Christopher Nolan spent a great deal of Batman Begins grounding the character of Bruce Wayne in the real world, and doing away with the hyper-stylized visuals that have traditionally been a staple of the comic book adaptations. While it may have seemed a bit much at the time, The Dark Knight reaps huge dividends from this brilliant decision and shatters the conventions of its genre.
What we this summer is a work that fulfills the Nolan brothers promise that I first saw in Memento; the Batman character is used to propel a powerful film about arch-criminals and brutal urban justice.
The theme of The Dark Knight draws its inspiration straight from American headlines -- that of dwindling faith in our political leaders and the decay of our institutions. The Joker, as re-imagined in this work is a thoroughbred anarchist who feeds on this frailty and largely wins every encounter he engages in throughout; he is one of the most believable extrapolations on a criminal psychopath I've seen. His plans truly are brilliant.... Hollywood does not deserve this good of writing! Christian Bale thankfully has toned down his Bat-persona a bit and actually performs quite well, as do the rest of the cast. Gary Oldman has much more to do this time around and Aaron Eckhart was a good choice for Dent.
But of course what really makes this film so amazing is the marriage of excellent writing with stunning visuals and thrilling action that give a new dimension to the entire concept of crime-fighting. I think they are the most inventive urban warfare sequences ever portrayed in a film and truly visionary. In a post 9/11 world these spectacular scenarios seem increasingly likely and the symbolism of the film's poster is more than a bit suggestive.
The theme of The Dark Knight draws its inspiration straight from American headlines -- that of dwindling faith in our political leaders and the decay of our institutions. The Joker, as re-imagined in this work is a thoroughbred anarchist who feeds on this frailty and largely wins every encounter he engages in throughout; he is one of the most believable extrapolations on a criminal psychopath I've seen. His plans truly are brilliant.... Hollywood does not deserve this good of writing! Christian Bale thankfully has toned down his Bat-persona a bit and actually performs quite well, as do the rest of the cast. Gary Oldman has much more to do this time around and Aaron Eckhart was a good choice for Dent.
But of course what really makes this film so amazing is the marriage of excellent writing with stunning visuals and thrilling action that give a new dimension to the entire concept of crime-fighting. I think they are the most inventive urban warfare sequences ever portrayed in a film and truly visionary. In a post 9/11 world these spectacular scenarios seem increasingly likely and the symbolism of the film's poster is more than a bit suggestive.
The film doesn't escape getting a bit preachy, and the writing has a tendency to get almost a bit too clever. I am not a big fan of villains giving explanations for their motives, and Nolan can't gets a bit too specific with both the Joker and Dent. His writing is very forceful and self-consciously "cinematic"; Nolan, much like Ridley Scott, is a detached director who portrays emotion with calculated precision. It's thrilling, but rarely delves into the genuinely dark side of human nature which can be embarrassing or even humiliating. So in the end this is still a hyper-stylized, caricature-driven film; Heat isn't going to get knocked off its perch anytime soon. Just the same, with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Heath Ledger giving such stellar performances, Nolan succeeds in overcoming his Hollywood transgressions.
The Dark Knight is cause for celebration on many levels, but perhaps most importantly it has finally freed an entire realm of entertainment from hacks like David Goyer and the creative wasteland of 90s neo-noir. This is the kind of film that makes you realize your unrequited love for a genre that has been ceaselessly abused.
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