Batman: The Dark Knight

Although there’s grounds to criticise this film for being overlong and bloated, it’s worth it. Batman Begins was a good movie dragged down somewhat by a silly kung-fu prelude, but The Dark Knight benefits greatly from that groundwork and can get stuck into the premise: new golden-boy politician Harvey Dent and not-quite-Commissioner Gordon have a plan to clean up the streets of Gotham, cutting the funds of the mobsters by dismantling money-laundering operations. The mob fights back by hiring The Joker, whose bizarreness is legitimised because he mirrors the Batman.

Heath Ledger’s Joker, then, is most definitely at the centre of the story, and his performance would have been what endures from this film, irrespective of the actor’s death. And it’s a very powerful performance.

In a way, I wasn’t too happy with how the piece’s two main villains don’t have the dignity of their comics counterparts. The Joker is supremely confident and a master at planning, while Two-Face is a burly and chillingly emotionless thug whose obsession with duality is complex and developed. Here, The Joker is wild, as the tired pun goes. That said, it’s very interesting, how at first, his drawl and his habit of licking his scarred lips, along with his scrambling about letting himself look submissive and taking beatings, as well as his much darker sense of humour make him seem unthreatening, but then you see just how in control he really is, how he has been masterminding clever plots despite his distaste for people who make plans. Two-Face, on the other hand, is happily realistic and the way he’s tied into the story works well, but I do miss the cool, detached version of his character, and think it’s a shame that he won’t get more development. Thing with Batman, though, is we can go back to the previous franchise to get more straightforward character interpretations, but this new continuity allows for a different set of characterisations, and that’s welcome.

The Joker in particular definitely works as a mad dog with real brilliance, and a Joker who likes grand gestures but within the idiom of guerrilla tactics rather than one who, say, hijacks nuclear weapons or (guh…) becomes the UN ambassador for Iran is much more threatening and much more relevant for a 2008 cinema audience.

I won’t deny that the film meanders; it does. It has at least two too many false climaxes. Even Morgan Freeman can’t make technological plot contrivances cool, and Christian Bale’s growly voice grates a bit, while he doesn’t make nearly so comfortable a playboy as Robert Downey Jr did – not that his performance is bad, but The Batman definitely takes a lesser role here and has most of his scenes stolen by Michael Caine.

The usual blockbuster spectacle is very much in place, buildings blowing up and aerial escapes working thanks to a realistic response and dark presentation. The plot wasn’t staggering and will be easily forgotten, which is the main problem this film has, but it will be remembered for a long time thanks to Heath Ledger and his bravura showcase of his range and talent.

I actually enjoyed Hancock more, though.