THE DARK KNIGHT (Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros., 2008)

Starting his Dark Knight Trilogy with the exceptional BATMAN BEGINS (Nolan, 2005) might make things exceedingly difficult when crafting the next film in the trilogy. But with THE DARK KNIGHT (Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros., 2008) amazingly shows audiences that he even better as a filmmaker, providing us with a film that is superlative in almost every regard as well as one that contains one of the signature acting performances ever seen on screen. BATMAN BEGINS belongs to Christian Bale and quite simply THE DARK KNIGHT is a good film that becomes extraordinary due to one Heath Ledger. Like other popular trilogies this second film to the Dark Knight trilogy is the darkest of the three films. The film isn't just dark it is opaque. Literally there is not one ray of light that shines from this film. Every character is ambiguous. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) falters, Batman rages. Harvey (Aaron Eckhart) succumbs to anger and emotion. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) to guilt. Even The Joker (Heath Ledger) is ambiguous in intent. By the end of the film the only female character of note, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) has been killed and Batman is on the run, wanted for the crimes committed by Harvey Dent. It doesn't end there. The themes and tones to the film are dark as well. The film has many themes among them apathy, anarchy, the decay of our society, criminality and an evasion of responsibility. The tone of the film is dark in every regard from colors to lighting. The darkness of the film is caught perfectly in the scene where The Joker is interrogated by Gordon. When the camera is on The Joker's face he is engulfed in blackness. And who resides in that blackness but Batman, hidden and waiting to strike. Here is the films hero, hiding, lurking in darkness. Bathed in the dark he cannot be seen and this symbolizes what is wrong with Gotham. The dichotomy between the films hero and darkness is bold. I have lauded Christopher Nolan endlessly before and I shall do so again yet there exists in THE DARK KNIGHT a similar dichotomy to the entire film and it is only after having viewed the film over and again that I see this. Nolan is at his absolute best here technically as the staging, the cinematography and the sound are amazing. At the same time though the writing is faltering, the narrative is bloated, one of the films characters becomes utterly unwatchable and Batman becomes too potent, too powerful. All of this can be viewed in one particular sequence of the film, my favorite sequence actually and I will discuss this fully. But first the good and the bad. In my opinion Nolan cements himself as the best director working today with the scene staging, choreography of action and his partnership with Wally Pfister in creating brilliant cinematography in the film. The scene in which they flip the semi tractor is incredible (more on this later). The cinematography actually gets better than the previous film, although the added benefit of IMAX helps. His use of sound is brilliant. I tell everyone this but watch the film, particularly the scenes with Ledger. Nolan puts in this low pitched whine that usually builds through the scene. This sound serves to unnerve the audience and signifies and accompanies rising tensions. Just a simple sound that does so much. Finally Nolan allowed Heath Ledger the freedom to become one of cinema's enduring characters. To be able to get a performer to do his job so fully, to allow that performer so much freedom signifies a director, to me. Unlike Harvey's two headed coin, there is a flip side to all that Nolan does well in the film. Maybe because other aspects were focused on the writing suffers. Cheap and hammy dialogue is sprinkled throughout and the characters are never reined back from their descent into darkness. His use of sound is epic at times but he made an error with Batman's voice. He also errs in allowing Batman to become too powerful and have too many techno toys. How quickly did Bruce Wayne construct the sonar device? And such a powerful device yet Lucius (Morgan Freeman) can walk right in and use it? And what of reconstructing the bullet? Bruce Wayne is rich yes, but his ability to garner anything he needs immediately stretches the believability of the character established in BATMAN BEGINS. Also destroying what was created in BATMAN BEGINS is the character of Rachel Dawes. I don't have a problem with her story arc. I have no issue with her dying or with her being in the middle of a love triangle with Harvey and Bruce. What I do have issue with is her character being allowed to become whiny and bitchy, not the strong character she was in the first film. Rachel is marginalized in this film, to the point that when she does die, you actually are happy to see her go. That's how annoying she was allowed to become. All of the good and bad can be summed up in viewing one sequence and this is the sequence when they transport Harvey in the armored car. As Harvey turns himself in as Batman, the worst part of the Rachel character emerges. She whines to Alfred (Michael Caine) about what Bruce is doing and then quickly appears at the jail to berate Harvey. From the second the armored car leaves the precinct the action is constantly on the rise to its culmination, brilliantly staged throughout. The action is non stop yet overly long; yet the moment when they flip the semi tractor is my favorite in the trilogy. While these amazing visuals are going on the dialogue is awful. The cop in the armored car with Gordon is entirely unnecessary. The film is bloated by unnecessary shots like the guy picking his teeth and the kids shooting cars only to see them explode as Batman cruises by. Endlessly chasing The Joker. And you quite simply cannot write about this film without discussing Heath Ledger and what he did in the role as The Joker. Deservedly winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, we all know the tragedy that befell Ledger. We have all seen this role and how he owned it. Rather than delve into how I feel The Joker reflects society I instead will list my three favorite moments. Number one, when he busts out of prison stealing a cop car, hanging his head out the rear window as he drives. Two, dressed as a nurse he visits Harvey. His drawn out "hi" is amazing. In fact his entire explanation to Harvey as well as explaining his actions is tremendous. And when he exits the hospital blowing it up, stopping to get hand sanitizer in the process? Finally when he is in the jail, clapping for the newly appointed Commissioner Gordon. The look on his face is pure malice and evil intent. As I said earlier, this film belongs to Ledger and The Joker. The film has weaknesses which I didn't find in BATMAN BEGINS and I think those weaknesses are masked quite like The Joker masks himself. This film is Heath Ledger's through and through. And what a good film.