Interesting Twist on a Well-Worn Franchise

Rating: 8/10 (1 September 2008)

Warning! Spoilers ahead!
Chirs Nolan's "Dark Knight" follows in the formula set by its predecessor, "Batman Begins", and it is equally as entertaining to watch. Gotham is no longer the baroque, perpetually-dark spooky, cavernous locale of the Tim Burton movies, but a regular city where the grime is hidden underneath. Nolan's Gotham City is a literally bright, sunny place where evil lurks on the streets rather than being symbolized by the buildings. Nolan also attempts heavy realism and goes so far as to expunge any of the comic-book style and humor from his interpretation of "Batman". The Joker does not boast, for instance, an assortment of deadly and fanciful weapons, such as a poison-squirting orchid or lethal makeup that leaves the victim with a grin. Heath Ledger's Joker is simply a psycho terrorist who happens to wear gross-looking makeup. Aside from The Joker, there are no comic-book super-villains, as you'd expect from the "Spider Man" movies; they're simply goons in Gotham's organized crime racket, manipulated by the Joker for his own ends.
At the very least, Nolan's "Batman" is highly entertaining. Ledger steals the show as the mad Joker, and, to say what critics already have, reinvents the role as his own. Sadly, Christian Bale appears to be on screen less than Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face. I almost feel this movie should have been called "Two-Face", or "The White Knight", as Eckhart's character is called by others in the movie. This film fully fleshes out the Two-Face character, and does a superb job at showing his transformation. It was nice to a see a serious interpretation of Two-Face, as was done in the cartoon "Batman", than it was to see Tommy Lee Jones's comical interpretation as an evil, yet goofy and fun, madman. Still, the computer-generated effect showing Two-Face's scarred face was too much for me. I'd rather see Jones's showy, deep-purple makeup in "Batman Forever" than Eckhart's jaw tendons, exposed eye sockets with the eyelids burned off, and overall Cryptkeeper look. Thank goodness no one has made an action figure of *this* Two-Face. Do not take small children to see "The Dark Knight", if only because of the scary-looking, skeletal Two-Face.
In short, Eckhart and Ledger buttress this movie. Morgan Freedman is excellent as Bruce Wayne's doubting and morally-conflicted inventor, a character unique to Nolan's "Batman" films. The requisite action scenes deliver their thrills, and some serious themes about moral ambiguity are discussed. In short, I recommend this movie, but those frightened by exposed skulls on living flesh should stay away.