The Dark Knight...

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that's a huge hit with the public and is a genuine artistic success. The Dark Knight is one of those movies.



Following 2005's excellent Batman Begins, The Dark Knight follows Batman/Bruce Wayne as Gotham City tries to climb back on its feet again. Mobsters are on the defensive, partly because of Batman, partly because of idealistic, crusading district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Dent also happens to be dating Bruce's ex-flame Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal, taking over the role from Katie Holmes).



Things get complicated when the Joker (Heath Ledger) convinces local mobsters to pay him to kill Batman. The Joker then threatens to kill a Gotham resident a day until Batman reveals his true identity. When the Joker starts following up on his threats, things get nasty.


Director Christopher Nolan (Memento), co-writing with his brother Jonathan, uses the plot to examine ethics in a post 9/11 society. The residents of Gotham react to the Joker's terrorist tactics in different ways. Things get even more high stakes when the Joker starts putting individuals in horrible situations and forcing them to make impossible choices. He believes that under stress, people will turn into animals, and he aims to prove that. In a way, it's similar to the gimmick used by the killer in the Saw movies, except those films were only concerned with finding gory ways to kill people, while The Dark Knight is actually concerned with the moral/ethical dilemmas posed by such situations.

A lot of focus will be given to Heath Ledger's performance, partly because the Joker is a showy role and partly because of the unfortunate circumstances of his death. Is Ledger's performance up to the hype? It's a very good performance, but it doesn't take over the film. In Tim Burton's Batman, Jack Nicholson's Joker upstaged the entire film (granted, Nicholson was entertaining, but he still upstaged the film itself). Ledger does fine work here, but I think it's more impressive than Nicholson because it's an ensemble performance. Ledger's good in a showy role without upstaging the film and everyone else around him.



And there are a number of other excellent performances, too. Aaron Eckhart does good, understated work as Harvey Dent. His idealism could have been grating and over-the-top, but Eckhart handles it nicely. It's a critical role, because the real emotional arc of the film belongs not to Batman/Bruce Wayne (as it did in Batman Begins), but to Dent. Without a good performance from Eckhart, the film does not work.



Gary Oldman returns as Commissioner Gordon and he has a bigger role here than he did in Batman Begins (conversely, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman have less to do than in Batman Begins). Amidst all of the darkness and unpleasantness, Oldman is the soul of the film. The Dark Knight is upsetting, intense, and depressing stuff, but Oldman's performance grounds it in humanity.


The Dark Knight is more than just a great comic book movie. It's a genuine work of art, one of the best films of the year.