Dark indeed.

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2009)

I remember going to see this film, at the time of writing that was almost a year ago. The cinema was packed to the last available seat and everyone there seemed to be enjoying the film immensely, myself included. You could hear murmurings when something major happened and everyone shuffling with anticipation when the action sequences started. I have to say it was easy to get blown away by the film, as summer blockbusters go, this one has it all. A comic book character for the hero, a truly spectacular villain, gasp, horror, a great plot and one that is at times quite complex seeing as it takes in aspects of terrorism, organized crime and finance, wonderful supporting characters, great actors and some of the best action sequences in many a year (Hong Kong, the car chase, the boats and the hospital). It was after watching the film that I realized something and that was just how dark the whole film is and I mean it is dark, pitch black. If Batman Begins was a comic book movie through and through, albeit an intelligent one, the optimistic first act bathed in a dark orange glow of fighting today for a better tomorrow, then The Dark Knight is genuinely the darker second, this time in a blue glow carried along by the message that sometimes just fighting for what is right is never enough, that bad things will happen no matter how hard we fight for it because no matter what good you try to do there will always be someone who just wants to watch the world burn, who will kill those who are good and innocent and corrupt the seemingly incorruptible. It amazes me that a film as dark and pessimistic as this has become the second most successful film in history after Titanic (then again that film features a sinking boat with a high death count so maybe mainstream tastes are darker than I ever considered).
I don't want to seem I'm knocking it, because I'm not. Truth is, like Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan has created a perfect film once again, a near flawless work of art that roots his re-imagined Batman universe in the real and plausible, it's just here things aren't just as entertaining as they were last time, at least not overtly so. Begins felt like a comic book adaptation, but an intelligent one, a film rooted in the comic book nevertheless with it's love for ninja vigilantes, creepy villains and wonderful action sequences taking in trains and tumblers. Although a lot of those elements are still there, this time they are rendered with a pitch black view. None more black than its villain. It has been said in many places but it must be said again, Heath Ledger is terrific and watching this film you cannot help but feel gutted that we will never see this talent again. His Joker is mesmerizing, a darkly humorous take on the character, like Jack Nicholson, but one rendered not through a comic book frame work, but one more real and relevant, for what is the Joker of Christopher Nolan's imagination but a terrorist, a metaphor for the villains of our world, the ones who truly do blow things up, kill and stab. Is any coincidence that the Joker uses knifes, just as the 9/11 hijackers were said to?
All this elevates the film above a summer blockbuster, albeit one that many of us flocked to, again and again (I admit, I seen it twice on the big screen and have watched it many times on DVD).
It's nearly a perfect film, it's just that the darkness can be a bit overwhelming, like being hit with a baseball over the head for two and a half hours, but there is a lot to love here, with amazing performances from everyone, including the much criticised Bale, although special word must go out to Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and, for reasons I won't get into, out of respect for the two people on the planet who have yet to see the film, Aaron Eckart, who deserved an Oscar nomination as well. It's wonderful stuff, and for a film as long as it is, it never drags, the pace is unrelentless, especially in the second half as it builds and builds to a truly superb climax, one that leaves you gagging for a third movie in a way that is truly even better, if that is possible, than Batman Begins did when leaving you chumping at the teeth for this one. Let's just hope the real star of the Batman franchise, Chris Nolan returns, but if he does, I would like to see that orange glow make a return with it.