Film Reviews

The Dark Knight

• Howick and Pakuranga Times

The Dark Knight. Rated: M. Has violence and offensive language. Running Time: 152 mins.
Times rating:

The Dark Knight is director Christopher Nolan’s disturbing study of how terror can destabilise whole societies. Stunning action sequences derive from a traditional superhero plot, but this chilling film is more sophisticated crime drama than special effects extravaganza.

A syndicate of multi-ethnic gangs is running rampant in Gotham City. Batman (Christian Bale) and Lt Gordon (Gary Oldman), head of the major crimes unit, plan to seize the mobster’s ill-gotten gains.

Before they get the chance however, the criminals’ Hong Kong colleague takes their pooled cash out of the country, leading Batman to kidnap him and bring him back to Gotham.

The Joker (Heath Ledger) then steps in and assures the bosses he’ll get their money back and, in the process, kill Batman. Public opinion has already started to turn against the Caped Crusader and Bruce Wayne believes it’s time to find a successor — someone to provide the citizenry with a new vision of hope and justice.

Unfortunately, no one is prepared for the fiendish campaign of terror unleashed by the Joker, armed with an array of pyrotechnic devices. His motives for conducting his sadistic social experiment are pure – he disrupts the city’s equilibrium by killing and maiming with no goal other than the pleasure of creating chaos. As Alfred (Michael Caine), puts it, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

This story is so gritty and so grounded in a dark reality that it’s hard not to get lost in it.

The standout is Heath Ledger with his take on the best-known Batman villain, the Joker. His portrayal couldn’t be further from Jack Nicholson’s Joker in the original Batman. Every time Ledger is on screen he creates a feeling of unease that never seems to lift, he comes across as though he is capable of anything. At times he produces moments of humour but even these leave the audience feeling unsettled. This is without a doubt the darkest Superhero villain ever brought to life on film.

To say that the Dark Knight is another comic book popcorn summer blockbuster would be to do it a great injustice. Crime drama? Yes. Action movie? Yes, defiantly. But masterpiece?... Not far off!

– Scotty Moorhead