The Dark Knight -- My thoughts

[olde_fashioned]

Well, I've finally seen The Dark Knight. I thought it would have to be when it was released on DVD, but Spencer's friends took him in Utah and when he came back, he said he was dying to talk about it with me, so he treated me. :-) I have the best brother. *hugs him* He missed the first ten minutes the first time around, apparently, and since he was not at all opposed to seeing it a second time, just the two of us went to a local theater for an eight o'clock showing yesterday evening. It was great fun!

Now, consider yourself warned that I'm going to go on (and on...and on...) in a long, boring, and detailed review, but I'm putting anything spoilery behind a cut so others can read my general (and non-spoilery) opinions if they haven't seen the movie yet and/or don't want to read about what parts I liked best, lol. ;-) Click the cut only if you don't mind spoilers, gushing, and over analyzing of characters and their development! ;-P

Okay, first, a little bit of history.



Having grown up (and then grown out of) watching the cartoons on the WB as a kid, I guess I've always had a soft spot for Batman. He's my favourite superhero, and always has been -- because he's the most realistic. Honestly, super-strong aliens from outer space, and radioactive spiders biting teenagers? *heavy lidded glare* When Batman Begins came out a few years ago, I assumed it was the typical superhero remake, or just another installment in the campy Batman franchise. Christian Bale? Who the heck is he? Another Batman movie? No thanks, I'll pass.

Boy, was I proved wrong.


Second, the obvious -- Wow. Wow wow wow wow WOW! I thought the movie was great. Absolutely fantastic. Fabulous, first-rate acting, even more fabulous plotting and scriptwriting, combined to make a movie that was very well-made and in a word, awesome. I don't go to the theater often, (haven't been since 2001, believe it or not) but I think it's safe to say that I haven't seen a movie in theaters that I liked this much since being a little kid and loving Beauty and the Beast, lol. TDK certainly lived up to expectations and is probably one of the best sequels that I've seen. Usually a francise seems to drift away from its roots, and get cheesy by the second installment, but there wasn't really anything lame in this.

It was indeed very dark; it is, after all, The Dark Knight. It was not, however, nearly as dark and depressing as I expected. Yes, the Joker (played to near Oscar-worthy perfection by the late Heath Ledger) is the epitomy of evil. Think of the baddest baddie you can imagine, and he's twice as bad as that. He is cold, cruel, calculated, heartless and unthinkably evil, and not only is he bad himself, but he tries his hardest to get other people to become like him. In that way he is like Satan, tempting and pushing others beyond their limits in an attempt to get them to "get off the curb and join him in the gutter." He delights in turning ordinary and even good people into crazed criminals who will do anything and stop at nothing.



I also have a couple of thoughts regarding the title, "The Dark Knight". I think it's a pun, and I think it's intentional. Not only does it tie into Batman filling his traditional role of protector of the city, (hence, "knight"), but IMO it also means "The Dark Night", or "the darkest night," as in "The night is darkest just before the dawn." Clearly, Gotham is going through probably the darkest period in its history, as well are several of the characters. There is possibly even more suffering endured by Batman/Bruce Wayne that he encountered in the first movie, his parents' murder excepted.


Even though I do agree with the general consensus that Heath Ledger probably deserves an Oscar for his last role (at the very least a nomination) I do not think this was the Joker's movie, as so many have said. He was the principle villain, yes, but the movie belonged to Batman, "utterly and completely." (bonus points to whoever knows what that's from!) Christian Bale doesn't disappoint as the alternately human Bruce Wayne and equally tortured Batman, and his acting was so subtle that if you blink you'll miss a major hint of character development. This is definitely a film you have to see more than once to fully appreciate.



