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The Dark Knight - Spoiler Free Review

How far are you willing to go to protect what you love? Will you cast aside your own morals and ethics if it makes the world a better place? Are you willing to live as an outcast, if it means others could walk the streets without fear. Would you turn your back on peace and love if you could provide it for millions? Could you live with yourself if those you swore to protect saw you as the villain? If they blamed you for all the chaos in this world? Christopher Nolan and the rest of the cast in The Dark Knight ask these soul-rending questions with each gloriously beautiful frame that flickers across the screen.

How far will our hero go to bring order from chaos?

We return to the streets of Gotham City not long after Ra’s Al Ghul attempted to burn the city to the ground in a cleansing blaze. The crime families that for so long maintained an evil order over Gotham are in a shambles. They are the wounded elite, reeling from a police force and citizenry that is quickly losing their fear and summoning the courage to stand up. Batman and his crusade against evil is working. Yes, there are still dirty cops in Gotham. Yes, the crime lords still funnel drugs, guns, and death into the streets; but, something is different. When the symbol of the Bat graces Gotham’s night sky, evil slinks back into the shadows. They know something far greater than they is stalking them. A relentless figure without fear. The old ways do not work against such a new force. This force of nature that stalks the night. And so, in fear and desperation, they turn to their only chance at survival against such stalwart opposition.

They summon chaos.

The Joker is death and hate and rage and chaos in its most elemental form. He is the storm that comes without warning. He is the random car accident that takes your loved ones from you forever and without reason. He is the beast that laughs as others suffer. He is everything we civilized humans attempt to keep bottled within our souls. From the very first moment the Joker appears on the screen, we know nothing in Gotham City will ever be the same. There is no turning back from the Pandora’s Box flowing into the veins of this world. Evil walks the Earth and he wears the Death’s Head visage of ages past. I didn’t see Heath Ledger on the screen. All I saw was an uncontrollable tempest given flesh and blood. Ledger’s performance as the Joker has raised the bar so high for screen villains, I am not sure anyone can ever attain it again. I fear I will receive nasty comments as I write this, but I can’t shake the feeling that the Joker took something from Heath Ledger. The character is that pure in his horror. Every time his musical cue oozed from the speakers, I knew I was once again going to gaze into the abyss of madness and terror. It was as if Ledger looked too deeply into that darkness and what came out was this beast of chaos. This Joker is the creature even Batman fears

Although the Joker and Batman are polar opposites, they share the same obsession. They want a world that they envision as their own.

Christian Bale is Batman, of this there is no doubt. He has also embraced his persona of Bruce Wayne, but liked the Caped Crusader, he has no love for the billionaire playboy. Indeed, it is easy to believe that Batman would just assume see Bruce Wayne fall aside. This reminder of his human past gets in the way of his mission. His desire to bring order and peace to the city that birthed him years ago. Unlike the Joker, Batman has rules. Rules he swore to never break, no matter what it cost him. To break those rules, Batman is no worse than the evil that chokes the city he loves so much. Christian Bale brings true life to the man behind the mantle of the Dark Knight. You feel his pain and torment when his obsession threatens those around him. You feel his own self doubt as he begins to question his own actions. For all his desire to inspire hope and courage in the people of Gotham, he has also set the stage for a reality no one is ready to accept. The world is spinning faster and faster out of control. How much will the people take before they turn on one another? How many dead loved ones, pulled from the rubble of destruction before the people take up arms and lash out at any perceived threat? Batman fired the first salvo in this new war and it is Bale’s wonderful performance that allows the audience to feel that burden.

These are real people springing from a 2D medium.

Aaron Eckhart’s performance as Harvey Dent is inspiring and frightening. Everything I would expect from a character that becomes the agent of violence that is Two-Face. He is the reminder that we must stand by those that risk all for our benefit. Sadly, he is also the reminder that we must never pin all our hopes and desires on one man. No one is perfect. No one is infallible. Harvey Dent is all too human in a city that is on the verge of death. Aaron’s passion as Harvey Dent makes his fall all the more painful. In fact, with every victory I found myself growing sad. I knew his fall was coming, as we all do, but that didn’t stop the pain when it happened. Not many actors can make you feel sympathy for their horrendous acts, Aaron Eckhart does so.

