The Dark Knight

Finally, four weeks after it premiered, I watched The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan. The Dark Knight is a worthy successor to Batman Begins and dare I say, even better.

I'm now able to admit that I like Nolan's Batman films over Tim Burton's iteration of the caped crusader. I much prefer Michael Keaton as Batman over Christian Bale in the current film., but over all, I think The Dark Knight is the better film.

Burton's vision was dark, levied with humourous spots, with larger than life villains almost comical in their comic-ness. Something about Jack Nicholson's Joker seemed off to me -- too loud, a mite too silly, a little too over the top. The film might as well as been called The Joker rather than Batman, and Burton's second outing felt even moreso.

Nolan's vision, in contrast, is even more dark, at least in part because it mirrors reality, the "real world. This embues the film with a grey grimness that pulls you in to an insane world where masked vigilantes and a crazed killer rule the streets of Gotham City (also known as Chicago). I can't remember a single instance of levity.

SPOILERS will FOLLOW:

The late Heath Ledger, in his final role, does a great job as the Joker. There were a few similarities between the Joker in The Dark Knight and in Batman. In both films Joker interrupts a mob bosses's meeting; the Joker falls from a skyscraper -- but while the scenes are similar they are also different. Instead of dieing from the fall the Joker is saved.

Actually, I thought all the main actors (Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal...), did a fine job in this movie. My only quibble would be the mafia and gang characters; they seemed a little like caricatures.

Random thoughts:

• During the Harvey Dent (Eckhart) paddy wagon chase scene, the police seemed incredibly inept -- more so than usual. No sirens. They appeared to be driving extremely slow for a chase (50-60 mph). Too much traffic? See sirens, above.
• I was very surprised, as intended, when Batman chooses to rescue Harvey Dent over Rachel Dawes (Gyllenhall). Nevertheless, I'm actually glad her character died. It gives Bruce Wayne closure. There's no way Wayne will stop being Batman (hey, you know there's going to be another film!) and as long as that's the case, Wayne and Dawes will never get together. See, this way there's closure. I don't have to worry about suffering romantic Wayne-Dawes angst in a sequel.
• The ferry bomb bit: I'm glad neither boat decided to sink the other, and I hope in the same situation I'd make the same decision, but nevertheless it seemed slightly off to me. I'm a little more cynical in regards to human nature.
• Batman crashing his bike to avoid running over the Joker: Eh? What the heck? Don't kill the Joker (it's just not Batman's thing) but what, you can't clothesline him or something? Tackle him, maybe? Knock the Joker's legs out from under him? This was Batman at his most moronic in this film.
• The last scene was one of the best and had some pretty good lines. The "you were the best of us..." bit was very nice. Tragic. It presented Batman, Gordon, and Dent as three sides of the same triangle, each representing a different aspect -- vigilante, policeman, and golden crusader. Brothers-in-arms using different methods to achieve a common goal, only to have one of them fall in to the dark side of the Force.
  

Anywhoo, this is a great film. Definitely a keeper. I'll be buying this one on DVD/Blue-ray.

I rate The Dark Knight 5 out of 5 stars.