Review: The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight (TDK), director Christopher Nolan's second movie from Frank Miller's graphic novels, is not your typical summer movie. If that's what you're looking for, go see Hancock. TDK, which tells the story of Harvey Dent and James Gordon's heroic prosecution of organized crime, the Joker's manic and demented self-hatred, and Batman's determined solitude and misunderstood efforts, breaks company with other super-hero movies, leaving the viewer with less resolution than when they entered.

With fear growing more and more intense in Gotham, villains and heroes alike begin to shine. Heroes like District Attorney Harvey Dent, Lieutenant James Gordon, Lucius Fox, and Batman emerge as true souls, brave enough to face the growing darkness. The darkness, a better class of criminal, goes beyond the petty greed of mobsters and crime lords to the psychotic and demented Joker. Rather than simply trying to bully and beat his way to riches, the Joker is more concerned with making others feel the emotional pain he lives with. What better way to do this than by constantly forcing anyone with whom he comes in contact to become like him? The Joker pits petty thugs against one another, convicted criminals against average citizens and vice versa, turns trusted police officers into kidnappers, sets Harvey Dent up for demented revenge, and, ultimately, challenges Batman to become the breaker of rules any right minded individual would become to fight evil. TDK weaves its plot, which is basically the capture of the Joker, through these themes.

TDK excells in almost every category. It never bores. It looks fantastic. Its actors play their roles effortlessly. (I especially enjoyed Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman.) The story is compelling and not overly complex. Where it most excels is in its character development. This, however, is what makes the movie difficult to watch, at points, and keeps it from being an 'enjoyable' movie experience. The Joker is terrible. Literally, a terrible person. The more his mania grows, his insanity deepens, and his chops get licked, the edgier the viewer becomes. This edge never softens until the end, and then only slightly. The edginess of the movie stays with the viewer. As a result, this is not a kids movie. I could not recommend this movie to anyone below 15 and then I would still caution it.

TDK is a threshold movie for all superhero films. No longer will serious super-hero movies have goofy, gratuitous violence and flashy costumes. TDK shows a distinct difference between whipped cream superhero movies and compelling stories told around superheroes.