As I waited in line to finally experience Christopher Nolan’s brooding, highly stylized pop masterpiece “The Dark Knight,” I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for Meryl Streep. Think about it. Her exuberant big-screen adaptation of “Mamma Mia” had the morose misfortune of being released on the same day as one of the most deeply anticipated cinematic events of the decade. If only ABBA had the same furious cult clientele as the Caped Crusader! I then had a lucid recollection of Streep’s fourteen Academy Award nominations and decided that she could use a good old-fashioned reality check. After all, this is Batman we’re talking about.
Boy, is it ever. Nolan’s towering follow-up to 2005’s breath of fresh air “Batman Begins” opens with a bloody bang as the Joker and his troupe of traveling misfits force their way into a bank vault hoping to escape with a substantial piece of Gotham’s economic pie. They’re equipped with enough firepower to ward off even the slightest act of common man heroism and aren’t hesitant to eliminate innocent people in the process.
Since this scene is staged in a very raw, Lumet-esque fashion, we’re immediately taken inside the action and given a furious glimpse of what undiluted evil is capable of. I can definitely see how the menacing disposition of the film can evoke comparisons to sweeping crime dramas such as “Heat” and “The Departed,” because it transcends the superhero genre to the point that everything else feels like child’s play in comparison. This picture single-handedly raises the bar for the rest of the film community and it starts with the astounding epitome of violence turned in by the late Heath Ledger.
Unlike Nicholson in ‘89, Ledger takes the Joker to a place that few people thought he was capable of and steals the film right out from under the heels of the Dark Knight himself.
From the hideous grin to the smeared makeup that looks as if someone got a little too carried away in the kitchen, he’s a walking, talking enigma of carefree sadism that rarely meets a person he can’t make smile. His chilling back-story is told strictly from his own mouth and proves to be much more unnerving than any tiresome flashback. Watching him reminisce about his parents adds an even greater psychotic dimension to a character that wasn’t exactly short on intrigue.
As the Yin to Bruce Wayne’s Yang, he fiercely seizes control of Gotham City’s conspiratorial underworld and vows to give the citizens the type of erratic madman they deserve. While the mob is motivated by financial gain, the Joker is out to show that no matter how noble or idealistic society wants to be, anarchy will always reign supreme.
The plot meanders a bit during the first half as Bruce Wayne travels to Hong Kong to clear up a shoddy business deal, but not enough to detract from the task at hand. He’s dealing with the loss of his beloved Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and struggling to adjust to Batman’s declining popularity among the public. Regardless of how many criminals are bagged, the presence of a hero like Batman doesn’t generate the positive publicity it deserves and Wayne begins to question whether or not he should continue.
Christian Bale’s presence this time around is elevated to just the right level as he exudes the lively arrogance of a billionaire and the ominous intensity of a night-owl vigilante with equal superiority. Although it seems like his screen time is limited, he never fails to keep us believing in his desire to rid the world of scum and depravity. His working relationship with Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) ensures that as long as they need him, he’ll be eager to come through on their demands.
Echoing many of his sentiments is Harvey Dent, the newly elected District Attorney whose gung-ho attitude on crime has him on every mobster’s short list of people to dispose of. Eckhart is perfect at conveying political sincerity and the heartfelt speech he delivers to the press is one of the most compelling moments this film has to offer. His all-around affability is what makes the seething transformation to Two-Face that much harder to stomach, because he was one of the few men in power willing to take a stand.
Now, if your last visualization of Two-Face is Tommy Lee Jones’s clownish depiction, prepare yourself for something a lot creepier than normal and think twice about bringing the young ones. The CGI employed here is spectacularly scary and a significant upgrade over the previous incarnation.
Due to the surplus of outstanding performances, I’ll simply present a couple points I found noteworthy. First, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a welcomed replacement for Katie Holmes, but still seems too bland at moments when she should be more emotionally invested. Secondly, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman are in stellar form and, by now, turn in top-notch performances like clockwork. They take the material seriously and appear to be having a great time contributing to something of this caliber.
All of this adds up to “The Dark Knight” being one of the best films of the year and quite possibly the most superb comic book movie ever made. Whether it’s Ledger’s tour-de-force or Bale’s slick wizardry, the cards are on the table at every instant and Nolan continually has the winning hand.
The final showdown between Batman and the Joker is high-octane Summer entertainment at its best and caps off a mesmerizing one-hundred and fifty-two minutes of fanboy bliss. The Joker personifies every fear of unexplained wickedness humans experience and if the night is indeed darkest just before the dawn, I’m afraid it’s going to be a long night.
- **** out of 4
