Summer blockbusters have always been known for their lack of depth in terms of plot and themes, but with his latest offering, The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan has successfully challenged this notion. Since the 70s Hollywood’s film studios have lacked courage to put their big budget movies which are potential cash cows into serious themes and kept them light and action-filled for summer or serious for award seasons.
However, The Dark Knight throws these sensibilities out the window in a bold and shocking way: an unimaginably intense movie that is at the same time a two-and-a-half hour contemplation about societal collapse; vigilantism as morality; good against evil et al ad infinitum.
We find Batman one year after Begins, along with friend Lieutenant Gordon and DA Harvey Dent look as though they are winning the fight against crime. With Gotham’s streets being watched over by Batman, criminals have gone under ground knowing too well that Bat-Signal will be on every second night. Things seem to be going well until “The Joker”, a criminal mastermind with scars across his face starts causing havoc in Gotham City.
It was only natural then that thousands upon thousands of column inches would be devoted to the man who plays him – first questioning understandably how Ledger’s untimely demise might affect marketing campaigns/b.o., next bigging up his performance for an Oscar win (he’s currently odds-on to posthumously receive a statuette) – something that his simply electric turn would surely merit.
From what we saw on trailers alone we knew it was going to be a special performance from him although one can only fully appreciate Ledger’s depiction as this charismatic amoral sadist when seen in its full furious glory. You cannot take your eyes off this panda-eyed punk-ass anarchist every moment he appears on screen. Just when you think he is about to fall into some comic farce routine, Ledger gives us a glimpse of true darkness & nihilism underneath the facade of his character. It was a great show and other equally wonderful performances in the movie are overshadowed by it.
Certainly, despite Ledger’s showy brilliance, we see the true star of The Dark Knight as director Christopher Nolan. His gifted direction brings out outstanding performances from each member of an ensemble cast that is already full of award winning actors and actresses. Bale, Caine, Freeman, Eckhart and Oldman make for a powerhouse ensemble, imbuing their roles with an emotional depth – and the odd flash of humour – that fits marvellously with the opaque morality and bleak tone of the movie.
That’s what makes The Dark Knight such a triumph; its soberness on paper by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan has been translated into action by former screenwriter Christopher.
In this day and age, it seems to be mandatory for any comic book movie to be “dark”. In fact it may well have started here itself with Begins – something which reached its absolute height with awful Spider-Man 3 whose floppy-haired emo Peter Parker was just unbearable. That film confused having an ‘emotionally conflicted’ central character and neo-noir visual stylings forgenuinely filling the screen for menace, horror and impossible moral questions.
“The Dark Knight” film is marked by these qualities – a fact that makes it difficult to endure due to its overwhelming darkness- particularly in the second act, which was really stunning; this is followed by the death of a major character leaving Gotham with just a modicum of hope (SPOILER ALERT). It’s a nightmarish portrayal of urban decay akin to how Frank Miller and Alan Moore depicted their comic book characters and settings.
Nolan’s directorial skill is evident in having been able to combine this powerful depiction of urban blight with some really thrilling action set pieces. Unlike other films such as Wanted, the violence in The Dark Knight does not rely on wire work, or for what we can tell, CGI trickery; instead it seems brutally real where the punches are reminiscent of those featured in crime movies like The French Connection and Heat car chase sequences.
The greatness of The Dark Knight lies not against its competitive comic book adaptations at all – it blows them away! Instead, I would suggest comparing it to all-time classics within the same genre. Psychopaths and murder are characteristic features within Nolan’s movie as well as others already mentioned yet they do serve as windows exposing human depravity as much as social corrosion afflicting big cities.
Like other preceding movies within its genre, there’s no simple solution offered therein and still we’re unsure exactly whether or not Nolan means anything by his film’s ending. We’ll leave you to discover that but will say that this is an incredibly timely ending which questions the nature of vigilantes, government surveillance along with western wars against terrorism.
Yet despite being based on a comic book character who let us remember inspired Batman and Robin (“My garden needs tending!” remember?), this movie has managed to maintain its audacity in terms of demanding answers from an audience after two hours plus thirty minutes long fast paced and intense filmmaking sessions concerning crucial issues faced today. It’s so powerful and primitive that it will stay with you forever, and I think it’s also the most intellectual blockbuster.
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