The Dark Knight

(2008) dir. Christopher Nolan
viewed: 07/18/08 at CineArts @ the Empire Theater, SF, CA

After re-working the Batman franchise with 2005′s Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan’s follow-up, The Dark Knight (pleasantly simply titled sans colons and so forth), has been hotly anticipated.  Of course, that anticipation only skyrocketed with the death of actor Heath Ledger, whose performance in this film of the Joker is bound to become one of the iconic images of not just the genre, but of film characters in general.  And the film has taken on an added darkness and interest, morbid as it is, that has people lining up around the blocks as I write.  It only premiered last night at midnight.

Ledger’s performance is by and far the most stand-out thing in the film, which is saying something because the film is a pretty solid action film, pleasantly much more grounded in physical special effects and relying far less on digital than any other of its superhero bretheren of 2008 summer entertainment.  There is something much more tangible in the setting and characters, even with some pretty big set pieces and some flashy action (I can only imagine the gushing excitement many fellows probably feel when they see the emergence of the bat-motorcycle, which is pretty damn slick).

The character of the Joker pervades the film with a maniacal, anarchic villainy, a detached sense of evil, an evil that isn’t anything more than chaos, a destructive, unflappable villain who simply acts to act.

The film plays up some dualities, leading up to the creation of the other villain of the film, Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face), who is the literalization of the goals of good versus evil, the “white knight” versus “the dark knight”, who in the end mirrors the image of his scarified two headed coin, in whose randomness he seeks direction in meting out justice and punishment.  The Joker, who sends Dent on his merry way into madness and villainy, is far more interesting, lacking either side of the coin, who is all about the flip and not about the results.

While this dualism or duality plays significantly throughout and can probably be traced throughout Batman/Bruce Wayne’s narrative trajectory in the film as well, it’s not so overdone that you’re choking on it.  While the film is not exactly subtle, it embeds its strength the the chaos and unexplained character of the Joker.  He offers more than one little faux backstory about how his face became mutilated into a permanent smile, indicating that nothing is really true that he says.

It’s clear from the arc of the story that there were plans for a follow-up film with Heath Ledger as the Joker, carrying forth the chaos that he ignited in this film.  And with Ledger’s sad and untimely death, there will be a severe challenge to any reimagining of this character again anytime soon.  From the art design of the splotchy make-up and stringy, barely green hair to the dapper yet slummish suits, he’s a well-created figure, an image that we’ll be living with for some time to come.

Overall, the film is good stuff.  It’s dark.  It’s heavy.  It’s not the peppiest of the summer action films, but I think anyone could have seen that coming.

It will be interesting to see what they do with the next one.