I’ve been to the cinema three times in the last three days and have left fulfilled each time, and I’ll be the first to tell you that there’s few times in a given weekend when that’s possible. Thursday (well, technically Friday) I was at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight, Friday night, I humored a girl (who happens to be a friend, who is not a girlfriend) and went to see Mamma Mia! Saturday, I went again and saw The Dark Knight.
To say the least, I am exhausted. The latest installment of the Batman series was one thing, but tack on a mother, a daughter, three possible fathers and a trip down the aisle I’ll never forget and I would imagine it to be hard for any man to recover. While I enjoyed the urge to get out of my seat and indulge ABBA with dance, my weekend centered by far on what could be the best movie of the year.
For starters, lets go back nearly 20 years and remember what Tim Burton did with the first Batman movie. It was dark, it was gritty, and it was a great start to the series. Unfortunately, somewhere between Val Kilmer and George Clooney the real grit of the comic series was lost. Amidst “Holy rusted metal, Batman!” and Arnold Schwarzenegger the series just seemed to lose it’s edge and the real ideal of what the Batman stood for, and the salvation of Gotham was lost. The movies became campy and outrageous and seemed more like a circus than a legitimate story…
… And having drooled over Batman Begins and now The Dark Knight I’d like to formally welcome Batman back to where it belongs.
Very few will deny the greatness of Christopher Nolan’s latest installment, but there is more to the reasoning than the intense and serious approach to the tales. More than any episode before Nolan’s the last two films have begun to examine the depths of Man, and what he is capable of. More than cheap Tommy Lee Jones laughs and the now depressing characterization of Two-Face, the preceding films lost touch with what Batman really was chasing, something that has resurfaced now in the most recent films.
In an exposé of human nature, we are again seeing what the creators were aiming for: the accusation that there is good and evil within everyone, and we alone dictate what we are capable of. The Dark Knight more than any other film shows that even amidst the survival instincts and self-preservation motive, there’s goodness in human beings and at times causes you to bring your own morality into question, something very few films ask of their audience.
Sure, it is fun to watch The Joker, and Two-Face battle to prove their point via carnage and destruction, but the real message of the film lies within its title character, The Dark Knight, Batman. He may not have super human strength or be able to fly without jumping off buildings, but the real element of super hero magic Batman possesses is beyond all of that. What makes him more a hero than any other character is that Batman knows his place in the hierarchy of Gotham and with open arms accepts what he has to be for the good of his city.
There is chaos (literally) from start to finish in The Dark Knight, something caused by the Joker’s presence, and fueled by the ongoing war between good and evil in Gotham. Amidst that however, Nolan shows the audience the character and good intent of Batman as he struggles to keep the balance in a city that seems to have lost touch with morality. Sacrifice for the greater good and the awareness to step up to the plate and do what’s best for the city seem to be Harvey Dent’s motives but those are quickly compromised and forgotten when his world explodes (…literally). At that point Dent’s self-fulfilling prophecy exposes the doubt and hopelessness of the situation, and that is when things really begin to play out as they should have all along in the series of adaptations.
It is truly a treat to watch it all come to life in the way it should have continued to do so after the first two films, and as movie fans we should all hope for more of the same. We should hope for more than just a comic book movie, but the much needed message that we’re getting now: there’s evil all around us, choosing to fight it is never a losing battle. The original writers of the comics would have you believe that we’re all living in a regionally acclimated version of Gotham and that the choice to allow it to continually get worse, or do something about lies within everyone.
It is truly a masterpiece and something movie fans everywhere should appreciate, as things like this do not come around every weekend. Expect records to be broken, nominations to occur and people everywhere to be raving about just how amazing and well crafted The Dark Knight really is.
I feel like some might view Ledger’s shot at being recognized for his role as a courtesy, but I guarantee you the odds of finding a more chilling and intimidating character are slim and none. The tragedy of the situation is upsetting, we all knew he was good, but maybe not aware that he was this good. The Joker has moments in the film that will startle you out of your seat and send chills down your spine, and to say his performance is the best in the film does not come without great debate, just to give an idea of the talent involved.
It’s been a long time coming for a lot of fans, playing with the viral ad campaigns, reading reviews as they started to pop up, and for the first time in a long time a hype was built around a movie that actually had the clout to deserve it, and in some opinions, exceed the hype. The Dark Knight brings a lot of hope for the future of the franchise, and even though it could be 3+ years until we get lucky enough to see another one, but I’ll be the first to admit that I’m already looking forward to it.
