January 14, 2009
The Dark Knight
The Comic Book Movie with More
A friend of mine described The Dark Knight perfectly when he said “It’s basically the best action film plot ever with Batman characters.” Well said anonymous friend.
The Dark Knight has enough explosions, chase sequences, and awesome action to please teens, action movie fans, and comic book fans alike. It also has something a little extra audiences paying for the newest comic book movie are not used to: A little philosophical musing. A true Batman nerd will tell you that there could never be a truly great Batman film that did not capture the intense passion and raw emotion of the comic’s characters and themes.
It is impossible, I’m guessing, to run around and beat up bad guys dressed as some fucked up half bat half man hybrid without having some deeper issues. Batman and Batman Returns touched on the psychology of Batman a bit, but mostly just as necessitated by the extraordinary depth of the comic book. Batman Begins did better, but returning director Christopher Nolan raised the bar for both Batman and all other comic book movies with his latest Batman installment.
Sin City was psychotic fun. X-Men, Spiderman and a whole host of others chose brawn over brain in a genre that, until recently, seemed as though it had room for only one. Knight though managed to capture all of the interesting little details that hover below the surface of the story of Batman.
Heath Ledger blew the masterful Nicholson portrayal of the most famous criminally insane Batman nemesis away with a lot of lip licking and attention to crazy detail. The Joker offers an amazing challenge to any actor attempting to do the depraved character justice. Giggling and insanely justifying his bad behavior until the end, the Joker swallows the audience and Ledger, who is nowhere to be seen. Ledger who? He’s that good.
Ledger’s well publicized, and now award winning performance, aside, Knight still has plenty going for it. Despite an often ridiculously raspy voice, Christian Bale is now two-for-two as the Bat. His Bruce Wayne is as entertaining, funny, and sad as his Batman is fierce and dark. Also, Michael Cane and Morgan Freeman, old reliable one and two I call them, bring wisdom and class both to their characters and to the film.
If you saw this film on the IMAX you can back me up when I say that while Maggie Gyllenhaal is an improvement as an actress over Katie Holmes, her face should never (ever, ever) be blown up that large. As for Mr. Aaron Eckhart, he is compelling as the flaw in human nature personified, Harvey Dent (who later is burnt and battered into the evil Two-Face).
Batman, The Joker, and Two Face are amazing literary characters. I don’t care if they are drawn, written, or acted, either of theses three comic book icons have more interest and intrigue in one pinkie finger than most characters born from critically recognized literature. The Dark Knight makes its bread and butter on these three twisted characters, but without careful, thoughtful, and cunning directing, writing, and acting it would have just been another cool action movie with comic book characters. Nothing more.
