The Dark Knight

In 2005, Christopher Nolan completely revamped the Batman series with Batman Begins. With his most recent film, The Dark Knight, he has perfected it. The Dark Knight is not only the best Batman movie yet to be made, but also stands as the greatest superhero movie of all time. Unlike most movies that have garnered an enormous amount of hype early on in their theatrical releases (think of last year’s Juno), The Dark Knight deserves every bit of attention it is getting.

The movie works so well because, while it does focus on an individual who displays characteristics that are somewhat above and beyond what is normally relegated to heroes, this is not strictly a superhero movie. Instead of staying within the mainstream of recent Hollywood action/adventure movies — superheroes or not — Nolan has decided to take the focus off of car chases and explosions, and onto meaningful characters. While there is plenty of action in The Dark Knight, the viewer never forgets about who is involved and what is at stake for each character.

The film starts where Batman Begins left off. Batman (Christian Bale) has become the unofficial protector of Gotham City. Like all iconic figures, there are those who love him, those who hate him, and those who want to be him. Imitators, inspired by the Caped Crusader, have taken to the street as vigilantes. The police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), has come to accept Batman as a valuable asset to fighting the city’s crime, and it’s not too long before the new D.A., Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), wants in on the action. Dent is Gotham City’s white knight. He is going after the “bad guys” head-on, and doing in public what Batman can only do behind the mask. Enter the Joker (Heath Ledger). The Joker explodes on to the scene, preaching a sort of ultra violent pseudo-Anarchism and chaos to the city’s criminals and everyday citizens. The only thing he really wants: Batman’s identity.

Nolan’s prize works on a variety of levels. Key among them is that he and star Christian Bale have elected to portray Batman not as an unbreakable moral force, but as a troubled hero/antihero who is deeply affected by his actions and choices. The idea of consequences is always a major theme in superhero movies, but nowhere else is that apparent more than here. Batman doesn’t always make the right choice, or going about acting out his choices in the right way, and lives are lost because of it. As one can easily see, Nolan has found a way to transform Batman to the point that everyone forgets he’s a guy in a bat suit fighting crime.

Equally as important is how the filmmakers and the late Heath Ledger portrayed The Joker. Batman and the Joker represent one of the most famous rivalries in popular culture, and The Dark Knight may just be the first movie to ever actualize the potential of this rivalry. It works so well because both Batman and the Joker know exactly what the other is capable of and what drives them. The Joker is there to push Batman’s buttons and get him to react. Maybe this works so well because the Joker has figured out one of the major flaws in the utilitarian society that Batman represents and works so hard to protect.

In one scene the Joker tells Harvey Dent, “You see, nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If I told people that a gangbanger was going to get shot, or a busload of soldiers was going to get blown up, nobody would panic. Because it’s all part of the plan. But tell people that one tiny little mayor is going to die and everyone loses their minds!”

The Joker has single-handedly pointed out humanity’s ability to justify systematic violence. However, to go about proving this point, he creates unsystematic and unjustifiable violence. The point is, The Joker is not a run-of-the-mill superhero villain; he’s extremely smart, extremely dangerous, and he knows a lot about the society he is attempting to destroy … he’s also not afraid of death. Because of these qualities he forces Batman and everyone else to look within themselves to see what it is they are willing to sacrifice for their beliefs.

I cannot imagine any two actors doing a better job than Christian Bale and Heath Ledger at portraying these two. A lot has been said of their performances and a lot will be said in the future. Had any two other actors been cast, The Dark Knight would not have been the same. Aaron Eckhart also stands out as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, managing to go from a genuinely likeable guy to a man immersed in despair. Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over for Katie Holmes to play Rachel Dawes, the lovely inspiration for both Dent and Bruce Wayne/Batman. All of the other returning members play their parts admirably.

If there is one flaw to the film it is that it is completely male-dominated (and the whole perpetuating the myth of redemptive violence thing). Gyllenhaal is essentially the only female on screen and the entire movie felt overly patriarchal. However, the fact remains that this is the best movie of its genre, and thus deserves a perfect score, as it becomes the standard for which all other movies of its kind will be held to. The Dark Knight has given some glimmer of hope for what Hollywood can accomplish when it lets talented actors and directors make meaningful movies.

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