Movie Review: The Dark Knight (warning long post)

Duncan, Jordan and I had a guys’ night out and went to see "The Dark Knight".

This is, of course, the sequel to "Batman Begins" which is a re-inventing of the Batman movie series. The movie stars Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Heath Ledger (rest in peace) as the Joker, Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox (the man responsible for Batmans outrageous technical equipment), Michael Cane as the lovable Alfred, and was written and directed by Christopher Nolan (who also wrote and directed "Batman Begins").

[editorial note: I am very jealous of Mr. Nolan, as I am exactly one month older than he, so by rights I should have been the writer of this film...and the guy earning millions of dollars...with the ferrari and yacht and such...oh how the fates conspire against us (through no fault of our own, I might add)!]

The very first thing I have to say is that I am very happy someone decided to roll the dice and remake these movies. The first round of Batman movies, with the ever-changing leading actor, the over-the-top-cartoonishness of the stupid villains (and I do mean stupid...if brains were dynamite they could not blow their collective noses), and the overall feel of a "hey, we got you to spend 8 bucks on this piece of crap..nanner nanner nah" bad joke being played on us all. So kudos to Nolan and the gang. They got this one right.

The biggest disappointment, and what is most often a movie-ruiner for me, is that they replaced the actress playing Bruces long-time friend and love interest, Rachel. For me, this is a big deal...not because I necessarily have fallen in love with the actresses (and/or actors...except of course for Kate Winslet in Titanic...but who didn't =), but rather for continuity's sake - in fact the original actress who played Rachel earned herself a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. At least in this one, is a very unusual twist near the ending (the first ending, not the real ending), they do something so unexpected that I was able to forgive them for replacing Rachel. I am not telling what they did, just that it worked well for me. Go see it and you will see what I mean

In Batman Begins Rachel was played by Katie Holmes, now of TomKat fame after marrying Tom Cruise who turned out to be the psycho that jumps all over furniture on daytime TV.

More...
[editorial note: It is unknown (at least to this reviewer...me...who is too lazy to look much further than wikipedia for any meaningful information - hence the links in this review =) why Katie did not return. I heard somewhere that Katie had put her career on hold to carry, deliver, and nurture the offspring of herself and Mr. Cuise, which would amount to an armageddon-level combination of cuteness and psychotic sofa-bouncing, so she had to skip out on "The Dark Knight" to, in reality, save the world. Thanks Katie...we love you (and fear your husband) even more!]

Instead of Katie, Rachel was played by the far over-rated, almost cute-almost ugly, Maggie Gyllenhaal...or she-of-the-so-sultry-eyes-that-they-appear-to-be-melting-out-of-her-face.

I swear, Maggie and Kirsten Dunst are in a contest to see who can close their eyes the most, all the time, and still see enough to keep from tripping on their toy chihuahuas with the $25,000 diamond-and-actual-egyptian mummy gold-encrusted-collars. I think Kirsten is winning, and at least she is very cute. I think Maggie kind of resembles an alien at times.

Sorry, back to the review.

The movie is VERY LONG, 2 1/2 hours to be exact, but actually, in the end, you are happy it is long - I actually wished it had gone on a little longer. It reaches a point where most movies would cut out...you know the "aha, so that is why this all happened" scene after which the director says "AND THAT IS ALL YOU WILL KNOW...NO MORE MOVIE FOR YOU" and you leave saying "Jeez that was a stinker, what a stupid ending"...but then, it does not end. They actually give you a little aha moment - enough of a faux ending that Jordan chose that time to go to the bathroom...more on that later - then the movie continues to a REAL ending that is, of course, setting up the next movie in the series, but at least leaves you feeling like they really ended this movie. It is satisfying.

Now, more on Jordans bathroom break. You better plan on either 1) Taking a catheter or bottle of some kind into the movie with you, or 2) Asking someone to memorize what you may miss, or 3) Just not drinking the 3 gallons of soda you get for 5 bucks in order to avoid missing out on the movie. Usually (as in the Lord of the Ring movies) I do not mind getting up in the middle of a long movie to stretch the legs and empty the...well you understand...but in this one, I did not want to miss a second.

OK...enough technical details.

I thought about giving you a running play-by-play of the film, but I have already bored you long enough. Instead, I will just tell you why I liked the film. On a scale of 1 to 65,000, I would have to rate it about a 58,517 (I guess that would be 4 1/2 stars out of 5, or something inane like that).
I think they captured the true essence of Batman as they had never done before. Batman is supposed to be a tortured soul, a regular guy like you and me, who endures something very tragic, yet finds it in himself to transcend that experience and turn his anger and agony into a force for good. He is the one superhero without modified genes, or who hails from some foreign planet, or who inherited his powers. He is the one hero who decides to be a hero. To me, that makes him one of the best heroes we have in modern literature (Iron Man is up there too...I still need to review that one too).

In this movie, Batman is put into situations that test his resolve to be the hero. He struggles to find his place, to do what he has to do, in the face of uncertainties and impossible choices. He also faces the best villain ever put on screen: The Joker.

