Post-9/11 Accountability and a Darker Shade of Justice Make This Batman Soar

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2008)

Among the many satisfying surprises within this elaborately produced 2008 film, the primary one is that it is at heart, a first-rate, character-driven psychological thriller that uses the familiar franchise to ask hard questions about our individual accountability at a time when anarchy and terrorism are running rampant. With this propulsive sequel, director/co-writer Christopher Nolan far surpasses the stoic murkiness that plagued most of 2005's "Batman Begins" because myth exposition is not necessary this time. Moreover, he doesn't forget this is also a derring-do adventure and wastes no time in establishing the tone with one of the most Machiavellian of bank robberies. The meticulously planned heist was masterminded by Batman's anarchic adversary, the Joker, a villain so wrapped up in his own psychosis of evil that he is without fear of repercussion. However, this is just the tip of a moral iceberg as Gotham City is cloaked in a crime spree by the city's major syndicates.
On the side of justice is not only the Batman but also the city's charismatic district attorney, Harvey Dent, who symbolically plays the story's white knight. Under the guise of his billionaire alter-ego Bruce Wayne, Batman is quite impressed with Dent's seemingly intractable sense of decency. So is assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes, Wayne's lifelong friend whose office romance with Dent gets serious. Of course, a romantic triangle ensues, but this is only one component of the complex storyline that has the Joker taking over the city with his merciless acts of destruction, while Batman becomes a more ambiguous figure teetering between heroic and vengeful. With his brother Jonathan as co-scenarist, Nolan provides a boldly intellectual perspective to this movie that never gives into easy answers, and the complexities are compounded by the intense feelings that fluctuate between what we expect our heroes to do and what we should expect from ourselves.
It's a precarious line that Nolan balances with edgy conviction, and the classic good-versus-evil dynamics become upended for something that cuts much deeper. Without giving much else away, the pivotal scene with the ferries perfectly epitomizes the slippery slope all of us find ourselves in a post-9/11 world. Four of the key actors from the first film return starting with Christian Bale's covertly charged performance in the elusive title role. Not only does the character present physically demanding challenges but emotional ones as well since Batman remains a stubbornly recessive figure hiding under a familiar costume. Yet, in his innate resistance to court audience sympathy, Bale manages to cut a far more compelling character in which his internal struggles shift most uneasily to the outside. Ironically, it's his moments as Wayne that seem comparatively prosaic in conveying his outward cynicism.
Had the film been made fifteen years earlier, I have a feeling that Gary Oldman would have been cast as the Joker. However, he submerges his natural edginess to play Lt. James Gordon as an island of decency. Michael Caine returns as Wayne's devote manservant Alfred, as does Morgan Freeman as gadgetry whiz Lucius Fox, who helps Wayne build all the technology hardware the Batman needs to stave off the bad guys. Neither is particularly challenged here, but both perform with their usual authority. There are three new faces among the principals. As Dent, Aaron Eckhardt effectively manages the film's biggest character arc, and he is really the one whose inevitable transformation most clearly illustrates the story's central themes. With a more no-nonsense manner that nicely counterbalances her standard damsel-in-distress situation, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a marked improvement over Katie Holmes' girlish turn as Dawes.
The tabloid frenzy around the late Heath Ledger has somewhat obscured what makes his performance as the Joker so effective. With his fearsome scar-faced grin, it's a grandly idiosyncratic performance full of shrewd wit and opera-level flourish. The tortured soul that the press would lead you to believe is on screen is not as evident to me. I see a sharply talented actor having the time of his life. Not surprisingly, all the production values are great with the architectural splendor of Chicago more obviously subbing for Gotham City this time out. Flaws are relatively minimal and actually carry over from the first film. The film is almost too oppressively dark, at least visually, and in the action sequences, Nolan still uses too many close-ups and quick edits that impinge on the clarity of the action presented. Regardless, the film is an impressive achievement, and along with Jon Favreau's "Iron Man" earlier this year, may represent the pinnacle of DC and Marvel Comics on celluloid.