Some Thoughts on The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger as The Joker

So I finally got around to seeing The Dark Knight yesterday, perhaps this summer's (Or where I am now, winter's) most anticipated movie, partly because of Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. And it's a justifiably praised performance. Overall the cast is generally so strong I didn't mind the weaknesses in the plot some reviewers have criticized the film for. Ledger's Joker is easily the most chilling onscreen adaption of the character I've ever seen. His hunched gait, shy expression, and slurred speech belie the evil this man is capable of - And then he jams a pencil up someone's f@&%. Aaron Eckhart's farmboy good looks complement his performance as do-gooder DA Harvey Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal is an actual improvement over Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Returning cast members Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman are all good.

Anton Furst's highly stylized set designs for the Tim Burton Batman films have become so influential that it's something of a shock to see a real city skyline stand in for the fictional Gotham. The Spider-Man franchise was shot in the actual New York City, and that reflects the Marvel Comics approach of setting their characters in real cities. But DC's many fictional metropolises are fantasy fun-houses of adventure that mirror the personas of its super-hero residents. In The Dark Knight, Gotham is shot as a gritty decaying urban environment exuding gloomy elegance. Its muted realism eschews the gothic surrealism of most current comic book interpretations of the city.

Some reviewers, like Douglas Wolk writing for Salon, have criticized this version of Batman for not being brilliant enough. He's supposed to be fiendishly clever - The world's greatest detective and the most dangerous man in the world. Instead this Bruce Wayne/Batman (Played by Christian Bale) depends heavily on Lucius Fox to supply him with technological solutions to various problems, like James Bond does with Q. I find myself not particularly concerned about this issue. Batman's super-proficiency is a necessary compensating trait when working with the much more powerful teammates of the Justice League, and it's what keeps him a viable denizen of the DC Universe after more than sixty years. But I like my heroes (Like the relatively inexperienced character in Batman Year One) expressing some vulnerability. And this version of the DC franchise doesn't have to worry about taking down a rogue Superman, yet.