Movie Review: The Dark Knight (2008) by Jason
The Essentials
Title: The Dark Knight (Official Site)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer (story), and Bob Kane (characters)
Running Time: 2:32
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace.
The Plot of The Dark Knight
With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as the Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces the Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante.
The Review of The Dark Knight
It was with a great deal of trepidation that I sat down to view The Dark Knight in a packed and bustling theater this evening. For weeks every adjective and hyperbole imaginable has been used to describe the complete “awesomeness” that I would soon witness. It almost seemed as though nothing short of a life changing two-and-a-half hour tour de force spectacle of movie making genius could hope to live up to the formidable pre-release (and early post-release) buzz that over the past 24 hours had built into a deafening crescendo of praise. How could any movie live up to such lofty expectations?
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been both excited and increasingly apprehensive about the possibility that The Dark Knight would ultimately collapse under the weight of its own hype. I’ve been afraid that the early buzz for Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker was simply misplaced idolization for a talented actor taken too soon, and that his performance, like the movie itself, would never stand up under the intense scrutiny with which I would now be forced to view it. Most of all, I was afraid of being disappointed.
I am no longer afraid.
To say that The Dark Knight was a good, even great, comic book movie would be to render a disservice to those whose hard work created this fantastic piece of artistry. To say that The Dark Knight is a comic book movie is like saying that Star Wars is about a war in space. You might be technically correct, but you’d be missing the whole point. For The Dark Knight is one of those rare films that transcends its chosen genre to rise above what it could have been - under the hands of most filmmakers, would have been - to become something greater than anyone could have expected it to be. This is the film I wanted Batman to be back in 1989.
With The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has proven what, until now we could only suspect - that he is one of our greatest filmmakers. From the very first scene The Dark Knight begins taking us in directions no other comic book adaption has ever taken us before. Nolan’s goal was obviously to make this film feel like something that could happen in the real world - to take the idea of a superhero and put him on the streets of a city with which we could relate. The whole film plays out like a sort of a morality play with Batman representing society and The Joker representing the evil that wants to destroy order. This battle between good and evil, however, seems so real, so possible that for a moment I had to remind myself I was watching a Batman movie and not Heat or The Departed.
While I felt talk of a posthumous Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger for supporting actor was a bit preliminary last week, I now feel any valid conversation on the subject must at least include his name. I disagree with those who say that he stole the film. I don’t think he did, and that’s a good thing. What I give Ledger the most credit for is recognizing that the character the Nolans were creating was nothing like every other Joker we’ve seen on screen in the past. There can be little doubt that Ledger inhabited the meaning of the character as much as he inhabited the costume of the character because without doing so he never would have pulled it off. It was only by truly understanding The Joker and realizing that this character was no dancing, fun loving criminal out for a good time that Ledger was able to actualize him on the screen. Ledger must have understood early on that it was The Joker who provided the entire theme for the film. He must have figured out that he would have to play The Joker as if he were insane, maniacal, obsessed, brilliant, oblivious, and diabolical all at the same time if it was going to work. And he pulled it off.
I think the mild controversy over the hard PG-13 rating was a bit exaggerated. I wouldn’t take my younger children to see this movie, but not so much because it’s violent as it is that I don’t think they’d truly understand it or even really like it. This isn’t the bright colors and lovey-dovey story of Spider-Man. This is a movie where people get beat up and people die. This is a movie where the director takes you to the edge of your seat with the thought of what might happen on several occasions. I was quite impressed that Nolan, whether by necessity or design, didn’t show us all of the gruesome things he could have. Violent things happen, mostly off camera, and I was perfectly fine with that. I think everything that happened made the exact same point it would have made had we seen the bloody spectacle of special effects gore. It wasn’t necessary and the movie is better because it isn’t there.
I could easily and happily fill pages upon pages of text describing everything Nolan got right in this film. From a filmmaking point of view, the cameras, angles, shot compositions, etc., were just incredible. I’ve heard a lot of critics describe the film as dark and gritty, but I disagree with that assessment. It was somewhat dark, but each and every shot was lit exactly right. I never had trouble viewing what the director wanted me to see. I didn’t find it gritty at all. The music and sound was superb. There was this one scene where Batman is gliding through the air and you just hear the wind rippling through his batwings or whatever they’re called and it’s just perfect.
It’s difficult to find negative things to say about The Dark Knight actually. If I were to play devil’s advocate I should point out two deficiencies in the film as a whole. The first would be Maggie Gyllenhaal. With such a strong and capable cast, it is with regret that I must point out that Gyllenhaal was unable to uphold her end of the bargain. Although Gyllenhaal is, arguably, a step up from the previous Rachel Dawes, I found her characterization to be listless, emotionless and one dimensional. In one scene she’s interrogating someone and she’s smiling and kind of laughing and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. That was the most emotion she showed in the entire film. She was, by far, the weakest link in the chain.
The other cast members more than made up for Gyllenhaal’s shortcomings, of course. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman were all absolutely spot on perfect in their respective roles as one might imagine. Aaron Eckhart, whose star status has been steadily rising, only helped himself with the role of Harvey Dent. His good looks and affable screen presence as the first face of Harvey only help make the second face of Harvey that much more shocking. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention how lucky we are to finally have in Christian Bale a Batman and a Bruce Wayne who seems to be perfect no matter what he’s doing.
My second negative point, I hesitate to mention for fear of tainting opinions, but it should be said if I am to be honest. While I loved EVERY MINUTE of this film while I sat and watched it tonight, I fear there will be several scenes that will probably drag somewhat when watched on repeated viewings. I very much enjoy lengthy exposition when it explains things I want or need to know and I don’t think there was a wasted line of dialogue in the film, but if Nolan had trimmed the film by another ten or fifteen minutes it would have made for a much swifter flowing story. Whether or not that would have taken away too much of the story is something I can’t answer at this point. I suppose I have to trust that the director felt he couldn’t afford to lose any more of the dialogue. So I guess I’ll have to see how those scenes hold up when I watch it again.
Overall, this was one of the most enjoyable film experiences I’ve had in years (and I have had some good ones). After viewing The Dark Knight I mentioned to my wife how this film and Iron Man were two incredible but almost opposite examples of fine movie making. Iron Man was in many ways the perfect comic book adaptation in that it was a very well written and very well made film that was specifically designed to be a summer popcorn flick that people would watch and just have a good time. It didn’t really try to be more than that. The Dark Knight was also an almost perfect comic book adaptation but instead of going the summer popcorn flick route, the director made an Awards Season type film and really concentrated on the filmmaking itself.
I thought Mike was being a little crazy when he started talking Best Picture Oscar a few lines into his review. However, I think if you take the comic book part of this movie out, it has Oscar written all over it. Of course, you can’t take the comic book part out. Will the Academy consider a film like The Dark Knight? It’s hard to say although we’ve seen the Academy give the award to the LOTR: The Return of the King and more and more mainstream movies are getting a shot. Forrest Gump opened in the middle of the summer, was a smashing success and made off with Oscar gold. Anything can happen.
All I can say is that The Dark Knight has just joined my very short list for the best movies of the year.
Watch The Dark Knight If…
You enjoy law and order movies such as Heat and The Departed or you just want to be a part of a cultural phenomenon or you just want to check out one last great phenomenal performance by a fine young actor. It’s worth the money for the big screen in every way.
Rating: 9.5/10
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