The Dark Knight  Superheroes done right.

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2008)

Through two and a half hours of plot twists, intense action and stunningly creepy acting, watching Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight proves to be an intriguing, but almost demanding experience. Much like the story-line to the previous film in Warner Brother's new incarnation of the Batman franchise - Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne and the audience are pulled through an intense series of turns and twists as Batman struggles with both his desire for justice in Gotham City and to be with those he loves. The Dark Knight, however, goes far beyond Wayne's internal conflict and explores richer themes such as the question of whether people are basically good or evil, or the personification of anarchy in the character of the Joker. Amid the hype and buzz surrounding this summer blockbuster, the careful viewer will find excellent writing coming through precise performances by the cast. The careful viewer will also find that however carefully they watched it, one viewing will not be enough. Regardless of what the film credits state, the obvious star of The Dark Knight is Heath Ledger as the Joker. Complete with incessant lip-smacking, slight twitches and a piercing glare, the Joker scares you far beyond what any make-up or CGI can do. Through this powerful character, Ledger portrays an evil nature that seems to have no real motivation except only to be an 'agent of chaos'. In this sense the Joker becomes so much more than any other villain encountered by Batman. Unlike previous representations of Batman's arch-nemesis, Nolan chooses to provide no firm back-story to the Joker's origins. The only taste to background the audience receives are two (almost three) conflicting stories the Joker gives explaining the scars that place his face in a permanent ghoulish smile. Such ambiguity only seems to lend even more to Joker embodying evil rather than just representing it. This new breed of villain elevates the game Batman is now forced to play and also raises the stakes of what he must sacrifice for the greater good. Beyond the Joker's personification of anarchy, The Dark Knight also explores the question of the innate goodness of the human spirit. As the Gotham Police Force and Batman are riddled with betrayal from within their cause, the outlook looks dismal for the human soul. This is typified by the transformation of Harvey Dent into Two-Face; the Joker is out to prove that the best of the best can go sour if pushed in the right way. Fortunately, the Joker's social experiment does fail on the larger scale and ironically because of the decisions of former criminals.
Many in the film industry pronounced the recent wave of comic book films as simply fad; a trend that would fade as viewers caught on to the cliché. Unlike the Marvel franchise, which has started to roll out relatively mediocre hero-based flicks every 6 months or so, DC Comics has discretely decided against this. By equipping this film project with a budget comparable to the other 'epic' movie efforts of our time and the extremely qualified writer/director Chris Nolan the result are completely apparent. The Dark Knight stands as evidence that superhero movies are not just a generational fad and maybe even can be considered high art, or, at least, higher art.