The Dark Knight

When I first saw “Batman Begins”, I thought the joker card at the end was meant to connect this new Batman story with the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher series. When I heard that there was a sequel with Heath Ledger as the Joker, I was quite skeptical as to whether it would work. After a few trailers, I became more positive and then I saw “The Dark Knight” in IMAX. I was very impressed. My first positive realization about the story was that just when you thought things were over, another “climax” would begin. It did not have multiple endings like “The Return of the King” but rather each action scene in the second half of the movie felt like it could climax the movie. You didn’t want it to end and then you would get your wish. Other great parts in the movie were the promotion of Gordon to commissioner and the showdown in the street between Batman on his batpod & the Joker with a gun (reminiscent of a similar moment in Tim Burton’s “Batman”) Christopher Nolan has earned my respect as a director because of his Batman films, “The Prestige” and "Inception". The keys to the success of “The Dark Knight” can be found in its editing, characters and the performance of Heath Ledger. There are other elements of the film that are great such as the acting of other actors but they are mentioned in the review for “Batman Begins”.

I have one small problem with “The Dark Knight” and that is the design of Gotham City. I know the reasons for the change but I felt that they should have stuck with the design from the first film. Gotham City in “Batman Begins” felt like a real city but not any specific one, despite being filmed in Chicago. “The Dark Knight” however is obviously taking place in Chicago in the same way that “Superman” takes place in New York. One big reason for this is that you don’t see the Narrows in “The Dark Knight” and that adds to Gotham’s resemblance as Chicago. The editing in this film deserved its Oscar nomination. The story is better because of the editing in that rising action and anxiety is created. My favorite edited sequence is when the Joker targets the commissioner, the judge and Harvey Dent. The editor cut together three simultaneous scenes involving these characters. Tension is created by the music but also by the fact that the cutting is somewhat unpredictable. Just as we get used to the change in location, the setting switches again. Also, there is contrast among the scenes such as the sweet discussion between Rachel & Dent being cut together with the discussion between Gordon and the commissioner. As we approach the pinnacle of this sequence, the edited pace accelerates and an “exclamation point” of sorts is achieved when the Joker shoots his gun above his head to get the party guests’ attention. The musical score stops to emphasize the end of the sequence. There are multiple parts similar to this such as those leading up to the destruction of the Gotham General Hospital and the death of a main character. Some people say that "The Dark Knight" is very dark and that made it successful. I disagree. Firstly, the film is not rated R. How can you say that this film is dark when it isn't given an R-rating. Secondly, it is realism that makes this show what it is. It comes across as darker than it actually is when compared to other superhero movies and because of the sense of realism that Nolan brought to the franchise.

The characters in this film are a large part in making the story entertaining. Harvey Dent is well played by Aaron Eckhart (he is BYU alumni like me). He establishes his character as the honorable DA of Gotham and then convincingly become the vengeful Two-Face. I did not expect this to happen as a central part of the story. I was expecting Harvey’s transformation to occur at the end of the film to set up the final film in the franchise: "The Dark Knight Rises". I am kind of disappointed in how brief Two-Face appears in this Batman series but for story purposes, I can understand a little why this is. For the first few times that I watched “The Dark Knight”, I thought that Eckhart was wearing makeup as Two-Face. If you look hard enough though, it becomes apparent that this kind of makeup is impossible. The special effects used are very realistic. The Joker is a delight to watch because of his contrast to Batman. The Joker in this film represents the opposite of Batman in so many ways and we didn’t really see this in Tim Burton’s version. Batman will not kill while the Joker has delight in doing it. Batman wants to help Gotham clean up itself while the Joker will do anything to get Gotham to become just as crazy as him. Batman is basic when compared to his arch nemesis and this fact is symbolized by their appearances. There are also paradoxes in how they dress. Batman is in black but he is the good guy. People fear bats but root for Batman. His one-color costume signifies his purpose in making the criminals feel fear. The Joker’s costume on the other hand has many colors. Ironically, people like clowns and the multi-colored costume of the Joker represent his inconsistency. Batman has the perfect enemy in the Joker because this is one guy that Batman can’t frighten or figure out. Alfred points this out and the interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker also portrays this. The Joker laughs as Batman beats him up because the Joker understands his edge over Batman. Batman of course won’t give up and that is what is funny to the Joker. The Batman/Joker relationship has been like this for many years in the comics and the Tim Burton version also portrays a few of these insights but Heath Ledger is the major reason why this time, things are special. Some of today's criminals appear to have no motif and so the media & public crave for some kind of reason. They forget in their anger, grief or unbelief that just like the fictional Joker, there are people who are subtly tempted to the the point that they become illogical.

As indicated, I remember first hearing that Ledger would be the Joker and I was confused. I was mostly familiar with his work on “The Patriot” and “A Knight’s Tale” and I knew he was an Oscar nominee for “Brokeback Mountain”. It seemed like a weird casting choice until I heard the Joker’s voice in the first trailer for “The Dark Knight”. The trailer contained no footage of the film and I couldn’t believe how well Ledger’s vocal performance was. I couldn’t put that Joker voice and Ledger's face together. Even the subsequent trailer where we visually see Ledger’s performance did not change things for me. Ledger was unrecognizable as the Joker with the exception of his hair. Make-up does a lot to help create a character, as was the case in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. When I watch that film, it is like watching the Grinch acting like Jim Carrey and a similar impression happens in “The Dark Knight”. I know that the make-up has a lot to do with Ledger’s transformation because in the aforementioned interrogation scene, I can see Heath Ledger in a few little moments due to the fact that his make-up has faded. Ledger facial make-up perfectly portrays his performance as a reinvented Joker in that now he is completely volatile. This doesn’t define however Ledger's entire performance. I still like Jack Nicholson’s performance but I can tell that Ledger had fun in this role. Having fun making a movie creates success. Ledger’s physical actions in character such as his tongue are entertainingly random. You can’t take your eyes off the Joker for the sake of enjoyment. One of the source of inspiration for Ledger was "The Clockwork Orange". The musical score assists Ledger’s performance of an unpredictable character of rage. Hans Zimmer’s theme for the Joker uses razor blades on string instruments. This peculiar but fascinating fact and the eerie sound of the music all do wonders for Ledger’s work. You could spend a whole review talking about Heath Ledger in this film but suffice it to say that his character is evil, menacing, thrilling and funny. I love villains that make you laugh.

After seeing the second trailer for “The Dark Knight”, I was so pleased for Ledger because I felt a world of great jobs for him would come to follow. His death was a great loss and makes his success in this film bittersweet. Other actors have been nominated for Academy Awards for roles in blockbusters before such as Alec Guinness as Obi-wan Kenobi, Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow but they didn’t win. Heath Ledger did and we can only wonder whether his passing influenced the Academy’s decision. His work as the Joker is a good note to end on nonetheless and his sweep of supporting actor awards was rightfully deserved. Besides the Joker, I loved the other characters in this film and the editing was well done. The sound editing won an Oscar and I can totally understand that. The story keeps you entertained until the very end and you wonder whether Batman will overcome his criminal persona that Gotham incorrectly has of him. It is always fun to watch this movie and I sometimes forget that it is in the comic book genre. In fact, it is my favorite comic book movie, my third favorite sequel and my favorite film from 2008. It got me very excited for "The Dark Knight Rises".

5 Stars out of 5