The Dark Knight Review

Published by Jeff Leins on: July 18th, 2008

The review does not contain any spoilers.

The Dark Knight is everything you hoped it would be. The three years of anticipation has peaked at levels I haven’t seen outside of Star Wars, but it somehow overcomes the hype to deliver an unforgettable visual and (believe it or not) cerebral experience.

While Batman Begins may have set the standard for the comic book movies, The Dark Knight raises the bar and establishes itself as one of the best crime dramas in history.

Batman has evolved over the years from campy comedy to sleek action to once again campy comedy (though less humorous with Arnold). Now Batman has become the tool for in depth morality explorations and subtle social commentary. Thinking back to those painful Clooney memories, I never thought I’d see the day when a Batman movie might be considered for Academy Awards.

Front and center for recognition is the late, great Heath Ledger. Deep between the creepy scars and smeared clown make-up, Ledger struggled with his own demons. It crawls its way to the surface with each snarled threat or high-pitched laugh. Every sneer, tongue slurp, and wild-eyed facial expression is part of his captivating performance. He embodies the terrifying, wicked immorality of the classic character, while still maintaining the whimsy and well-timed quips. Next to Ledger, Jack Nicholson’s Joker is nothing but a clown.

Sharing equal screen time are Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney Harvey Dent. Both among the finest actors of this generation, they each deliver a solid, three-dimensional portrayal, which then speaks volumes about the screenplay. Batman obviously represents the purity of good, battling the forces of evil, embodied by the Joker. Harvey Dent, who ultimately becomes the villain Two-Face, stands between the two as a disfigured representation of them both. Torn by morality and revenge, his struggle between the opposite sides is one the city of Gotham itself has been teetering between since Bruce was a child.

Bruce struggled with this very choice in the first film, but now he’s clearly chosen sides and aligned himself with clean cop Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the voice of hope, Harvey Dent. Together the trio masterminds the capture of the most notorious mob bosses in Gotham.

Meanwhile, the Joker has been robbing the mob of its money while proposing to the very same gangsters plans to rid the city of the caped menace. He gives the same message to the various criminals as he does the people of Gotham: side with me or face the consequences. The Joker has murky origins he offers his hostages, but has steady intentions to instill fear and anarchy in the city.

If you can and haven’t yet, I recommend you see this movie on an IMAX screen. The sweeping shots of city landscapes are an experience alone. From Hong Kong to Chicago (the stand-in for Gotham City), the lofty cameras peer over the edge of towering skyscrapers so you can feel the adrenaline of diving off into the night.

Director Christopher Nolan has an admirable habit of wanting the audience to experience what the characters are feeling. Which explains the spliced storyline of Memento or the fuzzy imagery in Insomnia. Here Nolan uses calculated, technical editing to create a chaotic plot, flashing abruptly between Harvey Dent’s rise to hero status and the Joker’s own ascension amongst the crime ranks. A parallel elevation of good and evil sliced to pieces and mixed together. But the anarchy has a purpose, a hidden agenda. As the Joker says, grinning, “It’s all part of the plan.”

I wouldn’t want to spoil any of the plot points by summarizing the complex story. But I will say this, my review has only scratched the surface of the layers in The Dark Knight. Even the title has new meaning after seeing this film. We aren’t likely to see anything this good for a while, especially among comic-book movies, which is a shame. But like Dent, I still have hope.

5 out of 5.