Jon Peters Reviews: “The Dark Knight”

‘The Dark Knight’ is the best modern film within this new century. I had to state that right off the bat, otherwise the rest of my review would’ve been read as a fan boy gush. It’s a rare film that defies categorization; it’s a big budgeted, studio tent pole film, but it isn’t. It’s an art film dressed up as pop culture. It’s a film that has been rarely seen in many years that excels on every front, it was the needle in a haystack. It shows that these big corporations are better off giving the money to artists who can orchestrate a virtuoso performance in the grandest of stages. Whatever preconceived feelings or expectations you have, it doesn’t matter to the ‘Dark Knight’; it’s a rousing, unpredictable experience from start to finish.

And then there’s Heath Ledger’s the Joker.

Quick assessment will be to have people concluding that he’s better than Jack Nicholson’s Joker from 1989’s ‘Batman’. It’s apparently is true. His nervous ticks, his grand chaotic persona, will have people instantly in awe and in terror. Nicholson’s take was rooted in popular convention. It was one part the goofy, Andy Warhol-inspired clown played by Caesar Romero and the other part a noir influenced gangster. It was flashy and flamboyant; the perfect antithesis to bring in the 1990s. His Joker shot a dagger into the hearts of the materialistic, those practicing Reaganism, he eventually dispatched of. He attacked the rich in ‘Batman (1989)’ by going after their greed. He was the 1990s before we had Nirvana and Gangsta Rap, before we saw the Rodney King beatings, all at a time before they existed. We just didn’t know it. It’s a good performance till this day, when viewed under its timeframe.

Ledger’s take is scary. If we use the model I presented Nicholson’s Joker in, then we really are in dark times. This new Joker can only exist in a post-9/11 America. Terrorism proves to be the catalyst that has opened up and ushered in a new world. ‘Welcome to a world without rules’ is the film’s marketing tagline. A statement so utterly true for the film and our current day and age, we are looking at ourselves in a mirror. They say the best art and artists show us what our lives are like. If that is the case, then the Joker has shown us what we are becoming. He exists without origin, only here to create chaos, deform and possibly destroy society’s means and rules. He calls himself an agent of chaos and that is exactly what he brings. Nobody is left untouched by him; not Gordon, not Harvey Dent, not Batman, not the people of Gotham is spared his infliction. Ledger has left us untimely. He will not only be missed but will be never forgotten. His take on the Joker is so raw and unnerving, that once you get passed his odd speech pattern, his demented laugh, his reptilian ticks, you’ll realize that you haven’t been this terrified by a villain since Hannibal Lecter in 1992’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’. But you can’t look away. For it’s not the ‘Knight’s Tale’ or the Oscar-nominated actor from ‘Brokeback Mountain’, it’s a man called the Joker, not Heath. Along with Hanz Zimmer’s unnerving theme for the Joker, he’s one villain that can firmly be placed with cinema’s best: Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, and Norman Bates.

With such a soon-to-be iconic performance as a villain, the film’s other villain will be over-looked. It’s unfortunate because Aaron Eckhart portrays the doomed Harvey Dent with such gusto, his eventual turn is all that more heartbreaking. It’s no secret Dent’s fate; we all know it since the character has been around nearly 40 years, but the time and unpredictable direction Team Nolan takes with the character is near brilliant. Keeping the audience guessing when they already know the outcome is impossible, but the Nolans’ have executed another rare feat. Dent’s fall is so much more tragic than its climax. He stands as a mightier symbol of hope than Batman ever could. In ‘Batman Begins’, Bruce’s parents stood up against the cesspool and the criminals as ordinary people who wanted their actions to inspire other citizens. This is the seed that birthed Harvey Dent. He stands for morals and good, despite the times of increased dread and criminal activity. While Batman thought his appearance would do the same as it would eventual for Dent, it didn’t. What did the end of ‘Batman Begins’ promise? Escalation. This is what Batman has brought to the table now.

Villains are more theatrical and are willing to step boundaries unbeknownst in a time before Batman. But in Dent’s Gotham, he is determined to halt these ideas. He can do what Batman cannot. Bruce understands this and is rewarded with an opportunity to see a Gotham unneeded of a Batman. Dent is a ray of hope. But remember when I said nobody goes unharmed by the Joker’s wrath of chaos? This is what brings the tragedy of Dent’s fall and new transformation. What a great character Eckhart’s Dent is.

It’s amazing that this film exists in the form it does. ‘The Dark Knight’ is many things, but the one thing it is not is to be calling it a superhero film. I thought soon this genre would level off. I didn’t expect it to ascend to a higher plane not seen in a huge, big budgeted action film, made for marketing reasons and escapist entertainment. It is not a superhero film. It feels like an epic, Greek tragedy, with the trappings of a Martin Scorsese gangster film. It that sense, it’s the best crime drama since ‘Casino’. But it also evokes ideas and themes within its characters and running time that call to it that ever so cryptic word: art. Dressed up as a movie to help sell toys and t-shirts, it’s a film that has fully realized ideas, situations, and characters, worthy of classroom discussion. Its technique is exquisite. Its execution is flawless. A comparison to one of Kurosawa’s works wouldn’t be pushing it.

It’s a borderline, subjective call, but everything is there for you to see. Enjoy the action, it’s there. Gravel at the acting; Bale, Freeman, Caine, and especially Gary Oldman give it. Look at the film’s themes, its title, no character is short changed. It’s a rarity to behold. A film so superb, you just need to see it and see it again.