Director Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight
Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Dark Knight does not disappoint--even with all the constant promoting and sensational hyping. Not only that, it manages to be one of the better mainstream films to emerge this year. All the performances are remarkable, with screen time being split well amongst Christian Bale (Batman), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent) and Heath Ledger (the Joker). Rounding out the cast in beautiful support is Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth). The film spends the perfect amount of time with the right characters and storylines--never becoming the jumbly, convoluted mess so many films in this genre end up being.
The Pleasure of Destruction
The story, look and mood are uniformly solid and intense, all elevating this fantasy/superhero movie above the others, even its predecessor Batman Begins. The story focuses on fear and chaos, but saves itself from the preachiness with which the Spiderman movies often ooze. As the villain, the Joker is out to destroy the symbol of hope the city of Gotham has begun to rally behind--which is not to say that all hope is lost for Gotham. But it's a bleak and ugly battle and the film captures the perfect mood--it somehow never feels too dismal, though Gotham seems to crumble at every turn. As is pointed out more than once, the fearless psychopath under the makeup does not want money, does not want anything more than the satisfaction of wreaking havoc.
The Stand Out
There are few, if any, weak links within The Dark Knight. The performances, surprising for a superhero movie, are one of its best strengths. And no matter how skilled and entertaining Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart or Christian Bale may be (or how beautifully Maggie Gyllenhaal fleshes out what could have been a vapid role) they are all merely in the shadow of Heath Ledger's Joker. His performance more than lives up to the hype; his untimely death in January was tragic, but it is no exaggeration to say that he would have always been the standout in this film. He manages to get the best laughs and create a startlingly raw and unbalanced character.
Minor Weaknesses
The only weak spot, if pressed, might be the plot (more specifically, the last thirty minutes). Normally, that would be a crucial aspect of filmmaking. Here, however, suspension of disbelief is already a large prerequisite--is it asking too much more that you not question its offerings any further? There are a few moments of what can only be described as "technobabble," which one probably shouldn't ponder too deeply, as well as a forensics stunt that would even put CSI to shame with its glossed-over effort.
Spiderman 3 suffered huge criticisms for having too many villains and an astoundingly convoluted plot that rendered the ending ridiculous. The Dark Knight toes the edge of danger, but it handles more than one villain very skillfully. While the ending has more than enough going on, it resolves itself well--and on a dark note. It doesn't maintain the strength of the previous action, but it doesn't break the mood or the pace. The film is neither rushed nor does it drag--its runtime may sound long with a 142 minute runtime, but there is enough action, romance, tension and suspense to keep audiences more than happy.
