12.21.08
The Dark Knight
I love this movie, and I can’t get it out of my head. The Dark Knight is easily the best movie of 2008. The thing I like about it is how it explores a lot of scary concepts with the plot while also being very visually exciting.
The two themes that interest me most are the collision of the Joker who has no rules or remorse and is literally an agent of chaos collides with Batman who has to stop him. Batman has lines he will not cross and at least one rule - he will not intentionally kill. Then within this theme you have Batman who can (he has the financial resources and placement) override everyone’s privacy to gain the means to find the Joker. For me this touches on the Patriot act and whether as a people we trust our government enough to give them this power. Batman chooses to take the power. Does he do the right thing and surrender it in the end?
Heath Ledger is a good joker, but I don’t think he is the only person who could have played the Joker (Crispin Glover - yeah, no kidding, I think he could have done it). Ledger’s take on the Joker is perfect for this movie and fortunately not over-the-top. The Joker is almost believable as a criminal even though the concept of a makeup wearing super-criminal is silly.
I think the writing for this movie touches on genius and now that I’ve seen it several times I see where the subtle groundwork gets laid to make the plot work.
This movie leaves me wanting more Batman with Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan. On the one hand I am afraid they might lower the bar if they do another one, but if they can top ‘The Dark Knight’ I think they should. And I think the Bat-Man should go up against overwhelming odds.
The Dark Knight is a truly great movie that explores important ideas in a fanciful way.