If Batman Begins had one glaring weak point, it was the character of Rachel Dawes. She simply didn’t seem necessary. (In fact, the love story angle aside, I then felt she should have been Harvey Dent). While Katie Holmes’ performance as Ms. Dawes still feels lacking, I can’t imagine either film without her character any longer. In no small part to Maggie Gyllenhaal's wonderful performance. She added a sense of depth and realism that Holmes couldn’t achieve. Rachel Dawes is so much more than a arm candy for the male actors in The Dark Knight. She is the moral fiber that binds all these mad men together. She is the living proof that Gotham City is worth fighting for, but that fight must stay within the morals and ethics of civilized man. Maggie’s Rachel Dawes is a smart and sympathetic character and helps ground the film.

As does Gary Oldman as Lt. Jim Gordon. He is the noble solider in the war for Gotham’s soul. As was the case in Batman Begins, it is extremely refreshing to see Jim Gordon act like the hero cop Batman fans have known for over 50 years. This isn’t some desk jockey content with sending his men and women in uniform to take on crime. He stands there with them, gun drawn and taking aim at the evils that threaten his city. Yet, he is also painfully naive. So great is his love for Gotham and for the badge he wears upon his chest, corruption within his own team cuts him deeper than any knife or gun. Oldman makes sure you feel Gordon’s bitter remorse when he needs to rise (or sink) to Batman’s level in order to make the streets just a little safer for the good people of Gotham.

Lucius Fox and Alfred Pennyworth are the moral and emotional pillars upon which Batman and Bruce Wayne stand upon. Both Morgan Freeman and Sir Michael Caine are so very perfect in their roles, I can’t even imagine a time when another actor played those parts. (With all due respect to the wonderfully charming Michael Gough). Freeman’s Lucius Fox is the character Batman fans have wanted to see on screen for years. The man that is the true heart of Wayne Enterprises and allows Bruce to carry one his crusade all while maintaining the honor and dignity of the company. Caine’s portrayal of Alfred is paternal and wonderful. This is the gentlemen’s gentleman that raised young Bruce into the man he is today. You see with every choice Alfred makes, he is still trying to fulfill his promise to Thomas and Martha Wayne all those years ago, protecting all they held dear.

In fact, there isn’t a weak performance in this entire film. Even the smallest of roles, such as the minor part from Cillian Murphy as the mad Scarecrow fits perfectly into a film that seems overloaded with villains. Every mob boss is vulgar and disgusting in their smugness, you almost find yourself cheering when one of them gets it from their multiple enemies...masked and other wise. Strange as this sounds, even the two-bit henchmen that serve these crime families and the Joker has a sense of realism to them. Forgot all notions of no-necked wise guys and heckling goons in purple leather jackets. Even these no-name characters has a sense of back story all their own.

Christopher Nolan has shattered any doubt about his ability to shoot an painfully tense and taunt crime thriller. Yes, these characters and settings are based on a 70 year-old comic book. However, you would be sadly mistaken if you believed this was just another comic book film. No. The Dark Knight is a perfectly written and directed crime thriller on par with Heat, or Goodfellas... But it happens to have men in bat costumes and maniacal killers in clown make-up. The action is intense and will, as the cliché goes, have you are the very edge of your seat. The violence is quick, brutal, and wholly surprising at times. Indeed, there where many occasions where I found myself saying out load “did they really just do that” or, “Good Lord, did Nolan really go there”?

The performances are perfection. (And, if Heath Ledger doesn’t get at least a Best Supporting Actor Nomination from his portrayal as the Joker, there is something seriously wrong with the Academy). Nolan’s direction is flawless. He lets the scene play when it needs and makes the scene move when it is time. The music is a beautiful companion to a beautiful film.

The Dark Knight is, without a doubt, the greatest “Superhero or Comic Book” film ever made. The Dark Knight just might be the best film I’ll see all year. Yes, I am an unabashed Batman fan, but you know what... The Dark Knight might be one of the best crime / drama films ever made.

See this film. Then ask yourself. How far are you willing to go?