Nolan's chaotic masterpiece packs hard-hitting action, psychothriller twists and a morality study in 153 minutes

Rating: 10/10 (18 August 2009)

Fans of the caped crusader got more than they bargained for when they flocked to theaters to see the long-awaited sequel to Batman Begins. The new franchise had ushered in a more violent but cerebral Batman by focusing on the character development of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and his psychological motivation to fight crime. With such a strong reboot to the series, expectations were very high for The Dark Knight and director Christopher Nolan delivered. The sequel fully realizes the potential of its superhero and villain arc with harrowing sequences of violence and chaos constantly erupting. The film's narrative explores the meaning of leadership and what it takes to fight evil in the modern world. The extended scope is necessary to capture the criminal mastermind Joker (Heath Ledger), and focus on the more complex story of District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Heath Ledger's untimely death and glimpses of his makeup and performance created part of a box office draw rarely equaled in motion picture history. But not even the trailers and TV ads could prepare audiences for Ledger's inspired and disturbing performance. Ledger nailed the real essence of the Joker and bore no resemblance to Nicholson's caricature. The Joker of The Dark Knight is not a simple murderer and bank robber. His goal is to inspire evil in others so that even the most law abiding citizen will be driven to commit acts of crime or murder.
At any opportunity, the Joker tries to drive crime fighters toward crime by sowing the seeds of terror and chaos. He allows himself to fall into a police trap so that he can spring a more diabolical plot. He arranges to have two ferries full of passengers forced into committing mass murder against one another. He dresses restrained civilians as criminals so police will be responsible for murdering innocents. The combination of nihilism and violent eruption that defined the Joker was achieved purely by Ledger's own artistry and for that he should be considered for a posthumous Academy Award. Despite Christian Bale getting top billing, Ledger played a more important, challenging role in the film. Wayne is well defined from Batman Begins and the Joker is firmly established in the prologue, a bank heist in which all the accomplices are shot and the Joker issues his tenet, which is a twist on Nietzsche: "What doesn't kill you makes you stranger." But the central character in The Dark Knight is neither the Joker nor Batman. It's Harvey Dent. The film follows the major changes that transform him from the public attorney into DC comic book villain Two-Face. The bulk of the character development focuses on Dent's complicated descent from a dedicated, fearless political figure, passionate about defeating criminals using the rule of law. This white knight of Gotham lives by his tenet, "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Dent is able to achieve popularity and make good on his promise to put violent mafia figures behind bars mainly because Batman is willing to do the dirty work and get no credit for it. As Batman's success in the streets and Dent's success in the courtroom push the mob organizations into an increasingly small corner, the Joker appeals to the mob bosses and rallies them against Batman. In the ensuing chaos, it becomes clear that Dent lacks ethical principles. When he loses his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and damages half his face in one of the Joker's vicious schemes, Dent turns his back on the law altogether. With some words of inspiration from the Joker, Dent transforms himself into Two-Face. Dent had gone after criminals. But Two-Face preys upon cops, including Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), using a two-headed coin similar to the one Nolan and Bale used in The Prestige. Instead of magic tricks, however, Two-Face uses the coin to determine the fate of his victims.
The significance of the coin and of Dent's prophetic quote about becoming a villain is to show how easy it is to succumb to chance and chaos in the absence of real principles. One of the themes of The Dark Knight is to evaluate how different characters respond to the pressures of leadership and of fighting evil. Nolan hits upon a truth seemingly missed by the entire press corps: leaders must be willing to sacrifice their popularity to do what's right. This core message of The Dark Knight is demonstrated in a subplot about telecommunications surveillance taken right from the front pages of newspapers during the US debate about the Homeland Security Act of 2007. Bruce Wayne uses government contractors to build an advanced telecom technology that taps into ordinary cellphones to triangulate and illuminate the location of anyone in Gotham. The technology is the only way to locate and catch the Joker. But when Wayne Enterprises' most trusted official, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), finds out what Wayne is up to, he says that no man should have that much power and tenders his resignation.
Faced with an adversary who is threatening countless lives and the future of Gotham, Wayne understands the consequences if he doesn't do what's necessary to end the Joker's campaign of terror. Dent proves to be an unprincipled politician with a rotten core and no one but Wayne/Batman is willing to sacrifice popularity to win the fight against evil. Ultimately, Batman decides he must take the blame for the actions of Two-Face in order to defeat the Joker and restore faith to the people of Gotham. The decision has major consequences. Gordon ultimately describes Batman as, "not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a dark knight." Public perception is always secondary to Batman. His principles guide him to defeat evil and save lives, but the result is his loss of popularity and respect. Some things are more important than public perception.