The Dark Knight: A comic epic
Tom Elce writes about Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Nolan’s Batman films have been planted alarmingly in reality, mirroring out own world in some elements and imagining what could happen were some criminal to go way overboard. In Batman Begins, one attempted to clense the scorn of Gotham City with a toxic cloud. In The Dark Knight, the citizens of Gotham aren’t so lucky (you read that right). Here, that master criminal has no cash-motivated agenda, nor a necessary desire for all-encompassing power. Instead he wants utter chaos, he (to quote Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko) wants to see what happens when he tears the world apart.
He is The Joker (Heath Ledger), a maniacal, masterful criminal with more than a few screws loose, the latest nemesis for Gotham’s resident costumed vigilante Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and the deadliest one of all. He enters the film immediately, announcing his presence in Gotham with a daring bank robbery in which even his own accomplices aren’t safe from death, retreating with the cash on a hijacked school bus, to reappear later when the danger about him gets significantly confirmed. Soon, he begins to take over Gotham’s organised crime underworld, not intimidated in the slightest by the mob bosses he crosses nor the police who (with those corrupt exceptions) who hunt him down. Nor Batman.
The Joker enters at the worst time in Bruce Wayne’s career as a caped crime-fighter, when the ramifications of his daredevil actions lead the citizens to question whether he’s really hero or simply another menace. Lifetime crush Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is now together with Gotham’s valued new district attorney - nicknamed “The White Knight” - Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and the strain of his own personal deeds are beginning to show on him. Thus, when The Joker demands that he reveal his identity, his nemesis-elect proves the courage of his conviction, declaring that for every day Batman delays this revelation, another innocent person shall perish, Wayne is faced with a conundrum and crisis of conscience like never before.
An experiment in aesthetic brilliance and flawless screenwriting, The Dark Knight is that ingenious film that feels packed second-for-second with incredible scene after incredible scene. Be it in phenomenally rendered full sequences as the opening bank robbery and the climax in which all the pieces of the intricately constructed plot come together, or in seconds-long shots as that of The Joker leaning out a car window revelling in the chaos he’s created, the impact of the film is rousing, that rare big studio blockbuster that has its artistic motivations to boot. That the film is entertaining as can be is also crucial, such scenes (and a myriad others) having an effect both eye-popping and emotionally resounding.
The no-holds-barred approach writer-director Christopher Nolan and co-writer Jonathan Nolan take is the most staggering aspect of the production. In the ruthless Gotham City imagined by this twosome, no character is safe no matter how major, more than one of the principle players winding up dead before the end, driving home The Joker’s ruthlessness and lack of mercy. For Batman, The Joker represents that iconic challenge, a cruel psychopath whose actions inextricably tear apart the title hero’s world, and whose decisions eventually have a life-shattering impact upon other characters, most prevalently the would-be incorruptable Harvey Dent, who fans know is destined to become the disfigured Two-Face.
Returning as Batman/Bruce Wayne and continuing to put his distinct stamp on the character previously essayed by the interchangeable Kilmers, Keatons and Clooneys, Christian Bale again gives all of his acting talent to the leading role, adding further layers to his scarred crimefighter, whose world has been literally and figuratively blown apart by a new villain. Bale is excellent again, sharing excellent chemistry with series newcomer Maggie Gyllenhaal, taking over from Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, and sharing further empassioned scenes with veterans Morgan Freeman, as inventor Lucius Fox, and Michael Caine, as wise, faithful servant Alfred. Beyond them, Gary Oldman gets considerably more meat to work with as Lt. James Gordon and does a hell of a lot with it too, turning a character who stood at a distance from the viewer in Batman Begins into one we can now invest some hope and emotion in.
The stand-out, of course, is the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, an almost unstoppable madman whose murderous antics are brutally highlighted by his constant glee. Though some of the pre-release Oscar hype surrounding him was undeniably linked to his untimely passing in January this year, it should be noted upon watching his performance in The Dark Knight that Heath, in every way imaginable, lives up to the expectations set by such rabid buzz. He’s brilliant as perhaps the Batman universe’s greatest ever villain, putting to shame Jack Nicholson’s winking portrayal in 1989’s Batman and making this evil character his own. Watching this performance is part wondrous, part tragic, as it demonstrates so much of the young actor’s talent in a way that even the acclaimed Brokeback Mountain didn’t. If Ledger gets a posthumous Oscar for this, you won’t hear me complaining.
