CauseWithoutARebel's Journal: The Dark Knight

I just saw it, and, I must say, I loved it. I'm no movie critic, though, so I'll just write out a few of my own impressions.

First of all, two complaints: the gruff, forced vocal that Bale uses for the Batman persona is downright awful. I realize he's supposed to be doing it on purpose as the character of Batman to help hide his identity when he speaks, but I'd, personally, rather just suspend disbelief on that particular detail and hear a reasonable voice used for Batman. I have less of an issue with Wayne's voice being undisguised in the Batman persona than I do with, say, Clark Kent's disguise being just his glasses.

Second of all, the movie is just a bit too long. It's not so much that the last segment of the movie isn't good, or doesn't add to the film, it's just that Nolan and Ledger craft such a relentlessly vicious Joker that the tour de force that comprises the central part of the film simply cannot be topped. Joker's relentless assault on the city comprises the center portion of the film, and the remainder simply cannot live up to the standards set by the ever-twisting screws that precede the ending.

And that brings us to Ledger, the Joker. I think the best way to describe Ledger's interpretation of the Joker is: "relentlessly vicious". Joker is violent, cruel, callous, reckless, and utterly, completely, downright vicious. I get the feeling most people in the theater missed the most telling part of Joker's horrific cruelty, the hopeless dash he sends Batman on halfway through the film.

The audience in the theater I was in genuinely didn't seem to know what to make of Ledger's Joker, in fact. There are numerous points where Joker acts or speaks in ways that are subtly humorous, but even those moments are tainted by deep cruelty, and you can tell the audience is only laughing at them to try and add some levity in a film that stolidly refuses to provide much of anything to lighten the tone.

Which brings me around to Michale Caine. I think Mr. Caine is one of the most important aspects of the new Batman reality because he just pours himself into the role of Alfred Pennyworth in a way that I don't think anybody else could have. His dry British humor is almost the only source of levity to lighten the crushing despair that The Dark Knight exudes.

In the end, the movie is an effective crime drama, action film, superhero movie, and psychological thriller. Bale is effective in his portrayal of the bone-crushing and brilliant detective, Ledger is masterful as a vicious, anarchic butcher, and the supporting cast - Caine, Eckhart, Oldman, Gyllenhall, and Freeman - round out a perfect picture of a Gotham City that goes from teetering on the brink to plunging into the deepest depths of Hell.

I would recommend this movie to just about anybody who enjoys Batman, crime dramas, or psychological thrillers, but you may want to think twice about bringing smaller children, especially sensitive children. While there is little in the way of explicit violence, the tension that builds around Joker during scenes that precede implied violence is intense and may be a bit too much.

Otherwise, The Dark Knight is a bone-crunching, psychotic dive into Hell that refuses, even in its last minutes, to apologize for or reverse its tone. Batman's life is dark and lonely, and his enemies are warped, wicked, and sinister.

And, boy, that makes for one hell of a movie.