Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Movie Reviews: The Dark Knight
Peter Schaffer's ode of pantheism, Equus, describes how a boy committed his soul to the Horse God at a young age.
In just such a way, I committed my soul to the Bat God at a young age.
I was born in the midst of the first Batman craze. My older brother, given the privilege of choosing my middle name, selected a Batman-oriented one. My earliest memory is watching the TV show. Much of my pre-school childhood was spent dressed in a home-made Batman costume (thanks Mom) and some of my happiest times as a child were spent playing Batman and Robin with my brother and an old-school cardboard box-and-tin-can Batmobile. I continued to read Batman comics up until just a few years ago and I still collect Batman paraphernalia.
So, when I tell you that The Dark Knight is the single most superb achievement in the history of Batman film adaptation, you must not view this simply as some ordinary opinion but rather as the voice of absolute authority beyond any contradiction or qualification.
It is beautiful. It is everything that the character and the legend has ever meant to me. It is even better than Batman Begins, and that is a very high bar.
The film successfully conveys the character's loneliness and the sheer quixotic hopelessness of the struggle he has taken on. He already has his revenge yet some sense of duty he can't even express drives him to continue to risk his life and sacrifice any chance of happiness to fight a battle he knows he will never win.
The film has two achievements for which I'm particularly grateful:
The Joker - as a fan, I've always hated the Joker. I view other villains as merely amusing plot devices, but I hate the Joker. Those of us who are really invested in the legend have always seen the popular interpretation of the character - as a cartoonish bank robber - as a sickening whitewash of an utterly evil sociopathic killer. Frankly, I don't even own much Joker paraphernalia because the very sight of the character gives me the creeps. This movie, finally - finally, finally - showed that side of this classic villain.
Some Batman fans will quibble that Nolan's Joker merely wears makeup instead of having permanently stained skin. However, I think that the whole stained skin business would have detracted from Nolan's carefully-crafted verisimilitude while the sloppy makeup and greasy hair amplified the character's psychotic loathsomeness.
Two-Face - finally, a Two-Face origin that makes sense! The comic book origin (a mobster on trial throws acid in Dent's face, which somehow causes him to snap) never rang true to me. Here at last we have the events constructed so that you can actually believe that Dent would lose his mind - not over his disfigurement, but because of the other losses he suffers. So much the better that Dent's descent is planned by the Joker, which helps "elevate" this movie's version of Joker to the same sort of evil genius as Jigsaw in the Saw movies.
I could carry on at length about everything I loved about the movie. There were flaws, for sure. As in Batman Begins, the vehicular chase scenes were excessive and unbelievable. I suppose they had to throw the ADD action movie crowd a bone somewhere. If you filter those scenes out, the plot and dialogue of the movie are quite subtle. It's a serious movie that will never be taken seriously. For my part, I plan to see it at least four or five more times.
If you only see one Batman movie in your whole life, this is the one to see.
posted by Mentok @ 10:22 a.m.,
10 Comments:
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At 9:32 a.m.,
cchang said...
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Great post, Mentok. I agree with you, one of the pieces that really stuck with me was the evolution of Two-Face. There were several of us who had that "ah-ha" moment and gasped in unison at the theater during the scene where Dent falls over in his chair into the gasoline. I think Ledger's performance is legitimately good too---not just hype. The subtleties of him licking his chops and messing with his hair really add to the character.
I was never into comics, so from someone who doesn't have any sort of attachment to the whole Batman franchise, I too think this is a fantastic movie.
Side note, if you were Alfred, would you have burned the letter from the gal? -
At 9:58 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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My chief regret about this film is that they don't seem to have left much of a window for Two-Face to come back. Ironically, though, Joker seems set up to come back. These damn actors - always trying to weasel out of their continuance agreements!
Yes, I think Alfred did the right thing in burning the letter. It leaves Wayne with the hope that he can find love one day. Otherwise, it would have just added insult to injury.
(Notice how I'm studiously not spoiling! Hard to do when it's two people who've seen the film talking in a public place.) -
At 9:56 a.m.,
cchang said...
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Ah! Good point. I don't think I'd be giving away much when I ask this bit though:
Why has it taken batman so long to ask for a suit that allows him to turn his head???? Is it to protect his jugular? -
At 10:28 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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I had to laugh when I heard that line because, of course, I have a Batman halloween costume; good quality, big heavy latex mask designed according to the '90s movie series, which was much the same as the current mask.
Whenever I wear it, my kids enjoy attacking me from the side, because the mask offers no peripheral vision and you can only see beside or behind you by turning your whole body.
So I can totally relate to what Wayne was complaining about in the movie ;-) -
At 6:05 a.m.,
said...
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does this mean your middle name is alfred??
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At 11:53 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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No but it's nearly as ridiculous as that.
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At 12:02 a.m.,
FiL said...
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Bruce? Dick?? Gordon???
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At 12:20 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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If you really must know, it's Robin. Ironic since I'm an old-school purist who views that character as a corruption of the Batman legend. I much prefer those movies and those phases in the comic book that are Robin-free.
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At 7:18 a.m.,
Rick said...
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Well, I finally broke free, played hookey from work, and saw the movie. I wanted to see this on the big screen, although in the end, I think the home theater surround sound version will do just fine. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so thanks for the rousing review, Mentok.
I thought the Joker was one of the most believable villans I've seen in a long time, in part because he's not superhuman in any significant way, and in part because his origin is really just not known, but several plausible possibilities are explored. Not much of the Spiderman supernatural-sort of explanations here, just good old fashioned cruelty.
The whole batsuit-neck thing has struck me as pretty silly for a long time. The risk of getting shot in the neck is pretty low, so it seems like a good tradeoff to me.
As for the letter, I thought Alfred did the right thing. I think it would have crushed Wayne when he was at his most vulnerable. -
At 9:25 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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Hey Wankel
Yes, I really appreciated the way the Joker's origin - or lack thereof - was approached. It reminded me of a line from The Killing Joke miniseries: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another way", which is suitable for a crazy guy. Plus various versions of the character, including the '90s cartoon version, have been depicted as being very skilled at using sob stories to manipulate jailers, psychiatrists, etc.
As for the Batman neck thing: I've actually tried to drive while wearing a Batman latex mask and it is, indeed, well nigh impossible.