Okay, now that this is safe behind a cut, who remembers THIS POST?? I KNEW they were going to kill off Rachel Dawes, I just knew it knew it knew it!!! It was only logical. Call me annoying, call me a smart aleck, call me Alfred, whatever you like, but I told you so. :-P

Harvey Dent was surprisingly likeable. I knew he was supposed to be "the good guy" before his Two Face transformation, but I was surprised at how much I found myself liking him. The scene with him almost getting shot in the courtroom but disarming the witness was great!! The way he dissassembled the weapon, then proceeded to rattle off the make and country of origin (China) then retort that it would take an American gun to bring him down, heheheh! ;-D They made Harvey into such a wonderful man that it was really a pity he had to stoop to such shameful lows after losing Rachel. His face was probably a bit unrealistic (infection??) but certainly convinsingly grotesque. While he was entertaining enough, I really hope they let him stay dead and don't resurrect him for a third movie. I don't think he would be "big" enough to hang around as the villain for any longer than he already has.

I almost bought the whole Gordon-is-dead thing, and I would have, had I not kept thinking of Comissioner Gordon from the cartoons and comics, but seeing the visit to his poor wife very nearly made me believe he was dead in spite of all that. But when he showed up behind the Joker -- saving Batman -- hooray!! Everyone in the theater applauded, myself included. (Yes, you are indeed correct -- I am a dork.)

And speaking of Rachel, as much as Katie Holmes' inferiour performance in the first movie irritated me, I sorely missed her in this installment. I couldn't warm to Maggie Gyllenhaal at all, and as callous as it sounds I mostly felt sorry at her death because of how much it affected Bruce/Batman. His standing despondingly atop the rubble was so sad, and the scene with him sitting in a chair back in his penthouse, still in his batsuit, only sans mask, was really sad and quite pitiable. He looked to me to be on the verge of tears, and I nearly got mad at Alfred for not giving him a hug, especially when Bruce said, "She was going to wait for me, Alfred." Poor guy. I'm glad Alfred burned the letter. (don't even get me started on that stupid woman, rejecting the best man in Gotham like that??! Sheesh...)

I'm continually amazed, both in TDK and it's predecessor Batman Begins, at how much acting Christian Bale can do with only half his face. He's got a mask on most of the time he's on screen, and yet you can still tell what he's thinking and feeling. The very last scenes in TDK especially, especially, when he's wounded and looks like he's ready to pass out when he's trying to convince Harvey Dent (now Two-Face) to not murder Jim Gordon's son in a misplaced vengeful rage stemming from the murder of his fiance Rachel. Little does he know, however, that he wasn't the only man who lost the woman he loved. Batman comes dangerously close to telling him this, which I thought was very interesting. The whole "showdown" between Gordon, Batman, and Two Face, trying to convince the latter not to harm the family of the former was edge-of-your-seat drama. I really thought Gordon's son was going to die, and seeing everyone reduced to such emotional wreckage was really heart-rending.

"Let me get this straight. You think your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful people in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating up criminals to a bloody pulp with his bare hands, and your plan, is to blackmail this person?...Good luck!"

Did anyone else want to wring that scrawny little weaselly accountant that worked for Wayne Enterprises by the neck?!? What a guy! He wants to blackmail, then expose on national television, someone who's trying to save a dying city from itself and the criminals who prey on it? Grrrrrr... Gotta love how Fox dealt with him, even though it didn't really fix the problem. It served him right to have half the city lusting after his blood when the Joker put a price on his head. Now he knows how Batman feels. And how about the way Batman/Bruce Wayne totalled his (rather nice and shiny...) Lamborghini to save the scum who wanted to ruin him? I loved that part. Great way of pretending to be in ignorance of the whole thing so as to fool Gordon, but heap "coals of fire" on the head of that little rat with one significant glace at the same time. Greaaaat scene.

Did anyone else think Batman should have turned himself in when the Joker demanded it, and started killing people until he complied? I did not at all. I would have been almost annoyed had he been allowed to go through with it, since it would have been such an utter waste. I mean, I can totally understand why the character would be tortured by the thought of innocents being murdered because of him, but this is kind of a different way of asking the same question of should we negotiate with terrorists? Giving in to the demands of evil people would be acknowledging them as in control, and for that reason alone I think the good should resist the tyrannical demands of evil, come what may.


This movie tackles several age-old questions about the nature of right and wrong, which I found rather refreshing. Too many Hollywood productions and movie heroes fail the test of morality, but I am happy to say that TDK did not. Tempted, pushed, and even thrown past his limits, Batman does not "cross the line" and break his moral code.

