The Dark Knight, the second in the “new” Batman movie series, is a movie that has garnered extremely high levels of attention before any footage was shown to the public. This is in large part due to the fact that Heath Ledger dramatically died after completion, and the media blitz generated by the death of a young, handsome, beloved-by-many actor ensured this movie to be a success before it ever hit the big screen. It has generated so much buzz as “the movie that killed Heath Ledger” (even though it didn’t) and “Heath Ledger’s last movie” (even though it isn’t) that it may become hard for audiences to see past it, and consequentially either dismiss the movie drivel that would’ve been considered mediocre at best if not for the actor’s death or accept it without question as a masterpiece. Thankfully, Niblets are to the rescue, wading through all that crap for you.
So, is the movie good? Yes. Is the movie great? Maybe. Is it the best super hero movie of all time? No. Definitely not. On the scale of “new” super hero movies, this one rates about a Superman Returns: good, but not delivering entirely what we were hoping for. Really, when you think about it, how could it? Batman Begins was, in my opinion one of, if not the best, new super hero movies. The high expectations (which were albeit justified) compounded with the buildup created by Ledger’s death will invariably make it fall short of people’s expectation. It has a light case of “sequel syndrome”—which is a problem with super hero movies in general; the origin movie is really good, but, with the exception of maybe Spiderman 2, when we get to the real meat and potatoes of being an established super hero day-to-day in the city of choice, the magic seems to fade just a little, but I digress.
Of course, the question everyone wants answered is: “is Heath Ledger good?” Early reports from the cast and crew indicated that he was phenomenal, there was talk of a posthumous Oscar award, and on the black carpet (ha ha) Michael Caine even insisted the performance was worth an Oscar regardless of Ledger’s death. So, is he really that good? The answer is an emphatic “yes!” The Joker is quirky, amusing, and terrifyingly psychotic all at once. The way he shuffles about taunting, misleading and horrifically killing people all reflect the true essence of The Joker. It’s a performance that really brings The Joker into the 21st Century, which is reassuring since the Joker is easily the strongest element of this film, and future Batman franchise movies… DAMN!
As for the rest of the cast, Michael Caine is superb as always, proving that he is the ideal Alfred Pennyworth once again. Christian Bale delivers a performance on par with his previous Batman appearance (which can be good or bad—I’ll leave it up to you). Gary Oldman makes you root for the underdog yet again, Morgan Freeman proves how awesome he is (as if he needed to), and Maggie Gyllenhaal is a significant improvement over Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Really, the whole cast has that rare quality that makes you forget their playing characters and that you’re watching a movie.
The only exception, really, is Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent—pre-Two-Face. This seems mostly due to the fact that it is important to the plot that he be the shiningest, most valiant angel possible to contrast with his Joker-induced shift into perhaps the second most deranged villain in Batman history. Before he makes the change, however, he functions as some sort of one-liner machine that frequently walks in front of explosions without flinching while punching out gun-toting mobsters. It’s infuriatingly annoying to watch, but is almost forgiven when it is put into perspective for the audience by his complete turn-around. Almost. His character is really more for the benefit of fictional Gotham than the audience directly. He’s the politician we all want: handsome, brave, and an untiring crusader for what’s right—like Batman. Too bad the ideal politician is also apparently annoying as hell to watch 24/7. Incidentally, his connection to Batman is played up by the movie in several places, casting Batman, Dent, and Gordon as the three pillars of hope for Gotham that the Joker attempts to corrupt at every turn.
I assume I won’t be spoiling anything for anyone by saying that Dent turns evil, since anyone who knows someone even mildly interested in Batman (or even easier, has looked at the movie’s IMDB page) will tell you they’ve known about the Dent/Two-Face relationship for months (or years) before the movie came out. In The Dark Knight, the change itself is extremely satisfying. While the movie is “good” up to this point, Two-Face’s emergence makes the film shine with glimmers of perfection as The Joker and Two-Face weave their separate paths of destruction through Gotham, bringing back that giddy-nervous feeling the audience got when Wayne Manor began to burn in Batman Begins.
Like all super hero movies, The Dark Knight contains its fair share of action, and this is where the movie finds its most fault. Directors and editors seem to think that there is no such thing as too much cross-cutting, cut-aways, and random angle changes these days, and this excess makes the action sequences in The Dark Knight borderline indecipherable at times. Batman’s ninja antics are cool—they were part of what made me so fond of Batman Begins—but the cinematography in The Dark Knight works against it, jumping around almost as much as Bale does. The kitsch is also turned up a little in this one. Batman Begins could get away with some comedic moments sprinkled into its hardcore actions scenes because they were genuinely funny and didn’t detract from the mood (“it’s a black” *BOOM* “…tank”), but The Dark Knight’s seem forced and are blatantly unfunny. One particular instance finds a high octane car chase interrupted by two kids in a car pointing their fingers at parked cars like guns and squeezing imaginary triggers; at just the right moment a car explodes and the kids gasp in wonder at their “powers.” Seriously? Oh jeez…
That said, the movie is still good overall. The plot is good (albeit a bit twisted), the characters are well acted, and it delivers a solid experience from the Batman universe, and since the movie is a guaranteed hit, I can’t help but wonder about the future of the series. While it’s a slim chance, another Two-Face appearance may be in the future, but more importantly the Joker is explicitly left as a possibility… DAMN!!! It really isn’t fair, Heath Ledger really is that damn good as the Joker. It’s such a shame to think that Batman’s No.1 antagonist could be put on the shelf for future projects. Say what you will, but future movies (and there will be future movies) will be lacking without appearances by The Joker. I mean, Batman versus The Joker is one of the most iconic struggles in all the super hero universes!
As previously stated many times, The Dark Knight is a very good Batman film. It advances the overall plot of the Batman story very well, and brings out the dark side of the Caped Crusader much more effectively than Batman Begins did. After all, as The Joker himself points out, the line that separates himself from Batman is a thin one, and this movie gives us more of a sense of Bruce’s inner conflict as he comes closer and closer to crossing it. When all’s said and done, this movie leaves me thinking about the future of the series more than anything—hell, even The Joker himself wants it to go on: “I don’t want to kill you,” he says to Batman, “What would I do without you?” and later, “you complete me!” Indeed. We need both of these characters very dearly.
Tags: Batman, Dark Knight, Heath Ledger, Invasion, Joker, movie, Niblet, Review
