The Dark Knight (2008) - REVIEW
One of the things I remember most leading up to The Dark Knight was how little the trailers had spoiled of the plot beforehand. Sure there were snippets of the set pieces, a few choice lines of dialogue but nothing major was given out, not even context. Of course we now know this approach is typical Christopher Nolan but in 2008 we had barely begun to see what Nolan was about and this approach made me nervous for one reason; Heath Ledger's Joker. One of the biggest takeaways I took from Batman Begins was that we finally had a Batman movie where Bruce Wayne was the main character of his story and not overshadowed by a colourful villain. Since the Joker seemed at the centre of the trailers and marketing, I feared that that good work was going to be cast aside by a sequel that would take us back to a similar approach of the Burton/Schumacher years. Sufficed to say, none of those concerns came to fruition and whilst it would be easy to spend a whole entry saying just how Heath Ledger steals the film, in the years since I've come to appreciate The Dark Knight more as an ensemble achievement rather than just a solo one.
The Dark Knight focuses on the crusade that Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne started in Batman Begins but where he was the main character of that film, here he's more part of an ensemble including Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon and Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent. The Dark Knight benefits from the character work done in Batman Begins and here we have a fully fleshed out and understood Batman. For me though it's Eckhart's Dent where the heart and soul of movie lies both as the public face leading the charge against corruption in Gotham and, for Bruce, the ideal successor to Batman. Whether it's Bruce's longing to hang up the cowl and have a normal life with Maggie Gyllenhaal's Rachel, or waging war against Gotham's crime families as Batman to the campaign of terror waged by the Joker, Harvey Dent is the figure at the centre of these threads and tied to everyone's fates in this movie. Going in I wasn't sure how far they were planning to go with Dent's story and whether this would tie into a sequel which most films would probably do today. However Nolan's make it work and it's not often that a film like this is able to balance multiple villains but in this case, Nolan nail it. Aaron Eckhart is perfectly cast; handsome, earnest and with a steely determination but there's hint of darkness as well. It's not as flashy a performance as Ledger's but it is no less an important one in a film filled with many underrated performances.
Heath Ledger may not have been everyone's first choice as the Joker but he disappears under the make-up and delivers a mesmerizing take that may lack the humour of Jack Nicholson's but makes up for it with a terrifying unpredictability. This Joker is a reflection of the post-9/11 period that the film was made in and Nolan explores similar themes of the time by asking just how far the good guys are willing to go against an enemy for which reason isn't possible. For Batman and his allies, their crusade is about taking back control of Gotham whereas the Joker is an anarchist who thrives in chaos and revelling in the belief that they never had control to begin with. This battle of philosophies is encapsulated by a face to face confrontation between Batman and the Joker in a interrogation room that feels reminiscent of Pacino and De Niro in Heat. There is this constant tension throughout that radiates throughout the film but the most refreshing thing about it all is that there is this genuine sense of real stakes and consequences to everything the Joker does and the impact he has. The Dark Knight, like all of Nolan's films, has plenty of ideas and there are moments where the film does feel a little stagey in exploring those ideas. The ferry sequence in particular feels like one too many for me but it's minor complaint for a film that builds towards a tense finale that brings everything satisfyingly full circle.
In the 16 years that has passed since its release, The Dark Knight's reputation has only grown and not just because of what Heath Ledger accomplishes but because it transcends what a comic book/superhero movie could be. The realism style established in Batman Begins is pushed even further here to the point that visually it doesn't resemble a comic book movie. Likewise the grand ideas and themes in the storytelling also elevate it further to the point where The Dark Knight could be described more as an epic crime thriller rather than superhero movie. Whatever your take is, this is a movie that works because all of its part align, all of the characters and performances enthral in equal measure even if there is one obvious scene stealing performance. The Dark Knight is and remains one of the finest films I've ever seen.
VERDICT
A superhero movie of the highest quality. Filled with great performances, a great story with outstanding set pieces and moments. The Dark Knight is one the best films of the last 20 years.
5/5
