“When the chips are down, these ‘civilized’ people…they’ll eat each other. You’ll see. I’ll show you!”
- The Joker
In my lifetime, there have been 3 movies that have left me feeling stunned for a day or two after leaving the theatre…oddly enough, all of them starred Morgan Freeman. The first two were Seven and Million Dollar Baby and the third is The Dark Knight.
With a movie this incredible, I could write a book about it…so I’ll just limit myself to a few points.
First, a warning to anyone with kids under 12. Anyone reading this who hasn’t seen the movie and is thinking of taking children to see it should really consider going to see this alone first, then making that decision. To tie into Mr. Smith’s point about how this is different from a Spider-Man or X-Men movie, The Dark Knight has much less in common with the “superhero” genre and is a lot more akin to the “crime/gangster” genre (think Heat) or the “psychological thriller” genre (again, think Seven). This movie is dark and disturbing…there’s nothing “campy” or “cartoonish” about it. When bullets start flying, they don’t miraculously miss everybody…people die. When bombs go off, people don’t come staggering out of the rubble…they stay buried. So be warned.
Basically, the Batman character understands civilization in the same way that non-Leftists do: namely, that civilization is a choice, it’s an act of will that’s brought into being by the blood and sacrifice of real human beings – it’s not some “magical” occurrence, brought about by “inherent goodness” or poetry or song lyrics. And for civilization to flourish and endure, one must understand that stern, strict punishment should await those – namely, criminals – who abuse the inherent openness of a civilized society in order to prey upon law-abiding members of society. Excuses are pointless…”root causes” don’t matter…maintenance of the social contract must come first. This was the theme that was so excellently examined in the first movie of the series, Batman Begins.
But The Dark Knight goes to a much deeper, darker place. Whereas Batman Begins deals with criminality, The Dark Knight examines the existential threats to civilization – the kind where, sensing weakness, a malevolent force seeks to tear down the existing order so as to rebuild a “proper” society. We’ve seen the results of these “rebuildings” in Russia with the Bolshevik Revolution and in Germany with the Nazis…and we’re steadily approaching a conflagration between the West and Islam. In the Batman universe, this force is represented by the Joker (“I’m an agent of chaos!”)
Prior to this movie, my opinion of Heath Ledger as an actor was complete indifference: he wasn’t great, he wasn’t terrible, he was…OK. His portrayal of the Joker took a sledgehammer to that.
Imagine living in a city where there’s a never-ending, invisible tornado ripping through the town – that’s the Joker. He can strike anywhere, anytime…and when he strikes, it’s rarely a simple case of “what you see is what you get”…there’s almost always more to it than you immediately grasp.
In one key scene, as the city begins to descend into chaos, the Joker calmly tells one of the characters something like, “You talk about your ‘civilization”, but look at what I’ve done to it with a couple of cans of gasoline and some bullets.” In the end, the Joker isn’t after money or power or revenge – he does what does because he loathes what he sees as false pretense on the part of so-called “civilized” human beings and is intent on bringing down the façade. The last bit of dialogue between him and Batman addresses this and the scene will send shivers up your spine.
There just too much to get your hands around regarding the Joker, so I’ll stop with that. I’ll just say that Ledger will win the Oscar next year. Guaranteed.
Finally, it’s almost a shame that Heath Ledger is as amazing as he is in this movie, because the blunt force of his performance – coupled with his untimely death – serves to completely overshadow two other truly magnificent performances: those of Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman.
Again, never gave much thought to Aaron Eckhart acting career, though he’s good in both In The Company of Men and Thank You For Smoking. But his portrayal of D.A. Harvey Dent is spot on. He never misses a beat as he moves through the character arc: beginning as a master of a world that’s familiar and plays by the rules…to seeing that mastery and certainty begin to crumble as he and his friends become increasingly desperate to stop the Joker’s onslaught…to finally ending as a twisted, mutilated man – physically, mentally, and spiritually. He’s the one who, in daring to fight overwhelming evil, loses everything, and it’s for him that you feel the most pity. Late in the film, there’s a great scene between him and his former Mafia nemesis (played by Eric Roberts) where the look on Robert’s face brilliantly conveys that sense of pity and sorrow for the cruel fate Dent suffers.
Gary Oldman is, of course, a great actor, but here he makes the long-standing character of Jim Gordon into a real presence. His character reminds of us of the fact that, in the course of human events, when great struggles arise, we will always need men like Washington and Lincoln and Churchill (and the fictional Batman) to inspire ordinary people to hold the line…but the majority of the fighters are ordinary men and women who have the courage to stand in the face of evil. Jim Gordon is an ordinary man, with a wife and family, who is willing to risk everything to ensure that they are allowed to live in a just, decent society.
The Dark Knight isn’t just one of the best comic book movies ever made, it’s one of the best movies ever made…period. From the opening scene to the rolling of the credits, it will grab you by the back of the neck and make you afraid to blink, lest you miss a precious second. This is film making. My congratulations and thanks to everyone involved in bringing it to us all.
