The Dark Knight

Since the days of Christopher Reeve there have been endless amounts of comic book to film adaptations, some good, some bad and some that have been downright terrible. Fortunately others have been pretty damn good, films such as Brian Singer’s X2 (2003) and Sam Raimi’s Spiderman 2 (2004). The only issue with these films however is that no matter how real the directors tried to make them they would always feel like comic book adaptations. This changed however in 2005 when the acclaimed director of Memento, Christopher Nolan revealed Batman Begins to an unsuspecting audience of comic book fan. Not only did it fix the damage done to the bat franchise since 1997’s Batman and Robin but it showed the a comic book adaptation could be portrayed in a realistic manner whilst also making a statement about the corruption within our very society. However this is not a review of Batman Begins but rather its uber-sequel The Dark Knight.

It would be hard for me to define The Dark Knight as a comic book film. It’s a comic adaptation for sure but as a film it is more in the vein of a sprawling, densely complex crime epic, a tale of inner corruption on a metropolitan scale. It is a film that owes more to such modern greats as The Departed and Heat, with elements of such modern noirs as Se7en and LA Confidential albeit one with a hero in a bat suit and a villain in a clown costume. Rest assured you’ll never find another comic book film so inherently realistic in terms of tone and content.

So what is it that makes this film work so well? Let me start with the performances and more specifically that of The Joker played by Heath Ledger a man who as you well know tragically lost his life 6 months before the film was released. Like many other viewers I can merely use superlative to describe his performance; immense, sensational, encapsulating. Ledger fully succeed in drawing the audience into the psyche of his character, especially when he is telling various anecdotes of how he got his scars (notice also how in the scene where he is up close to Maggie Gylenhall whilst welding a knife, the camera does a full 360 pan around so as to entrap the audience further in). Here is a man who in his final days manages the beat the great Jack Nicholson at his own game, portraying a Joker who is truly vile and sadistic with an effortless sense of malice. Naturally his performance got a lot of attention as a result of his premature death but the fact of the matter is that he truly was magnificent in this role dead or alive. It seems so easy to be cynical about the fact that his death made people praise his performance. HE WAS GENUINELY THAT GOOD and I believe that if he were still alive today he would be as big as say Johnny Depp for example. A tragic loss of a man who had just reached his prime. As I sat and watched this film for the first time I saw an actor who was truly cherishing the role he had been given, as co star Christian Bale described “I had never seen a man enjoy playing a part so much”, Bale was also quick to stand up against members of the media who felt that the role of The Joker ultimately drove Ledger over the edge.

This brings me to Christian Bale’s performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman. There are two main camps of people, both with views on Bale’s performance. One camp feels that he personifies the troubled, conflicted nature of the character perfectly and the other camp who felt that he was too dry an actor to successfully portray a lead hero (typical of the lead performer in many popular franchise films) and also felt his raspy bat voice was rather silly. I am part of the former camp. I felt that although Ledger was technically better, Bale still brought a great deal to this film, after all Bruce Wayne is a man utterly devoted to an ideal that he will stick to no matter what the circumstances, a man whos true identity is at risk a number of times throughout the film, a man who questions his role as a hero and whether he is “inspiring good or madness”. If the first film was about him gaining a purpose then this film is about him questioning that purpose. Although his bat voice was more pronounced this time round I didn’t really have any problems with it, I mean sure he does go a little overboard from time to time, specifically with his final confrontation with The Joker but then again doesn’t he need to disguise his voice so no one realises that he is in fact multibillionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. I mean come on its not THAT annoying.

