The DARK KNIGHT

“The DARK KNIGHT” (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine & Morgan Freeman)

I’m not saying this just to be different; I’m not going against the grain just to instigate comments from readers telling me what an idiot I am; As always with my reviews, I give a common smart-ass’s honest opinion of what I saw... & what I saw during “The Dark Knight” was not the best comic book movie ever, but one helluva performance by the late Heath Ledger in an excellent film that runs out of gas with an implausible finale... No, I’m not trying to say a world that contains a ‘batman’ & a ‘joker’ is plausible to begin with, but within the texture that the film creates, how one of the main characters changes so drastically is somewhat far-fetched. A hero doesn’t become a villain overnight.
Comparisons to “No Country For Old Men” came to my mind frequently & in the diabolical villain sweepstakes, I’d say Heath Ledger’s Joker stacks up well against Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh. Heath’s character is obviously more cartoonish; the best lines in the film all come spewing forth from his horribly disfigured lips. Whereas Chigurh was scarier because he was more realistic, The Joker ‘commands’ your attention.
In fact, that’s one of the reasons the film doesn’t hold up all that well, because when Ledger isn’t onscreen, you’re begging for his return - & the sooner the better. When he is onscreen, you’re fascinated by everything about him – the way he looks, the way he sounds & that all encompassing, ‘What is this spiteful lunatic going to do next?’
By having one of the main characters constantly flipping a coin to make decisions, they bring back that incredibly intense scene from ‘No Country’, so that The Dark Knight’s coin flipping scenes seem ‘weak’ & insignificant.
Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne) has a much reduced role in the sequel, spending more time in the ‘suit’ than he does as the millionaire. I always found it odd that Gary Oldman was slated to play bland police commissioner Gordon, as Oldman would have been cast as one of the maniacal Batman villains in the past. New to the crew are Aaron Eckhart as politician Harvey Dent & Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes, a possible love interest for both Batman & Dent... Problem is, as much as I love Maggie as an actress, she isn’t a great beauty by any stretch, but she is presented here as though she were the most glamorous female in all of Gotham as two ruggedly handsome, well-to-do, powerful men vie for her attention. Maggie has a ‘cuteness’ quality to her, but she is not a great beauty... Two of the all-time great actors, Morgan Freeman & Michael Caine return in thankless, throwaway roles (Though Caine’s butler, Alfred gets to ‘act’ a little, Morgan’s involvement this time around is nearly invisible)
I’ll start with what works, & that’s two words – Heath. Ledger. Everything you’ve heard regarding his performance is true. At one point I actually took a moment to study his face during a close up & couldn’t believe that was the same guy who... pleasured Jake Gyllenhaal in that tent in Wyoming. Ledger’s Joker is a maniacal masterpiece of villainy; he schemes against other villains, he flaunts his self loathing of their simplistic plots by both outwitting them & showing absolutely no fear of death. He dares the Gotham City mob bosses to kill him. When a multitude of ‘fake’ Batmen appear in the streets & on the news, The Joker finds something new to loathe – ‘The Bat Men’ & decides to make it his ‘quest’ to force the real Batman to reveal his identity to the world. & he does so with a despicable ‘panache’. The Joker’s set ups to make the Bat Man chose who will live & who will die are ingenious (& of course aided by the fact that even though he kills of most of his henchmen in the first 15 minutes of the film, there are still plenty of recruits available to help him with his intricate plans to blow up hospitals, ferries & anything else that ‘annoys’ him)
What doesn’t work is the fact that there are scenes that don’t involve Heath Ledger... & they are, for the most part, boring. Boring in that, I wanted to know what The Joker was up to, not Harvey Dent’s involvement with Rachel Dawes!
What doesn’t work is hack actor Eric Roberts as a mob boss. What does work is what The Bat Man does to get him to talk! (The one enjoyable scene that didn’t involved Heath)
What doesn’t work is the character Harvey Dent; he is the crime fighting leader Bruce Wayne has been hoping for to lighten his load as Gotham’s one true crime fighter. Even though his hopeful girlfriend is falling for Harvey, Bruce still backs the guy with a fundraiser to help his campaign. I won’t spoil anything by revealing what happens to Harvey (Though who are we kidding – it seems like everyone on the planet went to see this movie!) But for the handful of you who haven’t – My complaint about Harvey is twofold – His abrupt personality change is ridiculous, though not as ridiculous as the fact that he skips thru the streets of Gotham when he should be in the intensive care unit at the nearest hospital – An idea solely created for ‘make up/special effects’ purposes turned this entire movie into a ‘joke’ for me... & I was having so much fun enjoying the ‘Joker’!
Yes, I will be the lone voice of reason & tell you this movie is over-hyped – “Iron Man” is still the best comic book movie ever made – The only question remaining is – ‘Who will accept the Oscar for Heath Ledger?’ because it will not only be the sentimental vote – it will be the correct one...