Gotham City’s Grave New World
This Batman has wings, but he doesn't always soar.
The Dark Knight
Even darker and more relentlessly serious than "Batman Begins," Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" pits the troubled superhero (Christian Bale) against his most troubling foe—the Joker. As played by the late Heath Ledger, with tangled greasy hair, grotesque white makeup, darting mad eyes and an obscene tongue that keeps licking his slashed, painted-on smile, this Joker is an agent of chaos so arbitrarily evil he strikes terror not just in his foes, but in the mobsters who hire him to eliminate Gotham City's caped crusader. It's a stupendously creepy performance, wild but never over the top. He cuts a figure so dangerous that you wonder if Batman is up to the task—or if our hero himself will have to become as ruthless as his foe. When you're fighting an enemy who plays by no rules, do you have to abandon your own moral code to vanquish him?
This is the ethics dilemma Nolan explores in his impressive, and sometimes oppressive, epic. Bruce Wayne/Batman has a formidable new ally in his fight against evil: Aaron Eckhart's crimefighting D.A. Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Faced Harvey), who is also Wayne's rival for the affections of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Together with police Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), they attempt to rid their city of organized crime in one fell swoop, only to discover that every good deed backfires, putting Gotham City in greater jeopardy.
Nolan dispenses with the stylized Gothic sets we're accustomed to in the series: he makes no attempt to hide the fact that Gotham City is modern Chicago. Gone, too, is the antic sense of humor that Tim Burton brought to the show. There's not a touch of lightness in Bale's taut, angst-ridden superhero, and as the two-and-a-half-hour movie enters its second half, the unvarying intensity and the sometimes confusing action sequences take a toll. You may emerge more exhausted than elated. Nolan wants to prove that a superhero movie needn't be disposable, effects-ridden junk food, and you have to admire his ambition. But this is Batman, not "Hamlet." Call me shallow, but I wish it were a little more fun.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: Jman259 @ 08/28/2008 4:36:48 PM
Comment: Well, then he shouldn't be named the Joker. They may have well changed his name. Plus didn't Batman train in the mountains with ninjas like half a year ago and now hes getting he butt kicked by mental patients? They never even went into who the dudes in masks were, but you should know and it should be covered! the movie was a two and a half hour mess that should have been two movies filmed back to back and heath ledger may still be alive. joker didnt even have a hideout! harvey dent didnt have a condo, he must have just slept in the office. dude, that movie is so flawwed and rediculous and i dont know how people praise it. bang! pow! i love nolan, but whats up michael bay.
Posted By: Jman259 @ 08/28/2008 4:33:29 PM
Comment: You seriously think that this was a serious Batman adaptation? You all must be out of your minds. 1) Set modern day (that's fine... but yeah). 2) No Bat-cave. 3)NO BATS!!!! 4) Harvey Dent and Bruce don't become friends before he turns. 5) Joker is not a terrorist, sorry... 6) The Joker plays tricks and jokes. 7) Two-Face flips his coin a lot without looking what comes up, it is a habit. And I could keep going on and on and on all day. Yeah, it's fun to watch but as a true and serious adaptation?? no.
Posted By: remixfa @ 08/05/2008 10:43:43 PM
Comment: since everyone else has already said it, Im just going to have to agree. In its own light, the original batman was great.. but it was not a great "batman" flick. Batman is dark, serious, contemplative, and dangerous. Bruce wayne is one torn up person fighting his inner demons as well as his outer demons. Comic Books are not Sunday afternoon comics. If you want lite fair watch telitubies.. if you want a great true to the series batman movie, then the Dark Knight is for you.
If you want a light batman movie.. go back and rewatch Batman and Robin... its full of campy one liners and cameos. If that trype is really what you want, than it is you that needs help, not the movie. Please, understand the movie and plots before you go watch it. The new series is on the right path and i for one cant wait to see where they go next.
BTW, if you read the article in this month's Wired Magazine, it has a long article w/ the director. He used as few "special effects" as possible... most is live action unless it wasnt practical... and he made Bale and Ledger do alot of their own stuntwork. The halmarks of an above average movie
TDK 9.8 of 10. Sorry, but gylenhall just couldnt keep up with the rest of the stellar cast and was quite possibly the worst actor in the group.. glad she went kaboom!