SansPretense

Since the closing scenes of Batman Begins, the anticipation for the sequel to Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman hero has done nothing but increased. I have always held the opinion that Batman Begins wasn’t only the best Batman movie at the time, but will be considered among the best movies made. I’m not a comic book fan, so all I can do is compare the movies, and, without a doubt, Nolan’s take is much deeper and darker than the previously made movies.

His Batman movies are as much a character study as anything. Christian Bale’s version of Bruce Wayne is youthful, yet full of the inner torment that started with the violent death of his parents. Wayne’s butler, Alfred, played by Michael Caine, and “scientific advisor” Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) are superb in their archetypal roles as mentors. In the first movie, this is strongly contrasted against the mentoring role that Ra’s Al Ghul provided, teaching Bruce how to fight as a ninja, but with intentions that proved too extreme for the young man. In the end, Ra’s proves to be an enemy, not a friend, pitting his “solution” to fixing the problems of Gotham City against the idealism of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego. In Batman’s mind, the end does not justify the means.

Perhaps this is a hypocritical view for a vigilante taking the law into his own hands, and Bruce Wayne seems to realize this, for it is part of the central theme of sequel. The inner torment of Batman is thus set: how does one balance a dual identity without losing one’s self in the process? Alternatively, one can ask: which identity is the mask and which is the person? Is that even a fair question? Bruce Wayne, at the prodding of his butler, leads the flamboyant lifestyle of a young billionaire, throwing around money and women as commodities, while Batman is a man who greatly understands the other side of the coin. Having lived the life of a criminal (early in the first movie), Bruce Wayne has an ability to sympathize with the man on the street. Whereas Ra’s believes that all criminals deserve to die, Wayne, as Batman, believes in the notion of justice according to the law. His training under Ra’s has taught him discipline, lending a strong contrast to Wayne the billionaire.

I can keep going about the first movie, but the real intent of this post and review is to delve into the latest installment of the Batman series: The Dark Knight. Batman Begins was a great movie, but I find it difficult to compare it to the beauty of The Dark Knight. In this movie…(more after the fold), the characters are more established, though Batman is still working out the kinks in his armor and persona. Batman/Bruce Wayne continues with his inner torment from the previous movie. The central question also arises: what defines a hero? Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the new district attorney for Gotham City, is committed to cleaning up the streets and putting the mob bosses behind bars. According to IMDB:

Aaron Eckhart described his portrayal of Harvey Dent as simultaneously coming from and being apart from the same world as Batman (Dent is the white knight of Gotham, as opposed to the Dark Knight). His challenge was “looking for the similarities and the tension between the two; to find what’s similar to Batman and then what’s opposite to him.” Eckhart prepared for his role by studying split personalities.

Dent is truly a courageous person, putting his own life at risk in the struggle to turn Gotham City around. He doesn’t have the luxury of a mask to hide behind, and as was pointed out throughout the movie, Dent must remain clean in order to keep the criminals he prosecutes behind bars. Batman, on the other hand, is working beyong the law, going places and taking actions forbidden by the legal process. Of course there is more than one conflict between the White Knight and the Dark Knight, and the fact that they share a love interest only works to highlight the differences in characters.

But let’s cut to the chase. Batman and Harvey Dent vs. a bunch of criminals would make one boring movie. In Batman Begins, the beauty of the movie rested with the hero, himself. In this movie, what makes it a masterpiece, is the villian. If I didn’t know beforehand that the late Heath Ledger was playing the Joker, you would you would have trouble convincing me of that fact. Ledger’s entire body transformed for this movie, from every facial expression, to the way he walked, talked, blinked, down to the way he carried his body. Not only did Ledger completely transform himself into a convincing psychotic killer, he took this movie to a whole new level. On one hand, we have the contradictory nature between the White Knight and the Dark Knight, and then we have The Joker. Whereas both Dent and Batman operate within a set of rules, the Joker breaks every one of them. Bruce Wayne makes every effort to understand how his foes think and what drives their madness. That is what makes him a compassionate character, intent on not killing anyone. However, as Alfred points out, “some people just want to watch the world burn.” The Joker’s gimmick through the whole movie is to turn people around, twisting them to do things that are contrary to human nature, and through every step of the way, he achieves victory. As Bruce Wayne struggles with NOT becoming what the Joker is pushing him to become, the Joker is tearing the city apart. Even in the end, though his biggest “prank” is thwarted (oh come on, everyone knows Batman was going to succeed in stopping him), the question is raised on who gets the final laugh.

The movie also raises a tough question for society. The Joker plays on the fears of the people in order to turn them against the vigilantism of Batman. The hero himself crosses a line to the point that Fox threatens to resign. We demand for justice in our society, but at what price? The Joker kills people in order to get to Batman. The people’s wrath turns towards the Dark Knight. Bruce struggles with the question on whether or not he’s doing more harm than good. As Alfred points out, however, that Batman is in a position to ask and answer those hard questions for the common good, whereas others don’t have that responsibility or power. Do you bow down to the demands of the mob, who have bowed down to the demands of the killer, in order to possibly save a few lives at the cost of empowering those who took the lives? Or do you fight on, carrying the burden and weight of the lives that were lost in the process? The connection to the struggles of our real world is obvious.

Every once in a while I see a movie that makes me want to redefine my rating scale. The Dark Knight is one of these movies. It gets a 5/5 stars, ahead of the 4/5 stars from Batman Begins. This is a must-see movie