Christopher Nolan's sequel to the magnificent Batman Begins, The Dark Knight tells the tale of the conflict over Batman's (Christian Bale) acceptance as a means to an end in fighting crime in Gotham City and how his presence has given the criminal element a sort of upgrade in comparison to his crime fighting. Things seem to be getting better in Gotham City with the election of a new District Attorney (Aaron Eckhardt) That upgrade is in the form of the Joker (Heath Ledger) who is in it not for personal gain, but to "watch the world burn".The film is stunning visually. Nolan has once again painted a dark picture to represent Gotham City that is both realistic and frightening. The effects are excellent, yet they don't overtake the film like some of the recent comic book adaptations. A great looking film.
Christian Bale once again takes the Batman/Bruce Wayne role and plays it in a way that seems to be the equivalent of Christopher Reeve's performances as Superman: Bruce Wayne and Batman are different characters and need to be played that way. A conflicted figure Bale plays Batman not as a man in a cape but as an entity in itself. He becomes wrapped in the cowl.
But it's Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker that totally dominates this film. You are not watching Heath Ledger's last film. You are watching an actor totally become his character, crafting what should garner him a nomination for the Oscar. Ledger's mesmerizing as the Joker, yet he doesn't dominate the film. Once he leaves the screen you're just dying for him to show back up for more murder and mayhem. This is Ledger's swan song and he left us with his peak performance.
Two of the other actors who may be getting overshadowed by the other actors and the film itself are Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart. Oldman proves once again that he can be anything you want him to be. He could play a 6 year old black girl in the antebellum south and make it convincing. Eckhart has one of the hardest roles in the film- going from the white knight Harvey Dent to the split Two Face. I'm afraid that Ledger's performance will overshadow Eckhart, who gives us a Two face that is actually a more haunting and tragic figure than he was originally conceived. A great performance as well.
The Dark Knight will spoil the comic book genre. This is the gold standard that all other films of this type will be compared to. Christopher Nolan has recreated the comic book genre, just as Hitchcock recreated the horror film with Psycho. This is a watershed point that will be remembered as the maturity of these kinds of films. You can make a masterpiece out of this genre beyond the fan boy ideals. And that's what The Dark Knight is- it's a masterpiece of design and acting that drags you on a journey that is your basic second act (hopefully) of a three act play. Yes, I'm calling this the Empire Strikes Back of comic book films. This is just one of those films where everything not only clicks, but works like a precision instrument.
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