No matter how sorely he is tempted (and he most certainly is tempted, that is painfully clear) to kill the Joker in order to stop him from destroying Gotham, he will not, will not kill him. In both TDK and BB, there is a common theme of the only thing that divides good men from evil men are their choices. What separates good from evil, if they make use of the same limitless methods? Who decides what is good, and what is evil, if there is no difference between the hero and the villain? Can good men do bad things, and still remain "good"? I know nothing about the worldview of director Christopher Nolan and the rest of this film's makers, but the message of this movie is that the end does not justify the means.

One rather uplifting element in an otherwise depressing scene is the two ferries. Both wired with bombs, one loaded with innocent civillians, the other with hardened criminals, each will explode at midnight if one does not destroy the other first. Both boatloads of people yell, argue, and fight amongst themselves. "Survival of the fittest" becomes "survival of those who are fit to live." The criminals aren't, argue the citizens; they've had their chance at a decent life. But even after much debate, and a vote which declares an overwhelming majority in favour of blowing up the other boat, each comes shamefully close, but no one wants to push the button that will destroy the other ferry. After midnight has come and gone, each ferry realizes that the other did not blow them to pieces. The realization that they did not want to kill each other was rather touching, IMO, and Batman almost exultingly throws this up to the Joker's face, when he comes close to quoting a line from the first movie. Not everyone is evil, and there are still good people out there. Gotham is worth saving.


This movie, with its violence and dark storyline which are offensive to some and horrifying to others, is not a symptom of a derilect and rotten society, it is a warning of what just a society will become. When you take away the value of human life, the moral values that are the crutches and very life-support of civilization, when decent people look the other way in fear and apathy, Gotham is what you get. "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."

I may be over analyzing this movie, I may be a dork and total loser for writing such a ridiculously long review, and I may be reading too much into the nuances and themes incorportated into the plot, but in my humble opinion, they are there, if you look. One reason I've allowed myself to enjoy these movies so much is because of their strong moral compass, their (excuse the word) "passion" and intensity, and heretofore decent worldview. Quite refreshing, IMVHO.

Alright already, enough intellectual nonsense, let's get to the fun stuff. For all it's heavy plots and dark twists, TDK wasn't entirely devoid of humour!! I laughed in several places, and despite having seen it previously in a trailer, I loved it when Rachel hit the Joker and he says, "Ooooh, I like that," to which Batman suddenly appears and replies, "Then you're going to love me!"

I also got a big laugh out of Lucius Fox/Morgan Freeman taking jab at the impeccably-clad Bruce Wayne when he mentions that he needs a new suit; referring, of course to Batman. "Three buttons are a bit 'nineties, Mr. Wayne..." ROFTLOL!!! Heck, forget Heath Ledger -- Armani should get an Oscar for Bruce's drool-worthy suits!! lol. I caught his name in the credits, but designer duds or no, you've got to admit Bruce Wayne knows how to dress. ;-) Rachel's not too bad, either. She had a pair of t-straps on that looked surprisingly like my new ones...

Two and a half hours was not nearly long enough!! When it ended, I was surprised. It could have gone on for another hour, and I would not have felt it overly long at all. The movie just grabbed your attention and never let go for an instant until the endcredits began to roll.

I'm going to miss the Tumbler. *sobs*

Did anyone else catch the reference to cats?!?!!

Aaaaannnnnndddd......one last quote. ;-P

"What's the difference between you and me?!" [spoken by hokey-looking Batman wannabe dressed in cheezy looking "Batman-esque" garb]

"I'm not wearing hockey pads!"

*dies laughing*

Okay, I just know I'm going to forget something I wanted to say, but unless I want to be here all night, I think I'm going to stop now. ;-P If you've read all this, then I am amazed and astonished and very pleased with you, lol. ;-)

Comments

[airehen.livejournal.com]

Very good review, all of it. :)

"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
Sometimes, I wish people would understand that more.

In spite of what society is (and is becoming), it's good to know there's still some morality out there.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I know. I don't subscribe to the theory that you can be good and sit by while watching others do evil. There is such a thing as guilt by inaction.