Move over "Iron Man," superhero movies have a new champion...

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2008)

...and franchise sequels have a potential new king as well. Writer/director Christopher "Memento" Nolan, in concert with brother Jonathan "The Prestige" Nolan and David S. "Jumper" Goyer, has crafted a powerful script for the Batman this time around, one that gives the caped crusader plenty of existential questions to ponder, as well as two superbly (and perhaps definitively) refurbished arch villains to battle. Fanboys are currently beside themselves with joy, and the general movie-going demographic has responded in droves to enjoy this midsummer night's dream. Kudos to all involved.
If nothing else, "The Dark Knight" enshrines Heath "Clowning Around" Ledger's swansong performance as Joker. It's a portrayal of anarchic evil that fascinates and repels, and ought surely draw a posthumous Oscar nomination. The man assuredly went out on a high note. The rest of the acting is nearly as strong: Christian "American Psycho" Bale wears the Batman cowl with grim authority, Aaron "Thank You For Smoking" Eckhart perfectly limns the transformation of white knight district attorney, Harvey Dent, to dark avenger, Two-Face. Maggie "Secretary" Gyllenhaal as the third side of the love triangle with Dent and Bruce Wayne makes one instantly forget Katie Holmes in "Batman Begins." Gary "Sid and Nancy" Oldman is rock solid as Lt.-soon-to-be-Commissioner Gordon, Batman's police ally, while the rest of the ensemble turns in equally assured performances. Truly, only a determined curmudgeon could fault the acting in "The Dark Knight." Production values are equally impressive. Nolan's mainstay DP, Wally "Memento" Pfister captures the director's vision perfectly, Lee "The Truman Show" Smith, another Nolan collaborator, edits with fine control of pace and comprehensibility, and consummate composers Hans "Batman Begins" Zimmer and James Newton "King Kong" Howard craft a strong, schizophrenically evocative score. The production design, art direction, costuming, and set decoration are all letter-perfect; the audience is totally and immediately immersed in the dark realities of Gotham "No, it's New York!" City, and briefly, the glittering beauty of Hong Kong. The superb visual and special effects are the icing on a film in which every dollar was obviously well-spent.
Now, all that said, "The Dark Knight" is not without faults, keeping me from giving it a full "10" vote. It's a tad long (the brief sub-plot with The Scarecrow could have been easily axed, for instance), though not unbearably so. Eckhart's Two-Face make-up is impeccable but just too over-the-top for me to accept; how does an eyeball even survive the burns that ruined his face so dramatically? Additionally, the usual action movie defiance of physics and human physiology belies Nolan's attempt to otherwise ground his story in reality. There are questions of how The Joker can reasonably set-up such elaborate traps, let alone manage to successfully hire the legion of goons who so willingly carry out his homicidal, and all too often back-stabbing, plans.
Still, these are relatively minor flaws in an otherwise fully-realized and complex tale of conflicted good versus unmitigated evil. The parallels drawn to current difficulties with international terrorism are quite evident, both thematically and visually. The answers provided to difficult ethical dilemmas are appropriately incomplete; there is no cheap closure provided for the Batman's angst, nor easy answers to Joker's psychosis. The Nolans have elevated run-of-the-mill comic book pop psychology much closer to rarefied levels of myth and legend. If another episode of the revitalized Batman franchise gets green-lighted, the challenge of topping this entry will be extraordinary. I, for one, will look forward to it.
"The Dark Knight" may have a limited appeal to an older demographic (current IMDb voting shows the 45+ cohort more than a full point beneath the weighted average), but the quality of film-making should draw a lot of these folks in when the DVD is released. I'm also amused that a full three percent of IMDb voters tagged this with a "1". Are they blind, willfully stupid, or just paid confederates of Joker? "The Dark Knight" is an adrenaline-fueled rocket of a movie that manages to avoid catering to LCD sensibilities and leaves its audience with plenty to think and talk about, more so than any other superhero movie so far, and if nothing else, will stand as permanent testament to the acting chops of Heath Ledger. For that alone, it's worth seeing.
(Very slightly edited 8.05.08 after second viewing)