The Dark Knight

Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger
DVD release: 10 December 2008
Rated M

Of all the comic book heroes, the Batman is probably one of the least understood. That flows from the fact that many of the depictions of the character in popular culture have strayed far from the original source material. Mention Batman and most people probably think of the camp 1960s TV series; or the garish Tim Burton / Joel Schumacher films. But those familiar with the comic books will know that he’s a very different character.

In the DC Comics series conceived by Bob Kane, Bruce Wayne and his alter ego are deeply conflicted characters; a blend of darkness and light living on the fringes of society but never fully in it. By day, Bruce Wayne is a millionaire with plenty of time on his hands. He lives in a mansion and apart from the odd cocktail party, seems to rarely engage with “normalâ€� people. By night however, he becomes the Batman, a ruthless vigilante stalking the squalid underbelly of Gotham City. The reason for this stems from a severe childhood trauma, something that has left him determined to clean up his city, but a deeply damaged individual.

When Christopher Nolan took the reins of Batman Begins, it was clear that he wanted to strip away all the baggage associated with Batman and start afresh. That first film went some way to rehabilitating the character; but Nolan takes it to a whole other level with The Dark Knight.

The film certainly lives up to its title – this is as dark a superhero movie as you’re ever likely to come across (at least, outside of Japanese anime). Most of the action takes place at night, but that darkness is merely a physical manifestation of what’s happening to the characters as the story unfolds.

And what a story it is. The film pans out at around two and a half hours; but not a minute of it is wasted. Nolan and his co-writer brother Jonathan (who also worked on Nolan’s excellent earlier films Memento and The Prestige) have crafted a complex tale of deceit, betrayal, greed and madness that would do justice to a Greek tragedy. Indeed, the plot is so complex, I’m not going to even try to outline it except to pick out a few highlights. The film of course introduces the anarchic Joker (Heath Ledger), whose reign of terror over Gotham City provides the backbone of the story.There are crime bosses, bent cops, a crusading District Attorney and a spectacular sojourn to Hong Kong. For me however, there were two real highlights in the film – the first is a truly breathtaking chase sequence; and the second a more subdued but intensely powerful sequence in which the Joker holds Gotham City to ransom via an appalling “Sophie’s choiceâ€� ultimatum that’s handled with great aplomb by Nolan.

Unlike most films of this genre however, the plot is not an end in itself. Here, the Nolans use the plot to illuminate the foibles, pain and (on occasion) nobility of their characters. As such, The Dark Knight is a rare beast indeed – a character-driven superhero film. Indeed, I’d be prepared to argue that the script here is the intellectual equal of at least some of the films nominated for screenplay Oscars this year.

The Nolans also display a real sense of empathy for their characters. Nowhere is that seen more clearly than in the way Nolan deals with Two Face, an adversary of the Batman. Where another filmmaker may have seen him as an object of derision or perhaps horror, Nolan reveals him to be a character more tragic than comic, a damaged soul forced into an untenable position by fate.

This is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. The action sequences are often astounding, and even the film’s quieter moments (for example, Bruce Wayne’s clear-out of his lair) require a grand stage. Nolan’s regular cinematographer Wally Pfister gives the film a Gothic edge that’s pitch-perfect; while the powerhouse team of James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer collaborate on the oddly quite understated score, which sublimely complements the film’s brooding, almost elegiac tone.

The performances are top notch, with Christian Bale a far more consummate and enigmatic Batman than any of his screen predecessors. I had a little bit of an issue with his speech patterns while in the costume (it was like his cheeks were being squashed together), but his interpretation was spot on. Aaron Eckhart does his growing reputation no harm as the idealistic DA Harvey Dent; Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman are all class as you’d expect; and Maggie Gyllenhaal seamlessly replaces Katie Holmes as Wayne’s sometime love interest Rachel Dawes.

But of course we can’t talk about The Dark Knight without talking about Heath Ledger as the Joker. The least I can say is that everything you’ve heard is probably true. This is a bravura performance by Ledger; an immersive and impressive reading of a character mired in his own psychosis and determined to play out his own rather sick agenda. They say playing bad guys is more fun than playing good guys, and Ledger seems to revel in the part.

Will he win an Oscar for it as has been pushed by some sections of the media? It’s hard to say so early in the film year. Certainly, he has strong claims and an undoubtedly huge sympathy factor; but he could suffer from “Johnny Depp syndromeâ€�. After Depp was widely touted to win an Oscar for his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean, it came as a shock to many that he lost out to Sean Penn for Mystic River. But when you compare Penn’s wrenching performance beside Depp’s overly affected one, it’s possible that the Academy simply related favourably to the more natural performance.

Parents around the nation will surely be pestered by their kids to rent or buy The Dark Knight on DVD (and it will surely be on plenty of Xmas lists). From a personal perspective, I don’t think it’s really suitable for young kids – costumes or no costumes. Although there’s little blood shown, there is a lot of violence and much of it quite disturbing, even for adults. This starts from the very first scene and barely lets up. In addition, I query whether youngsters will be able to even follow many of the labyrinthine plot twists.

I have to say that The Dark Knight is one of the most impressive films of the year so far. There are scenes here that will simply leave you dumbfounded; such is the scale and quality of the work from Nolan and his team. I suspect this film will demand viewing more than once to fully appreciate its complexity and nuance.

David Edwards