me you kind of hope for something in addition to the car chases and explosions, perhaps a meaningful plot idea that relates to the human predicament, well, I think they tried hard to craft this out of the Batman legend but to be honest I don't think the latter has enough depth to yield a huge amount of satisfaction there.
The characterization is a bit beyond comic book - perhaps a 3D comic? The plot is really just comic book fantasy. The late Heath Ledger portrays a very creepy Joker spinning out of any sort of social control, though how he manages to organize all those drums of explosives planted around the city day after day beats me as he doesn't seem to have any sort of loyal gang (unlike the Mafia boss he usurps) and why would he have? If we're to take him as a real character then he'd be a loner who therefore wouldn't have much access to resources or assistance. And poor old billionaire Batman (though we're told it's very early Batman years, in fact pre-Robin)is reflecting on his wearying secret role, which Gotham City is decidedly ambivalent about. Not to mention the grueling physical pace he has to keep up and the cost of the technology which would make NASA look cheap.
I guess this is another post-9/11 civic disaster movie and I seem to remember hearing the Joker referred to as a terrorist on at least one occasion. However 9/11 happened once. The New Yorkers hung in there, to everyone's admiration. But the Joker has no supporters or ideological basis, and is simply dedicated to chaos. So by golly Batman if I lived in Gotham city amid all that recurrent carnage I'd be moving to New Mexico or somewhere within the week, and I'll bet I wouldn't be the only one.
Perhaps there is some sort of comment we can infer, which is the devil's dance between chaos and order, the interdependence of the two principles, and how this interaction is perceived at an urban social level. There is also the constant play on the significance of appearances versus concealment, the fact that appearances can be very incomplete and deceptive, and what is concealed is very dangerous indeed. And what the hell are the forces of good anyway - and are concentration of power and universal electronic surveillance justified (yes the film DOES pose these questions)? So certainly quite a dark and hellish atmosphere, and I don't think anyone feels any more secure at the end than they did at the beginning.
Looks like we'll have to have a sequel...