Other performances in this film are also top notch. Arguably as great as Ledger’s is that of Harvey Dent played with amazing charisma by Aaron Eckhart. His portrayal as Dent is that of a man who at first appears that he can’t be trusted but as the film progresses we gradually learn what a heroic individual he is and that the only way to turn him evil is to bring a tragedy upon him. Gary Oldman returning as Jim Gordon once again (in typical Oldman style) immersing himself in the character he is playing this time portraying Gordon as a man with so much pressure resting on his shoulders. Maggie Gylenhall proves so much more effective than Katie Holmes in the previous film, Michael Caine returns as Alfred getting no less than a few great speeches and Morgan Freeman gets a slightly beefed up role than last time even getting the oppotunity to question Wayne's antics. The bit players prove effective as well giving us a wide plethora of cops and mobsters that make Gotham city seem like a more believable, fully functional city ergo making it feel like a character in its own right.

Ironic really that the real genius behind this film is not any of the actors but in fact its director, Christopher Nolan, the latest in a string of British directors to have conquered Hollywood. Through his gitty, realistic direction style he has crafted a gripping thriller that leaps far beyond its comic origins, pulling us forcible into the story and holding us at the edge of our seats through out. From the nerve shredding bank heist at the start were we are first introduced to The Joker right up to the gloriously bleak final confrontations with Harvey Two Face. It is through the sharp, suspenseful and impeccably written screenplay, which Nolan wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan that we as an audience are drawn into the chaos that ensues throughout. Take note of the film’s sweeping cinematography and pulse pounding ambient music score. Rest assured this is a film that twists and turns and develops throughout building its way to the ferry set finale in which the lives of hundred are at stake merely through the push of the button. This climax like the rest of the events depicted throughout rests on a knifes edge. It is also clever because The Joker as well as many of his schemes remain ambiguous as how he pulled things off. Ambiguity is good people.

For me another impressive aspect was the way this film was edited. Accompanying Nolan's direction it has the ability to create a sense of danger, then intercut between various incidents all of which develop a sense of danger and build up until each individual sequence reaches a point in which all hell breaks loose. This is evident in a numbr of scenes (the build up to The Joker crashing the party, the mad rush to save Dent and Rachel, the citywide panic, the final showdown). The film also boasts various impressive action set pieces from beginning to end all of which contain a sense of spectacle that is far too absent in many modern CGI infested films today. Such sequences include Batman using a sky hook device to capture a villain in Hong Kong and an extensive chase through the streets of Gotham (Chicago) that culminates with a lorry flipping over.....forwards....for real. This is a strong example of how shooting action scenes for real can be vastly more impressive than filling the screen with soulless CGI. (Note: These set pieces are shot in IMAX as well as the establishing city shot, this is not present on the DVD copy, the only way to get the director's full vision is to view in Blu-ray).

There is a lot more to this film however than mere excitement and thrills. On repeat viewing the social, political subtext becomes clear revealing that there is a message in this film. The basic message here is to portray how the authorities are ultimately powerless to defend their public when faced with terrorism from a man who ultimately cannot be bargained with no matter what. A man who preys upon the corruption and paranoia of a post 9/11 society, a man who believes that people will turn against each other and succumb to madness when faced with sheer threat, as The Joker quotes “When the chips are down, these civilized people will eat each other”. I know for some people that sounds a bit deep for a mainstream film but it could not be any truer. Even the imagery reflects that of a post 9/11 society (the burning fire truck, the footage of the joker torturing a man on the news, the image of Batman’s silhouette as he looks solemnly down on the burning rubble where a loved one lost a life). The film even finds room to question the role of a mask hero in a modern society; Is his presence in Gotham helping to make it a greater place or is he merely a vigilante who’s actions are ultimately encouraging greater evil. Rest assured this film is a strong statement on the modern era, right up to the final minutes of the film which plays on the whole concept of creating a conspiracy in order to maintain order.

Overall The Dark Knight has managed to re-invent what a comic book movie can be capable of and shall remain one that shall be viewed in years to come. It is definitely up there as one of the all time greatest sequels along with The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II and definately one of my all time favourites. The question remains; do we need a third Nolan Batman film to make it a trilogy or should the story end with this film?

5 STARS