Let me get this out of the way now: I'm giving "The Dark Knight" a five out of five. I also recently gave "Hellboy II," another comic-book based movie, the same rating. These movies are wholly different from one another, yet they both succeed because they manage to transcend their genre and create new possibilities for what superhero films can aspire to be. Whereas "Hellboy II" delved into the realm of fantasy, "The Dark Knight" plays things very straight. In fact, some reviewers have compared this film to the epic crime dramas of respected autuers like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppolla. It's not hard to see why: this is a film about good men trying to defeat evil while keeping their moral center. "The Dark Knight" asks the question: can one hope to face evil without becoming evil?
The film opens with Batman (or "the bat-man" as many call him) now a well-known figure in Gotham City. His exploits gain so much attention that there are now copycats roaming around the city in homemade bat-suits toting guns. Although Batman has made an impact on the city by cleaning up mob crime, many people are unhappy with this vigilante who takes the law into his own hands. As all this is going on, a new figure arrives in Gotham seemingly out of nowhere: a strange character with a scarred face hidden under smeared clown make-up who calls himself the Joker. He meets with the crime syndicates in Gotham and persuades them to support his goal of killing Batman. But there is much more to this guy than meets the eye, and slowly but surely he gets the mob behind him as he pulls Gotham City into a stranglehold of fear and anarchy. He wages an open war with Batman, demanding that he reveal his true identity to the world or the chaos will continue. People start dying, buildings are blown up, and the city of Gotham starts blaming Batman for not turning himself in.
Meanwhile, Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne is dealing with personal issues of his own. He is beginning to feel the effects of a public turning against him. He also has to deal with the fact that Rachel Dawes, his childhood love, has begun dating Harvey Dent, the new flashy public D.A. who openly challenges the criminals of Gotham. When the Joker appears and starts causing destruction, he doesn't know how to combat him. This is because the Joker's true motives are to humiliate Batman and, most importantly, to make him break his one rule: no killing. The Joker wants to prove that any seemingly good person can become twisted and evil when put under the right circumstances.
"The Dark Knight" is filled with top-shelf acting performances (especially by the late Heath Ledger, who as the Joker creates a character that will be remembered in cinematic history forever). There are action sequences that rival any ever put to screen before. But it's the beating heart of the film, the ideas and emotions explored by the characters, that turn a great superhero movie into a piece of dramatic intensity that will rock your soul. "The Dark Knight" is an adult story with meaning and purpose. It may be long, dark, and occassionally confusing (you're going to want to see it at least twice just to catch everything), but it's an essential film-going experience you're unlikely to repeat anytime soon.
"The Dark Knight" gets a 5 out of 5.
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