The Dark Knight

Of course anyone who puts stock into IMDB's top 250 list is really wasting their time, or really likes lists, but at the point of writing The Dark Knight is number 1, that's the greatest film ever made number 1, thanks to an average score of 9.2/10 from about 165,000 votes. Why mention this? Merely to point out that thanks to the overwhelming love shown towards this film it becomes not only difficult to write about it, but it seems kind of churlish. You see it is a damn fine film, there's no point in denying this fact, but it certainly isn't the "Greatest Film Ever Made". But then the reason not to hold the IMDB list up is because of fanboys, you know, those who voted "10" the moment the page went up before principal photography had even begun. As I said, bringing up the fact is really to illustrate the point that no matter what I say about the film matters little, and I know that that's the case about anything, but rather I mean that criticism or praise, it deserves both, seem kind of pointless.

So with that in mind, let's review shall we? Let's pretend that this is really just a comicbook movie sequel made by and featuring some very talented people, one of which tragically died, instead of man's finest creation, apart from gravy, obviously.

When Christopher Nolan took on Batman Begins it was a shock, and yet thanks to many other "credible" directors tackling "goofy superheroes" it shouldn't have been. The first thought was that maybe Batman would finally get the serious outing he really deserved after some camp, albeit enjoyable, outings decades back and some awful filmic toss thanks to the overrated Burton and the just about right rated Schumacher. Now I'm no comic book nerd, so it's not like I was crying into my Batman pillowcase because of these representations. Rather the idea of Nolan tackling Batman brought about the thought that I might actually like a Batman film. And I did. Begins is a good film, and Christian Bale proved once again that he really is great in everything, including huge dollops of black rubber. It wasn't as perfect a film as many made out, but when compared to Bryan Singer's two attempts at restarting comic franchises, the wee bit iffy X-Men and Superman Returns, which seems to think that watching a guy lift things is in some way interesting, it was a fine effort by Nolan.

Leap forward to the follow up and any overreaction towards Begins seems muted when faced with the sheer deluge of fanboy piss crashing over the horizon. Not only is this going to be better, but Heath Ledger's playing The Joker, and he's going to be like the comic's version. And oh look, Ledger's just went and popped it meaning the attention placed upon this has went into overdrive. It's a lot for a film to live up to. And thankfully the Dark Knight does do that for the most part. Although the art style seems a bit less gloomy, there's still a refreshing realness to proceedings that other comic book movies have either failed or not even attempted to capture. Thankfully it never becomes too gritty, with the violence still blood-free and the dialogue somewhat lacking in flips and whoopsies. But it also doesn't play things with that nudge, nudge injokey tone that belies many of these types of films. Any humour feels earned, and crucially right, relieving tension without ever imposing.

That's thanks to some very wise decisions in plotting and the like from the filmmakers. Most set-ups feel genuinely tense, with most concerning a choice to be made, the theme of this one after confronting your fears the last time, with the outcome not always obvious. There are some brave choices that I won't ruin for those who haven't seen it in relation to these. Hell they even pretty much nail the whole multiple bad guy thing that so many other superhero yarns blow, think Spidey 3's mish mash of evil.

Of course all of this would be for nothing if there wasn't a committed cast that were able to sell the situations, no matter how ludicrous. And in a carry-over from Begins Nolan has again assembled a fine one. Bale may only have about three scenes unmasked but like everything else he plays the hero with relish, able to convey the complexities of the character that is Batman even while behind more rubber than is contained in a German fetish film. Aaron Eckhart is equally brilliant as the tragic Harvey Dent and Michael Caine continues to be the coolest uptight butler ever.

Then there's Heath Ledger's Joker. Much has been written about where he went to play this part, and how it may have did him in. It has also been stated ad nauseum that he deserves a posthumous Oscar for his work. Now having not seen the film it would be easy to blow-off such notions as sentimental claptrap, but so far there hasn't been anyone better this year. His total habitation of the role is breathtaking, much like Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. He seems to "get" who The Joker is, right down to speech patterns and what really happened to his face, even if the story we hear constantly changes. And the actual character himself is a twisted, malevolent joy. At times you'll find yourself shocked by how much you're actually enjoying the things he is doing, in the same way as watching Tony Soprano could give you a thrill through sheer wish fulfillment. The Joker is Chaos Theory embodied in one fucked up man and thanks to Ledger anarchy becomes a seductive way of life.

The problem lies in the fact that The Joker is so great and Ledger's performance so convincing that once we've been introduced to him the movie feels duller without him. It's nobody's fault really, it's just that nothing else in the film can quite match him, especially in the sadistic glee department. It's not the only quibble either. Dent's transformation into Two Face is cleverly set up but his turn to evil is too quick and the make up unconvincing, which is a real shame because as I said Eckhart is fantastic in the role. It's also too long, a problem with so many movies today, with a sojourn to Hong Kong particularly unnecessary, the bloke they capture could have been caught trying to get there and the whole mobile phone/bat sonar thing could have been introduced in some other, quicker way.

In the end these are not seriously damaging faults. The Dark Knight is a fantastic film treating its subject, and by extension the audience, with respect and intelligence. The tone is right, the performances top-notch and Nolan has certainly learned how to do action since Begins, showing a far steadier hand in the more rollicking moments. It's not "The Greatest Film Ever", of course it isn't, but it is a brilliant example that Hollywood can at times make intelligent, exciting cinema. And at least this time the fanboys have backed a winner.