One of the best films of 2008!

Rating: 10/10 (17 August 2008)

Comic book movies as we know them are over. Gone are the special effects laden cartoons like "The Incredible Hulk" and "Fantastic Four." Consider this the "official" death of a movie like "Superman Returns" which was beyond terrible. "The Dark Knight" redefines the comic book movie and changes all the possibilities of where superheroes go and what they're capable of.
There should be no doubt that the driving force in this film is the ever maniacal Joker. I wouldn't doubt the fact that he's probably going to go down as the greatest comic film villain of all time after being portrayed so brilliantly and effortlessly by the late Heath Ledger. The Joker never fails to deliver the most diabolical and sinister games that force all the film's heroes to have to make sometimes painful choices. In his own words, "I'm an agent of chaos." Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) realizes that to stop the Joker he has to become something he swore never to be. This results in an interesting turn of events that really can't be put into words, but I will tell you it involves a chase scene.
The film really crosses the line in terms of the traditional comic book film in it's exploration of human nature and raises implications on social, political, and moral levels. The last time I saw a movie with that many themes was the multiple Academy Award winning "Children of Men." Personally, I've always felt films that use fiction to explore the current reality we live in or the ramifications of our decisions usually give us a cold, harsh, reality check. Christopher Nolan's screenplay and choice of dialog is more complex than any comic film, not to mention considerably more poetic. Gotham City let Batman operate without having to answer to the law. What happens when you give one man all the power? Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) explains, "When their enemies were at the gates, the Romans would suspend democracy and appoint one man to protect the city. It wasn't considered an honor, it was considered a service." His girlfriend, who also happens to be Bruce's ex-girlfriend Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), shoots back, "Harvey! The last man to protect the Republic was named Caesar!" A lot of these implications wouldn't be relevant if we weren't living in post 9/11 America, so I recommend you read up on something called Executive Unitary Theory to get the full effect of giving one man all the power.
Apart of what made this film so hard hitting was the stellar performances. None of them were actors this time, they were actors who completely lost themselves in the characters they built, every one of which we come to care about. Lieutenant Jim Gordon's (Gary Oldman) promotion to Police Commissioner is well deserved. The movie also allows Oldman to take Gordon to new heights and really shows how Batman and Gordon are in this together, and Gordon as a character really comes of age.
"The Dark Knight," in the end, wasn't merely about good and evil. It was about the fight for Gotham, and showing the city's people that you could overcome evil with good. Early on someone mentions that Harvey Dent is Gotham City's "White Knight." Dent is a handsome, well educated, elected official. The people paint the picture of him as this incorruptible force of good. Batman on the other hand, is a vigilante; a man who exists outside the law. People end up having more faith in Dent than Batman, but Dent fails. It's because Batman is there to take the fall that Dent, as a symbol, continues to thrive. People had faith in Harvey Dent and he fails. As Batman puts it, "People deserve to have their faith rewarded, even if it means we have to hide the truth I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be." This is what makes him the real hero, as Gordon puts it, "He's Gotham's protector; our Dark Knight." This is one of the year's best films. Go see it now!