The Joker is played by Heath Ledger, who has put the fine touches on what amounts to the greatest villain ever to grace the screen. I think Heath played the Joker to perfection. He appears to always be carefully balancing on the edge of insanity, and brutal purpose. Heath has, sadly, passed on, so we will not get to see his wonderful acting in any more films, and this does not bode well for this Batman franchise as he is truly the guts of this movie. I cannot fathom anyone doing what Heath did in this movie. He embodied evil in a way few actors have ever been able to pull off, with such flair and reality that at times you find yourself simultaneously laughing, and wondering why you are laughing. There are times you feel you can almost relate to the Joker, and times when you hate him more than the jerky kid in third grade that kicked your dog.

The Joker enters as a small-time hoodlum, with a flair for the dramatic, at a time when Gothams gangs are being hounded by this new crime-fighter...Batman. As what will prove to be the most intelligent of the bad guys, the Joker quickly takes over crime in the city, and sends Gotham into total chaos. Batman is made to feel responsible for many deaths of citizens of Gotham because of his inability to stop the Joker. Indeed the Joker is always at least 2 steps ahead. Even at the penultimate moment, when the Joker seems to have been outdone, he has one more trick up his sleeve. Batman is befuddled, conflicted, and nearly hounded into quitting as Gothams only hope for release from the terrors brought about by the Joker.

I was amazed at the writing combined with Heath Ledgers performance. There is one point in the movie when you actually feel for the Joker, when you can sympathize with him. You actually feel some pity, instead of just raw hatred, of the character until he turns it all on its side later and you realize he has played YOU the same way he has been playing everyone else in Gotham. Brilliant.

Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Cane all give very good performances. I think Christian Bale is the best actor they have found for Batman. I do get somewhat irritated by his gravelly voice being overdone when he is in Batman mode, but otherwise he is the best at covering both the slick, suave billionaire and the rogue-ish, dangerous, conflicted Batman. Morgan Freeman is just good in anything he does, as is Michael Cane. Despite their excellent portrayals of their characters, Heath Ledger truly steals the show.

Oh yeah, Maggie Gyllenhaal is passable. I do not care for her as an actress to begin with, yet she manages to hold her own in most scenes. I have a hard time finding her credible. I am sure many will disagree, but I thought that for the role she was asked to play, she did fine.

The Dark Knight is decidedly dark. It is meant to reflect the conflicted soul of Bruce Wayne, who at once knows he is fighting on the side of justice, but at the same time cannot come to terms with his inability to protect everyone from harm. In short, people die, and he can't stop it, and the Joker continually rubs his face in it. You can feel his pain as he obviously remembers back to being the young boy, watching his parents be killed, helpless to do anything to stop them. This depth of feeling is invoked in this movie to great effect.

The special effects are fantastic. It is not that they are Jurassic Park/Armageddon/Lord of the Rings over the top. Most of the effects are smaller of scale, although there are a fair share of explosions and chase scenes and fights and cool pieces of equipment and technology. But the best effects are at the personal level. Heath Ledgers facial expressions, under the hideous makeup job. Little details that point to conclusions you are not expecting, and even are surprised when they happen, even though you were given a clue.

The best effect was when Batman goes weaving in and out of the wheels off a semi being driven by the Joker with a cable attached to the front of the truck. Batman also weaves in and out of some light posts, then releases the cable. When the cable pulls tight, it pulls the fron of the truck down and the entire trucks flips into the air, back-end first, and flips completely over, end of even, crashing down upside-down in the street. It was done in silence except for the sound the truck was making as it flipped and then landed. Just awesome.

The interpersonal is what really makes this movie a success. You are given characters you can relate to, that you care about (even the Joker briefly), and you are truly affected when they are hurt. At one point a key character is killed (not telling which one) and you are given a scene of friends breaking the news to his family. In spite of the potential for gooey heart-wrenching fake sobbing and such - as we see all too often in film nowadays, crying and sobbing that take the place of actual emotion - we hurt right along with the wife and son, as we are also just at that moment brought to terms with the loss.

We are also given transcendent moments of triumph, and bitter moments of loss, betrayal...in short, they do a fantastic job of recreating in us what is happening on the screen. The suspension of disbelief, which is always necessary for film to work, is almost complete. As is the palpable sense of foreboding when the film comes to its somewhat expected yet completely ominous end.

The movie is not without its flaws, but they are hard to recall because so much of it just works so well. One thing I hope they find a way to revive is the appearance of another classic Batman nemesis: Two-face. They did a very good job of building up the character, and explaining better than other films how he became the villain he is. But his screen time was almost as if they were just squeezing him in to make sure they accounted for Batmans villains, instead of taking the time to flesh out a character that truly has so much depth. I do hope to see him in the future, but I kind of doubt it.

If you enjoy super-hero movies and/or liked "Batman Begins", then I highly recommend "The Dark Knight". Heck, even if you don't care for superhero movies and did not see "Batman Begins", I still recommend this movie. It is a true reflection of what can happen when good men do nothing, to turn a phrase, and when evil goes unchecked for too long.

It is also worth the 8 bucks for Heath Ledgers final performance. The absolute best portrayal of a bad guy in film. The intelligence with which he imbues this character puts all other movie badguys to shame. Regardless of it being a bad guy, and a comic-book bad guy to boot, it just may be the best performance in a movie this year.

So go see it, just don' t take the kids. It is a bit much and, even though Duncan liked it ok, his (11 years old) would probably be the lower end of ages that could understand and deal with the thematic elements in the film in any way.