Dark Reality, Dark Fantasy, Dark Knight

The comic book has come of age, and I’m not so sure it’s for children anymore.
Christopher Nolan, in directing “The Dark Knight,” has given us grown-ups a graphic-novel allegorical look at what’s ailing us these days.  Since our last look into the window of Gotham City’s reality, crime has been on the wane, and things were looking up for the troubled metropolis.  Christian Bale returns as the Batman, who has been busy instilling fear into the hearts of those that would do harm to the city and the innocent.  Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is the crusading District Attorney bent on indicting the entire underworld and putting them behind bars.  Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) is the cop in the trenches providing the Batman with police support.  So there’s a team out there making things safer, and things indeed are getting better…right?

Wrong.

There is a new perpetrator in town, and this guy just plain doesn’t care.  He doesn’t care about you.  He doesn’t care about me.  He doesn’t care about money.  The only thing he is after is chaos.  I’m speaking of course, of the Joker, portrayed by the late Heath Ledger.

Here in his highly anticipated, and final complete performance, Ledger doesn’t merely portray the Joker, he inhabits him.  Or does the Joker inhabit Ledger?  Either way, some may say that his portrayal is a masterpiece in the crafting of a celluloid villain.  Others might say that the critical acclaim he is receiving is over-hyped due to his untimely passing.  Those are two sides of a perfectly valid coin, but what shows up on the screen is a depiction of madness that comes from someplace sinister which never once crosses the line into caricature.  His madness is real, it is tangible, and it is terrifying.  This is not the flamboyant Nicholson Joker that we would like to party with as long as he knows that we’re on the same page.  This Joker’s idea of a good time is bringing terror to people where they live and work, and turning them against each other without any pomp and circumstance.  Nicholson and his toxic balloons are laughable compared to this guy.

In the midst of all of the chaos brought by the new dreaded villain, Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes, refreshingly portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, get caught in the crosshairs by doing their jobs far too well.  As a result, the District Attorney emerges from a perilous situation heartbroken and physically disfigured.  He becomes Two-Face, a man torn between the good and evil within himself.  It is within Dent and the people of Gotham that the struggle between good and evil lies, and not between Batman and the Joker.  The Joker is a force of nature that has the potential to get into all of us, and throw everything into mayhem.  This is a story of how the perpetrators of evil are capable of twisting a peace craving humanity into self destruction, and Dent is a costly casualty.

The cast is rounded out by Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as gadgetry guru, Lucius Fox.  The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) makes an appearance early on, and Salvatore Maroni (Eric Roberts) has replaced Carmine Falcone as Gotham’s crime boss.  Alfred provides balance and a voice of reason for Bruce Wayne, and in some ways serves as a Greek chorus in moments like when he declares that “some men just want to watch the world burn.”  Lucius Fox is our ethical voice by calling into question Bruce Wayne’s tactical use of technology.

There are several thematic parallels to our reality that can be drawn from what is happening in Gotham.  Batman’s success at the outset of the film…the surge is working.  There is an evil presence out there and it can make things worse than ever…possibly Iran as a nuclear power or nuclear weaponry in the hands of terrorists.  The use of technology is invasive and violates right to privacy issues on a massive scale…the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  Whether any political statement is being made by drawing these parallels is up to the viewer.  For me, within the confines of the Gotham world, Batman does what he has to for the greater good, but he crosses a line in making his tactical choice.  Was he right in making that choice?  I believe that for the circumstance he was faced with…yes.  In the real world, it’s debatable.

With a PG-13 rating, this is pretty heavy stuff for the average 13-year-old.  I’m not a parent, so I’m pretty clueless as to how savvy the kids are these days.  However, if I were a parent, I would definitely make it a point to see the picture with my child so that it could be discussed.  Christopher Nolan has given us, what I think, is the most socially relevant story from a classic comic book character.  “V for Vendetta” has a strong social message, but that was not drawn from a classic age comic character, and it is also another essay for another time.
 
The Dark Knight is highly recommended, but I do have a gripe about a massive loose end in the story right in the middle of the film.  I’m hoping there is some footage that perhaps got cut that can be put in on the DVD and resolve this thing for me.  Something happens at a party thrown by Bruce Wayne that is never resolved.  I’m having a hard time getting over that.  Were it not for this, my rating would be a 9.5 instead of the 8.5 I am giving it.  Nevertheless, this is a great picture, and has set the bar higher for the comic book film adaptation.

Rating:  8.5/10

~ by blloydblog on July 23, 2008.