The Dark Knight - an alternate review

It's been a very busy week for me but we finally managed to squeeze in The Dark Knight in our tight schedules! And I must say.... WHOAAA!!! Perhaps the best (or sickest) Batman movie of all time! (Or at least, the best so far!)



I've been watching all the reviews lately about the Dark Knight and almost always we go down to the comparison between Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson. Perhaps fuelled by Ledger's death, I actually see more "Joker" hypes and reviews rather than Batman. Hmmm... Anyway... Personally, I don't think they should be compared, with one actor being better than the other. They did the best they could for what the movie calls for. It's not just because of the actors, but the movie themselves; you cannot say one movie is better than the other simply because they are totally different movies.

Years ago, when the first Batman movie hit the bigscreen, Nicholson's Joker was a bad-ass and perhaps the best villain movie character during that decade. Joker's agenda was a bit simplistic, but Nicholson's portrayal is appropriate for the tone of the entire movie. This, in part, makes the 1989 Batman one of the timeless and classic superhero movies.



Almost twenty years later, came the Dark Knight. The world has gone through a lot of changes. The Middle East crisis, killer tidal waves, 9/11, and so many others. The people's world view was forever changed. Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, they do. Yep, it seems times were simpler back then. So Dark Knight (and Batman Begins), in a way, reflects our world view. Hence, we see a darker, mob-ruled, criminal-infested Gotham, with its sicker villains, mob-controlled cops (which are quite prevalent in the later movies, not commonly seen in the older Batman movies), and the twisted agenda of the Joker -- robbing banks, ruling the city, controlling mobs just doesn't do it anymore; dubbing himself as an agent of chaos, he wants nothing more than total chaos and anarchy; total annihilation of established order. Whatever you want to call it.



Anyway, enough comparison... They're both good anyway... :)

Seeing Ledger's portrayal of the Joker, I now understand why some critics are expecting him to win some awards. He's damn scary! He leaves no doubt as to why this psychopathic criminal genius is one of the best (if not the damned best) archvillain of Batman.

Now, aside from Heath Ledger, there are other reasons why The Dark Knight is a great movie.

I really like the cool new gadgets provided by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). From the new armor, to the Batcycle ejecting-from-the-Batmobile. And don't forget about his sonar mapping thingamajjig; converting all cellphones in Gotham city into a kind of a sonar mapping device, then feeding all of the info to a central device that only Fox has access to. With this contraption, Batman can "see" the entire city, enabling him to track down the Joker as soon as he started broadcasting. Of course, this was a bit too powerful for one man to possess, so Fox had to destroy it in the end.

Alfred (Michael Caine) is a fully revamped character in the last two movies. He is not just your ordinary English butler; he's an English butler slash medic slash veteran bounty hunter slash wise old man slash father-figure of sorts. He has a bigger role here than in any of the other previous movies. He fully understands what Batman means to Gotham. What Batman needs to be to Gotham. That Batman doesn't need to be a hero; he needs to be something more. He's role is significant to Batman's transformation into the Dark Knight. Best quote in the movie that in a way sums up the movie is the one said by Alfred:

Endure. You can be the outcast. You can make the choice that noone else will face: the RIGHT choice.

And with that, Batman made the choice; to protect what Gotham has gained through the work of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) before he became Two-Face, Batman will become the villain, the target, the scapegoat. What the 28 Laws of Power calls the Cat's Paw, if I remember correctly.

Harvey Dent, as District Attorney, worked hard to clean the streets of Gotham. He was what Batman was waiting for; the "beacon of light", the "white knight". One who is just and uncorruptible -- well, at least before the accident and how Joker pushed him. I guess that's the problem when everything is dependent on the reputation of one man. One blemish, one mistake and poof. Everything will go to waste. Realizing this, Batman made that choice and took the blame for everything that Two-Face has done. Dent must remain pure and perfect. Never got his hands dirty. Damn! I really love that part! Making the hard choices. The defining moment of being more than just a hero. :)

Dang! I guess that's it for now. It's been quite a long post already. All in all, I love the Dark Knight. One of the best movies of all time.