Will be remembered as one of the best films of our time

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2008)

If there is anyone who is an anti-Batman fan, it would be me. While I thought Batman Begins was one of the best of 2005, I did not care all that much for the first four Batman films. I actually despised Batman Returns to the point that it is entrenched firmly on my top 50 worst films of all time. With that in mind, I began hearing all of the accolades this film was getting before it's release. How Heath Ledger had turned in a performance of a lifetime. How this was being called the Godfather of Comic Book films. How this film was being lauded as one of the best films in the last ten years and so on. By now, you've heard them all. And to be honest, I resented that and I believed that it was simply the scope of Heath's death that was causing this love fest with The Dark Knight. Never have I been so glad to be wrong. Not only is this film the best film I have seen since American Beauty, it is one that moved me and reminded me why I fell in love with the art of film in the first place. Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger and everyone involved should be proud that this film transcends comic book films, and it transcends the summer popcorn genre. It is a larger than life experience and it is one of the best films ever made, in my opinion.
As we all remember, the end of Batman Begins we were shown a new villain named the Joker that had been leaving his card at the scene of his crimes. This takes place shortly after that with the Joker and his henchmen robbing a bank that holds mob money. He steals a cool 68 million dollars in a well executed and highly improbable robbery. Soon he is crashing a mob meeting and introduces himself quite effectively with a disappearing pencil trick that gets everyone's attention. His thought process is that he knows the mob no longer has the respect they once did, and that is because of the Batman. He offers his services, to kill the Batman, but with a hefty price. When his prediction comes true later in the film, that the mobsters are not safe from Batman, they realize they do need him. Meanwhile, a new DA named Harvey Dent is keen on cleaning up the city in any way possible. When he realizes that Batman is actually good for the city, Bruce Wayne takes a liking to him and decides that Harvey will be his white knight. This may actually allow Bruce to live a normal life. But of course nothing goes as planned and when tragedy strikes Harvey and his loved one, all hell breaks loose in Gotham City and the Joker becomes more and more unstoppable. Soon of course we are headed down the inevitable mano a mano confrontation between Batman and The Joker, but in a way that has never been done before.
The Dark Knight explores socio-political issues usually reserved for a Michael Mann film. Take one exchange between the Joker and Batman, on paper it sounds good, but to see it on screen is mesmerizing: "Don't talk like one of them. You're not, even if you'd like to be. They need you right now. But when they don't, they'll cast you out...LIKE A LEPER. See their morals, their code...it's a bad joke...dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show ya, when the chips are down, these civilized people will EAT each other." Batman and The Joker are separated by a fine line. But that line is often crossed in the film and when the Joker puts Batman to the test, I think they switch personalities. The film works because it has iconic characters and wonderful performances no doubt, but it also works brilliantly because it treats the audience like they are smart and perceptive. Spiderman 3 this is not.
It has to be mentioned of course that Heath Ledger gives a performance that has no equal. When I think of some of the great performances in film, I think of Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, Val Kilmer in Tombstone, Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood and Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, just to name a few. They have nothing on Heath. He is The Joker. You won't recognize him, you won't know that it is an actor, you will believe that there is a man named the Joker that is on screen and someone captured him on film. There is not a finer performance I can think of and if anyone wins best supporting actor this year besides him, it is their duty to thank the academy and then decline the award and give it to Heath. He is that good. The Joker is mesmerizing.
The Dark Knight is a film for a generation of film lovers that has been begging for a better comic book film. This is that film. Even if you are not a big fan of these type of movies, it will win you over.
10/10