I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that I probably won't get to see Nolan's first film, Following, before I see his latest, Inception. So I'm just going to say that this is the last of the High on Nolan posts, and there really isn't a better film to end on. I remember cleaning out my room about a week or two ago, and somewhere in my closet I found the two year old ticket stub I used to get in to see The Dark Knight at midnight. Even with the two years between now and then, it continues to be the best time I've had at the movies in my life.Getting to the core of what the film is, it covers the adventures of Bruce Wayne/Batman as he deals with his greatest nemesis, The Joker. However, it's hard to think of that as the main conflict of the film, as all Christopher Nolan films have several layers to them. We get to see the mob as they try to scratch out a dishonest living as best they can. We see Harvey Dent taking an unexpected road of moral destruction. We see Gotham as a whole in this state of absolute chaos, which is totally personified by The Joker.
Not since Memento has Nolan been this on top of his game. It's as if he's found the problems in his past films, and improved on that to make something better. Not to say there aren't problems with this film. If we're going to talk about the good, we have to get the bad out of the way. Batman's voice is almost unreadable at times in this movie. Not only do we forget that it's the same actor as Bruce Wayne (an important link in the first movie that is somehow lost in the sequel), but we can't tell what he's saying. There were jokes in this movie that were meant to be funny, and if told in a regular voice, would've been. As they were, it was kind of a let down.
That's it. That really is all the problems I have with the film. Everything else about this movie is near perfect. The action is just as gritty as it would be in real life, and yet Nolan is able to get some beauty out of it. The prison transfer in the middle of the movie is by far the best of the action sequences. That's not to say that they don't all have their own merit. It's just too hard to distinguish many specific scenes, as the film is set at a constant state of climax. Nolan is able to keep that intense feeling going throughout the entire film.
Once the action starts, it very rarely stops. Whenever it does, the scenes that we get in between are even better. A perfect example is the one on one interrogation between Batman and The Joker. There is so much silent intensity in that scene, and it's very much enhanced by Heath Ledger's performance. The writing for that scene in particular is deserving of an Oscar nomination, which it regrettably didn't recieve. It puts the cards on the table for the rest of the film, and gives us a hint at what The Joker's planning next.
Acting is great all across the table, with Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine given much more material to chew on than in Batman Begins. Gary Oldman really rounds out his version of Jim Gordon, not as Gotham's savior, but rather as a father trying to make the world a better place for his family. In the midst of the final confrontation against The Joker, Gordon leaves to help his family. If forced to choose between saving his family and saving all of Gotham, he'd choose his family. There are so many levels to each and every character in this movie. Heath Ledger's last great role puts him at his best, delivering a dark performance that never seems cartoonish or fake, which is difficult to tap out when you're playing a clown. Ledger's Joker is one of the best realized film characters in history, and he could never be topped as a villain. The Oscar he recieved was well earned.
Maggie Gyllenhaal's character isn't given enough development as she should, but she's immediately more likable than Katie Holmes and, in my opinion, more attractive. Gyllenhaal does the most she can to make us put trust in the character, but for obvious reasons, she doesn't get much. What set The Dark Knight apart from most other comic book movies is its determination to move the story forward. There are many second films in franchises that don't really move the story forward in the slightest. That was one of the problems I had with Iron Man 2. At the end of that film, not a whole lot has changed.
Technical values for this film are all first rate, including some of Wally Pfister's most focused and beautiful cinematography to date. There are several iconic shots in this movie that are really some of the greatest shots in that year. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard do a great collaboration once again, and particularly strike The Joker's theme out of the park with complex simplicity. In the end, the person deserving of the most praise is Chistopher Nolan. Not many movies are so extremely affected by a director's creative vision. The Dark Knight is one of the few, and from what I've read of Inception, I suspect that will be too.
4 out of 4 stars
The Prestige Review
Memento Review
Batman Begins Review
Insomnia Review
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