Given the overwhelming effect it had on me once the opening credits began to roll, it is tempting to declare The Dark Knight a masterpiece. This, however, I cannot do. However great the end result is, it still has its flaws. Or should I say, flaw. In a scene set-up to demonstrate The Joker’s nonchalant tendency to mutilate, the criminal holds a knife to the face of a dissenting mob boss and explains to him how he got his own personal scars (which line the man’s lips and are painted over in bright red), citing an abusive father who one day snapped and took a blade to him (that already-iconic line “let’s put a smile on that face” is uttered in the scene). The build-up isn’t the problem with this scene, which is, in all honesty, a cringe-inducing, edge-of-your-seat moment in the film; The execution is the fault. As dreaded, The Joker sticks the blade in the mobster’s mouth and proceeds to slice. This isn’t captured on film, instead dealt with off camera, cutting back to just about see the guy fall out of frame, never to be seen again. There’s no reaction, no view of The Joker’s horrible crime, nor any confirmation of what happens to this guy. He simply falls out of the frame, not heard from again in the film’s only moment of pandering to a PG-13/12A rating. Otherwise, the power of suggestion and on-screen violence go mesmerically hand-in-hand.
Free from the origin story that somewhat hampered the nonetheless excellent Batman Begins and free to get right down to business, The Dark Knight doesn’t bother trying to explain away The Joker’s madness, instead introducing him as that eternal mad force. The ambiguity of the character and the visceral treatment of him is what steals the entire show, pushing the boundaries of both the overpopulated subgenre and even crime pictures in general. In many ways, The Dark Knight feels like that epic of a superhero flick, taking cue moreso from past masterworks as Heat and The Godfather than even the comics on which the film is supposedly based, plunged disconcertingly into a world that unavoidably echoes our own, equipped with post-9/11 shocks amongst its more easily palatable elements, that shall quite possibly divert the more sensitive, less adventurous movigoer. As pure cinema, the film is a miracle for the senses, almost everything a modern-day movie should be and destined to rank high on my list of favourite films this year.
My Rating: 
Your Rating
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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Not since The Godfather II has any sequel garnered so much praise and commercial success at the same time. The Dark Knight certainly deserves it, but am curious to see if Nolan will advance his series further. It will be difficult to top the top two movies, even for a director as capable as Nolan.
i still wish Katie Holmes had stayed on board as Rachel Dawes for the Dark Knight; it was like the time spent getting familiar with her character in Batman Begins was wasted…
Aniruddha: I agree it will be difficult for Nolan to top his two films, especially this latest one, given the almost-universal raves it has received. Already there’s a lot of rumours going around about what direction the 3rd installment will go in, though I hope the Catwoman whispers never amount to anything.
movie junkie: Agreed (even if I - just - preferred Gyllenhaal).
Good review Tom!! Just saw the movie last night in IMAX…can’t get over the experience..the Joker transpires fright, hatred, disgust all at the same time.. I am not a big fan of superhero movies but would have regretted big time had I not watched it. But I disagree with the fact that it was a flaw on the writers part to avoid showing the violence ..the scene where the Joker barges into the mafia meeting and jabs a pencil in a guys head is equally gory..the Jokers persona is eerie even without showing the violence. The movie has set me thinking can evil ever be destroyed??
Hiral: Thanks for complimenting the review.
As for the violence subject. I’ll say up front that I actually liked the scene with the pencil in the mob meeting. However, the difference between that and Gambul’s death scene is that we know what happens and we know what the end result is with the first one. In the scene where Joker slices Gambul’s mouth (an action that wouldn’t immediately kill someone), he just falls out of frame, never to be seen or heard from again. That he doesn’t make a noise and isn’t ever referenced again after this just didn’t work for me.