Doctor Ess Reviews: The Dark Knight

Look at me. I'm going to be serious for a second. I'm not just saying this because I'm still on the "high" from seeing DARK KNIGHT. I've watched the other Batman films lately (even BATMAN THE MOVIE (1966)). THE DARK KNIGHT is THE greatest Batman story ever told on screen. In fact, it rivals the best of the comic book stories. Even Frank Miller's masterpiece "THE DARK KNIGHT" isn't as a compelling and well crafted as a story as this is.

Much of Batman's stories have been depicted in the weekly issues of DC's Detective Comics. The interesting thing is that if you get right down to it, Batman is a detective above all else. He uses his mind as much as his strength and the fear of him in the night to fight crime and protect Gotham. DARK KNIGHT is more of a crime drama than superhero story. It is layered. It has depth rarely (if ever) seen in super hero movies. IRON MAN, to a lesser extent, actually showed us a sign of this kind of depth earlier this year. DARK KNIGHT sets a new gold standard certainly in Batman films but also raises the bar for the entire genre.

What worked:

The writing is the strongest we've seen in any Batman film. There are so many brilliant twists and turns. I love how everything is up for grabs. Nolan and his brother completely strip away any sense of safety or security you have for the characters. You know when you are watching a SPIDER-MAN film or SUPERMAN or whatever that the main characters are not going to die. Yes, they may be in peril now but they will find a way out. In other words, they aren't "on the table". There are very few lasting consequences. But in DARK KNIGHT, no one is safe. Not even Batman. It would not have surprised me by the end if Batman himself had died or been severely injured. This sense of danger goes to a point, towards the end of the film, where there is a real sense of jeopardy and the ending is so much more impactful and suprisingly moving because of it.

Amazingly, Heath Ledger's performance even somewhat upstages Christian Bale's, which is unthinkable! Heath is a great actor but Bale has been pure gold so many times, he is somewhat untouchable at what he does best. Heath gives him a real run for his money in this. Bale is amazing as usual but Heath's work really transcends anything he's done before. I was worried going into this that his death may detract from the film because I wouldn't be able to separate him from his character. But he so enters the role that there is little trace of him whatsoever on screen. The strange thing about watching Heath's performance is that it may make you mad for "what might have been" with Jack Nicholson year ago. As good as Heath is, once you see how the Joker is (and SHOULD BE) portrayed, you will be so upset at Jack and Tim Burton for making Joker a clown with very little point to him. If anyone can play crazy and nuanced simultaneous, it's Jack. But what we got was an evil clown. With Heath, we get something more like the true mirror image of Batman and evil incarnate. Every joke has a bite, a tragedy to it. It is the greatest portrayal of Joker on screen. More in the vein of BATMAN: KILLING JOKE written by Alan Moore. I've always said, a film's main character is only as good as the bad guy. Here, we finally see someone who is Batman's equal and opposite in every way.

Eckhardt as Two Face is absolutely, jaw-droppingly, amazing. What is even better is his make-up and effects. This is the greatest rendering of Two Face on screen ever. The scar looked so real and so disturbing. Like something crawled back from hell on one side of his body. It was similar to the comics but not in the "jokey" and disasterous way that Tommy Lee Jones depicted the character. This is serious and realistic. You won't believe your eyes. Eckhardt handles the character so well and does some of his best work here.

I know Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordan wanted out of this film but his contract had forced him to stay and do this and one more. That being said, he definitely did NOT "phone" this one in. He is absolutely solid. He is the real unsung hero of the film. FINALLY, a Commissioner Gordan who isn't a bumbling fool who grabs for a red phone every time there is a problem. This guy does real police work. He even saves Batman a time or two. It's the solid writing the character has deserved. It is much more like the BATMAN: YEAR ONE Gordan that Frank Miller revitalized.

The opening bank robbery is brilliant. It sets the tone and introduces the joker and his psyche so well! It reminds me a lot of Michael Mann. In fact, very few people on earth can shoot a bank heist like Mann does. In fact, if you look at the structure of the film, it has a lot in common with HEAT (also directed by Mann). I hear Christopher Nolan has used Mann's work as an inspiration in the past and I think it definitely shows here.

Notice, I haven't talked much about the action? It is amazing. The chase scenese are so well executed. That being said, this is so much a charater film (and like I said, a police crime drama) that the performances and ensemble cast upstage the action. Don't get me wrong, there are no dull moments. Remember what I said about raising the bar for the entire genre? This is it folks.

Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are so good that they will probably be overlooked in this. Caine and Bale are so comfortable in their scenes, that you may not notice how good they really are. They almost "too good" to the point where you might not notice. It seems real. Freeman has a couple of excellent lines and is so good as always. I challenge you if you haven't seen this yet, to really focus on how calm, cool, collected, and relaxed Caine is with Bale and vice versa. These are two pro's at their absolute best when they are together. Very believable.

What didn't work:

Just as Two Face has 2 sides to his personality, I have 2 conflicting opinions on his storyline in this film. On the one hand, it is very well executed and crafted and as said above, Eckhardt is amazing and so deserving of all the credit he gets for the character. But on the other hand, it is another flaw in having too many villians in one film that you can't explore them all. What happened here was a missed opportunity. The first film really deals with Batman becoming himself and learning to use fear to inspire the people of Gotham. The 2nd film deals really well with the logical next step when all the criminals are so decimated by Batman and Gordan's crime fighting, that they start resulting to desperation. Joker is this desperation. But what is more interesting is that Harvey Dent (aka: Two Face) is actually set up as the symbol of new Gotham. Unlike Batman, he has a face. He is good incarnate. He is fearless. He is something for Gotham to believe in. Gotham's first trial in BATMAN BEGINS was overcoming fear to take back their city. Their second trail in DARK KNIGHT is confronting their true inner morality to do the right thing despite the consequences. But unfortunately, we get the third (and what would have made a great 3rd film storyline and bookend to this amazing trilogy) of Gotham's hero (Harvey Dent) being torn down and turning on them which would have finally broke their spirits. How would they have overcome this last great challenge? Well, you find out in this film but it is all too rushed and deserved more screen time. That being said, like I mentioned, I'm torn on this because it is so great and well done but it just seemed a bit too much. It made the film longer needlessly when there was so much great stuff in this anyway and it would have given us a little more time to get to know Harvey Dent before he turned.

As great as it is, it does seem a bit long. Like there is almost too much cool story. It didn't drag by any stretch but I did have a sense that by the end, I was somewhat emotionally spent and it started to feel "epic" in the wrong way. This is obviously a very small issue because what was there was amazing.

What's up with the Mayor's makeup? It looked like he had racoon eyes. What a bizzarre choice of masquera around his eyes! DARK KNIGHT should win for best make-up this year but what happened here?

DARK KNIGHT has a surpisingly emotional and dramatic ending that has a lot more to say than most drama oriented films let alone comic book movies. It will leave you "spent". It makes BATMAN BEGINS look boring and a bit ridiculous in some ways. It's that impactful. An absolute must-see.