Review: The Dark Knight

If there is one thing that is obviously certain upon seeing the new Batman film "The Dark Knight", it's that producer/writer/director Christopher Nolan should be permanently escalated to the ranks of some of the best filmmakers in movie history. Consider his track record thus far at the age of 38: the indie gem "Memento", the underappreciated thriller "Insomnia", an excellent revitalization of the Batman franchise "Batman Begins", a dark and contemplative take on magicians and human nature "The Prestige" and now "The Dark Knight". Not even Spielberg in his early days could post a resume this impressive.

"The Dark Knight" picks up right where "Batman Begins" leaves off and does not let up for a second. The movie is a riveting action-thriller that is layered in strong character development and an exploration of themes that are familiar to our culture. Nolan has chosen to move away from the cartoony Batman of Joel Schumacher's movies and instead, grounds the Batman myth in as much reality as possible.

In this second film, the Joker joins the fray (an amazing performance by Heath Ledger) with wild attempts to humiliate the good in Gotham City and reveal to everyone the secret identity of Batman. The twisted clown fashions together a hit list including Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), the mayor of Gotham City, and the new DA Harvey Dent, a politician who is truly committed to courageously standing against the mob and keeping the city safe. But, at what cost?

Oh, does the movie have some surprises in store. Good vs evil is never quite easy to define sometimes and "The Dark Knight" muddies the waters. If there is one overall theme that seems to carry throughout the film, it is the uncomfortable realization that everyone is on the razor, knife's edge of goodness and madness- of darkness and light. Batman (arguably) and the Joker (most certainly) are mad to different degrees. Batman, in his madness, struggles and strives to do good even when he is misunderstood by people in the city. The Joker is an anarchic terrorist who gets his kicks out of destruction, suffering, and turning people against each other while forcing them to make impossible ethical or moral choices.

By the end of the movie, Batman's status as a hero will be utterly threatened and perhaps destroyed. "I've seen what I have to become to stop him," says Bruce Wayne in the movie's darkest moment.

The script is fantastic and revolves around well-staged action sequences. The characters are well-written and we come to care a lot about them. There are also side themes within the script that play on our deepest fears today in America. Batman and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) argue about wire tapping people in the city to find out where the Joker is. Batman thinks this action is necessary to stop a terrorist. Fox thinks the decision is unethical and threatens to quit Wayne Enterprises. The movie doesn't preach one way or another to the audience but rather leaves us thinking about this moral quagmire of a question.

The acting is top notch all around. Michael Caine is wonderful as Alfred the butler, Freeman gives a solid performance as Fox and Gary Oldman, the veteran actor, returns as Commissioner Gordon. Maggie Gyllenhaal is an absolute improvement over Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Aaron Eckhart also plays successfully one of the movie's more interesting characters, Harvey Dent. Of course, Christian Bale is great again as Bruce Wayne/Batman but that leaves us with one other major character.

All sentimentality aside, Heath Ledger gives a stunning and brilliant performance. He creates a Joker that is not just crazy for the sake of craziness but a man who suffered through childhood trauma (like Batman) and now wants the entire world to feel his pain. There are several levels of brilliance to Ledger's performance: the first one is his voice for the character and way he moves which is very distinct. The second one is his perverse reasoning and explanation of his psychotic plans and the way he attempts to ground it all in a disturbing reality. The third, and most important I think, is Ledger never really steals the show from the other actors. And this would have been easy to do. He instead fits into his role and riffs off of the other characters letting everyone else play their part and tell the story as he does the same.

In Tim Burton's first Batman movie, Jack Nicholson played the Joker and gave a legendary performance. I would argue, however, that Jack totally stole the show. He was larger than life in this film (and deserves credit for a good performance). Ledger does something completely different. He notches down the Joker into a twisted reality and hits all of his notes perfectly. Ledger's performance is better and indeed, I would say, worthy of an Oscar nomination.

The one criticism of Batman that I have is why was this released during the summer? This has all the good writing, performances, and thought-provoking themes to be released at the end of the year in the heat of awards season. Of course, more serious minded awards would probably never nominate a movie like this and I guess the overall point is that this movie feels very different from anything else released in the summer. It is miles ahead.

I cannot recommend this film enough.