The Dark Knight (2008)

Years ago when attending the local New Jersey premiere for Batman Forever, I met the producer of the film, Michael Uslan, who'd produced all the Bat flicks thus far.  And he asked me what I thought of it.  Now, I'd just seen the movie at the time, was a 15 year old comic geek and a huge Jim Carrey fan  so of course I said some crazyness like 'Way better than the last two', and 'You should make the next one more like this'.  And thus begat (in my opinion) Batman And Robin, which all but killed the franchise for nearly ten years, until in 2005 director Christopher Nolan (Memento) brought the franchise more in tune with his grim comic book side then ever before, in Batman Begins. 

  Now three years later, among the shroud of controversy over Joker actor Heath Ledger's death, comes the next installment in the new Bat franchise, The Dark Knight.    

   As much as Batman Begins was about young Bruce Wayne (Christopher Bale) and his transformation into the caped crusader of Gotham City, this latest installment is more about the city itself and an alliance of three individuals trying to save it from insanity.  While Batman still handles the crime and the freaks like Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), on the legal side of crime fighting Lt. Jim Gordon  (Gary Oldman) and the new hotshot District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart-Thank You For Smoking) are having a tough time maintaining order in the face of  Gotham's latest psycho, the insane criminal mastermind known only as The Joker (Heath Ledger).  When he brings Batman into the fray, almost literal hell breaks loose in Gotham as The Joker tries to bring the city down to his level of insanity.  And only the alliance of both sides of the law can have a chance to save the very soul of their city. 

   I was very, very very impressed with this movie.  From the very start of the movie as The Joker's gang pull off a bank heist in an exciting sequence you can see this isn't your standard superhero movie.  If anything this movie has more in common with Heat than it does Batman And Robin.  And that's a very good thing.  But of course the first thing everyone wants to know about the movie is how was Ledger's final performance.  And to that I have to agree with most of the critics out there and say his role as The Joker is a tour de force peformance.  He completely loses himself in the character so much so that often times you forget you're watching Ledger play The Joker and you're invested in the character. 

Also in my opinion his take blows Nicholson's Joker from the 1989 Batman movie out of the water.  In comparison, Nicholson's Joker was just Jack being Jack but amped up about 10 times.  Ledger's Joker is at the same time funny and scary, as The Joker was always meant to be.    It makes me sad to think of his passing at this point, because this would have been the role to really blow his career up.   

   And speaking of blowing away previous cinematic interpretations of a character, Aaron Eckhart delivers an outstanding performance as Harvey Dent.   Though to be technical it's not that hard to blow away Tommy Lee Jones' cheesy take on Harvey/Two Face.   While The Joker is the character everyone will be and is talking about Harvey Dent is the soul of the movie.  You  feel for him and want him to succeed even though his destiny is going to inevtibly going to take a much darker, tragic path.  

  Christian Bale is again solid as Bruce Wayne/Batman though  his gravelly Batman voice is still taking some getting used to. But even still, he does a tremendous job in this movie and I still say he is the best cinematic Batman we've ever had. He doesn't have as much to do with this one, now that his character and the dichotomy of the charcater has been established in the last film.  This film is more about The Joker and Batman and Gotham's reaction to his actions.  

  And speaking of Gotham City, for the first time in a Batman movie, the city itself feels as much a character in this story as The Joker or Batman.  The cinematography of  longtime Nolan collaborator Wally Pfister (The Prestige, Batman Begins)leads a lot of credibility to that notion.  It's a much bigger scope of a film than the previous Batman movie, but it never feels as though it's overpowering the story, rather it's enhancing it.  Just watch the aformentioned opening heist sequence, or a great action scene with Batman going to Hong Kong to catch an important criminal and you'll see what I mean.

All this of course would mean nothing without a good script and a talented director,and thankfully this movie, nay, this franchise has both in Christopher Nolan.  He's been one of my favorite directors since Memento in 2002, always making movies that aren't what they seem.  Who would have thought before that a movie running backwards or Robin Williams as a serial killer would be believable let alone good movies.   

   Again I must say this may very well be the best movie I've seen so far this year.  And not just from a technical standpoint.  The movie is two and a half hours long, but not once did I ever feel the need to check the time or fidget in my seat.  It hooks you right from the amazing heist sequence right through to the climax.   

 A quick side note, I absolutly loved the throwaway action scene with Batman confronting The Scarecrow once again.  I've been clamoring for this for a long time now in superhero movies.  Just a minor villain, can be taken down in a scene, to establish that there are other villains out there that we don't see in between movies.  Most superhero movies, have it seem as though  there are no villains without movies, and origin scenes.  And the rest of the time Batman, Spider-Man and the like take out purse snatchers and bank robbers.  I absolutly hate that and was glad for that inclusion here.  Was that so much to ask Hollywood?  

   This movie is entertaining on multiple levels.  You've got the insanity and charisma of The Joker in which every scene featuring him is terrifying and funny at the same time.  The love triangle of Harvey Dent, Rachel Dawes ( Maggie Gyllenhall filling in for Katie Holmes here) and Bruce Wayne.   And of course the action, which if you're just going to this movie for the action you're in for a real treat, as this film has some great sequences, my personal favorite being the initial confrontation/car chase with Batman and The Joker, a lot of great back and forth action leading up to an 18 wheeler being flipped over without the use of cgi.  Very cool stuff.

  One of the things I most love about this new franchise is that these people feel real and not just one dimensional comic characters.  You really care about these characters including Harvey Dent(spoiler ahead)

so that when tragedy befalls him and he is turned into Two Face, your first reaction isn't 'Dude that's awesome' you feel more sympathy for the character than anything else, even if the makeup job on Two Face is awesome. 

Final

In the end, a lot of people will be spitting hyperbole like 'Best Film Of The Year', and 'Ledger deserves an Oscar' but upon seeing this movie you'll realize it's not just a bunch of talk, this movie really is that good.  I think the best thing that can be said for it is it's a two and half hour movie that doesn't feel like it is.  Even if you were turned off by the previous Bat-film, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of comic book movies, a fan of crime movies, and a lover of good action and drama. 

  I wouldn't reccomend taking your kids to see this one though parents.  I know there are action figures, and curiously enough kid's breakfast cereal toys, but this is a highly adult, highly dark picture.  I remember my parents said the same thing about the Tim Burton original when I was 9, but I was determined to see it anyway, and they took me, but they did warn me first about how dark it was.  And if you're going to indeed take your children to see this movie I would do the same thing.   I can not repeat enough this is not a film for young children.  

   But for the rest of us, I say go see this movie now.   It really does live up to the hype of being called The Empire Strikes Back or The Godfather II of superhero movies.   The Dark Knight is a highly entertaining,  immensly exciting trip to Gotham City.  I know I'll be taking a return trip in the very near future.   And I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you there with me.