DC Comics' The Dark Knight

A review of the new movie starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger

Jul 31, 2008

Long anticipated, unlikely to be duplicated, The Dark Knight is a fast paced thrill ride through gritty Gotham that even the pickiest of fans will have a hard time hating

After the critical and commercial success of director Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, the expectations for The Dark Knight were understandably high. With history showing us that oftentimes sequels can't outshine their predecessors, the fan community worried that perhaps TDK would pale in comparison. Instead, it stands as a shining example of a great franchise only getting better.

The Joker is in Gotham, making mayhem and proving to be a homicidal thorn in Batman's (Christian Bale) side, taking glee in committing wanton destruction and violence. He's out to show Batman--and the rest of the world--that control must always give way to chaos. Ledger turns in a hauntingly scary performance and a posthumous Oscar nomination wouldn't be surprising. His Joker is a very different creature than Jack Nicholson's version from Tim Burton's original 1989 Batman, but both are fantastic representations of different aspects of one of comic book history's most frightening characters. Where Nicholson's Joker went for the joke, Ledger's goes for the throat.

While the Joker makes mischief, district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is in the middle of a crackdown on Gotham's various crime cartels. At his side is fellow lawyer and love interest Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, in the role originated by Katie Holmes). With the cartels under fire, the Joker offers his assistance--for a price--in getting rid of the city's troublemaking vigilante once and for all. The rest of the movie unfolds, depicting the stalemate between order and chaos in the form of Batman vs. the Joker. Along the way, there are casualties and part of the collateral damage is Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face.

Though on the whole, The Dark Knight is an excellent movie and very true to the mythos--possibly truer than any other entry in the Batman film series--there are a few problems, but only those of a technical nature. The editing is somewhat choppy and the soundtrack repetitive and overpowering, which can--at plot crucial moments--take away from the effect of the story, but overlooking these, its safe to say that The Dark Knight will be embraced as the best Batman movie made to date.

Aaron Eckhart turns in an overwhelmingly good performance and Maggie Gyllenhaal takes the cookie-cutter typical love interest that Rachel Dawes was in Batman Begins and turns her into a real, flesh and blood person. Christian Bale, though certainly not everyone's favorite Batman, does a more than adequate job in the cape and cowl, and Gary Oldman's turn as James Gordon is so in tune with his comic book counterpart it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. Of course, the stand out performance is that of the late Heath Ledger, who passed away from an accidental overdose in January 2008, and his Joker--despite being inconsistent with the character's comic book origin--is, in spirit, the very essence of the character.

Films steeped in decades of mythology are often hard for the casual audience member to enjoy, but The Dark Knight is a great movie for the ordinary citizen as well as the diehard franchise fan. Watching the chaotic events unfold is an absolute joy and there's never a dull moment. Overall, TDK is best described as: simply incredible.

The copyright of the article DC Comics' The Dark Knight in Action Films/Thrillers is owned by Lydia Ballard. Permission to republish DC Comics' The Dark Knight in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.