(Not so) Quick Review: The Dark Knight

This will be the easiest review that I’ve written so far. Simply put, this is the best comic book movie ever. Everything was exactly as it should be. The acting, the minimalist effects, the pacing and the writing were all superb. Heath Ledger’s Joker was terrifying. He was exactly as the Joker is portrayed in the comics, a brilliant looney bird who does what he does for one reason: Chaos. Aaron Eckhart was great as both Harvey Dents. Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Sir Michael Caine continued their portrayals from Batman Begins. The only flaw was that I still wasn’t hot on Rachael Dawes presence or Maggie Gyllenhaal’s characterization. This movie makes me even more excited for the next Batman film.

Another thing I liked is that you can tell we are still early in Batman’s career. He still makes mistakes, and everything isn’t perfect. We are watching him become the hero that we know from the comic books. He doesn’t quite anticipate his enemy’s next move. He isn’t the detective that figures everything out. He doesn’t put down bad guys in seconds (though he did take out two S.W.A.T. units). It’s still an origin story. Bruce Wayne is finding out what it means to be Batman, and what he’s giving up. Right now he isn’t Batman because he wants to be, he’s Batman because he has to be.

Not to be esoteric or anything, but the thing that has always intrigued me about Batman is that I always believed that Bruce Wayne was the secret identity and Batman was who he really was. But Christopher Nolan’s characterization shows us that Bruce Wayne is trying to hold on the being Bruce Wayne. The Batman persona hasn’t quite become dominant, but it’s clear in this movie that he is on that road.

The only thing is that we won’t get to see this version of the Joker ever again. Now I see why there is talk of an posthumous Oscar nomination for Ledger. At first I thought it was just promotional propaganda because of his passing, but after seeing the movie, I realize that the talk was justified. With Heath Ledger’s passing, I don’t know if they are going to revive the Joker character with another actor, but if it were me, I wouldn’t want to try to follow his performance. Most people liked Jack Nicholson’s Joker from Batman, but even he doesn’t compare to Heath Ledger. What makes a comic book movie, or any movie with a hero really good is the quality of the villain. For me, Heath Ledger’s Joker is right up there with Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, and Norman Bates.