The Dark Knight
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, David Goyer
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine

A few years ago, when Christopher Nolan released Batman Begins, he succeeded in rebooting a franchise that had been soiled by the likes of Joel Schumacher, and essentially left in an unsalvageable state. With his focus on character and gritty believability, Nolan proved that Batman still had a ton of appeal, and that audiences just wanted someone to take him seriously all along.

Although Batman Begins had some flaws, it laid the groundwork for what was shaping up to be the ultimate sequel. For The Dark Knight, Nolan and David Goyer decided to bring back Batman’s most memorable foe, The Joker, and in a surprising move cast Heath Ledger in this pivotal role. When the announcement was first made, the reaction was a mix of outrage and curiosity. Could a pretty boy like Ledger really play such a psychotic villain, and would he be able to step out of the shadow of Jack Nicholson’s iconic performance almost 20 years earlier?

Of course, we all know that public opinion has almost done a complete 180 since then, and Ledger’s tragic death in January lifted his performance to near legendary proportions. There’s little doubt that this movie has taken on a life of its own, and yet, when you put aside all the viral marketing campaigns, Oscar talk and fanboy hysteria, The Dark Knight is quite simply a masterpiece in its own right, worthy of all the accolades it has received thus far.

Let’s start with Ledger, whose performance as The Joker is absolutely fascinating to watch and drives the entire film. It’s not overdone, nor does it ever feel silly… it’s just the right balance of madness and comedy, unpredictability and creepiness. He seems unintimidating at times, easy to underestimate, but also cold as ice, and capable of unthinkable horrors. The character is kept enigmatic and impossible to penetrate, with no discernible back story and little motivation other than his desire to function as an “agent of chaos”. Let’s face it, comic book movies rely a lot on their villains, and The Joker is one of the best.

Speaking of comic book movies, one of the weird things about The Dark Knight is that (as many others have pointed out) it rarely feels like a comic book movie. When Batman and The Joker are not on screen, there is little to suggest that this movie is anything other than a police drama and/or crime thriller. So grounded are the performances and the writing that it really does rise above the cliches to stand in a league of its own.

The movie is filled with top notch actors, all given substantial material to work with. Both the addition of Maggie Gyllenhaal to the cast as Katie Holmes’ replacement, and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent improved the dramatic potential immeasurably. Eckhart in particular deserves a lot of credit, as does Gary Oldman in his role as Commissioner Gordon. There simply is no weak link in this movie.

The decision for Christopher Nolan to co-write the screenplay with his brother Jonathan instead of David S. Goyer was also a smart one. Goyer still helped with the story, but any of the clunky dialogue heard in Batman Begins has been completely eliminated, and we are left with many wonderful exchanges and endlessly quotable lines instead.

All of this is not to say that the movie is just filled with exposition and intense conversations. There’s plenty of action and suspense, lots of high flying aerial stunts on rooftops and skyscrapers (see it in IMAX if you can!) and stuff gets blown up real good. But the movie’s only real concern is telling a decent story and exploring the relationships between the various characters… everything else works in support of that purpose.

After all this praise, I do have a couple of minor complaints about The Dark Knight; one being that Christian Bale’s Batman is not quite as good as his Bruce Wayne (for some reason his voice cannot be both gruff and intelligible at the same time), and that some of his technology is a little far-fetched. The other minor quibble is that the movie is a little long (2 hours and 32 minutes to be exact), losing some of its focus towards the last 15 minutes or so. I almost wish that Two-Face would simply have been saved for the next film (insert standard Spider-Man 3 rant about having too many villains here), but his character arc helps to bring out one of the movie’s key themes.

These issues are trivial, however, when compared with the big picture. This movie flows effortlessly from beginning to end, and is simply a joy to watch. Years from now it will be remembered, not for the special effects or the costumes, but for the performances. Best comic book movie ever? I’d have to say… yes. Of course, it certainly helps that there are no characters with super powers here; the world of Batman is a relatively believable one. Not all comic book movies could follow this formula (nor would I want them to).

The thing that is interesting about The Dark Knight is that it may be the first superhero film that actually borders on being considered “high art” — the genre’s very own Godfather if you will. This makes it a very special and rare creature indeed, and one that has redefined the capabilities of a summer blockbuster. — Sean

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