Dan's Papers - July 18, 2008 - Flick Picks by Ian Stark

In this year of the superheroes, with Iron Man and Hulk making successful turns, it's time for the next comic-book legend to step up for a movie based on his adventures. But unlike the Marvel characters that have made such a splash as of late, this instantly-recognizable-to-all icon is from a different company, and after you see The Dark Knight, you'll see he's also in a different league - a league of his own.

Most people tend to agree that the Spiderman movies are wonderful, but when it comes to heroes who dominate the media, Batman still rules the spandex-suited roost. And Bats has come a long way, once relegated (but beloved) as the spoofy, goofy, POW!, ZAP!, TV hero with the popular theme song. But when director Tim Burton first brought the Caped Crusader to the movie house, he based the personality instead on the very-un-Adam West-like, brooding vigilante that had already revolutionized comics with an ultra-real, bleak and violent style. The Burton Batman was a hit, basically paving the way for the glut of adult-oriented superhero movies we see today.

However, after Batman and Batman Returns, Burton dropped the project, and the Bat-movies that followed without his guidance were atrocious.

Fast-forward to 2005, when director Christopher Nolan revisited the franchise by adding superior actors, a powerful story and more realism. His movie Batman Begins insisted on the title character being not only exciting, but totally believable, and ended up creating a singular effort: a comic book-turned-movie so meaty that the action wasn't all that necessary. A powerful piece of work, but could he create a sequel that meets the set standard?

Mission accomplished. The Dark Knight is (sorry, Hulk) incredible.

With the last movie giving us the back story, we now get to meet the dark world that birthed such a dark hero. Gotham City (Batman's hometown) is a rusty barbwire web of political foes and organized crime with the good and bad forced to play off each other endlessly. All the while, Batman (Christian Bale) is in the mix, knocking out evil with his ninja skill and extensive arsenal, yet he remains a distrusted vigilante by the residents of this nervous and assaulted city. But liked or not, he's out there working for justice, and he's not alone in his battle, as legit cops like Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are furiously cracking down on the mob - a task they can finally accomplish now that Batman has the baddies in disarray. In fact, the good guys are doing so well, the Dark Knight starts considering getting out of the battle and returning to a Bat-free life as millionaire Bruce Wayne - his true identity.

Unfortunately, with Batman serving as such a powerful force for good, the pendulum of life's conflict between good and evil swings back hard by introducing a new kind of evil to this battle-scarred berg: the Joker (Heath Ledger). Forget Jack Nicholson's 50-year-old laughing thug with panache - Ledger's laughing menace is a sick murderer who loves, loves, loves pain, be it either inflicting or receiving. He's a psychopath who has no motive but to create endless chaos, and to the late actor's credit, he does such an amazing job you forget the tragedy of his shortened real life as you're swept up in this role that has been perfected. He is, in fact, so good in The Dark Knight, that there is already major media buzz that he could be nominated for a posthumous Oscar, and your faithful critic finds that to be a reasonable possibility.

There's so much more to rave about, but to offer more details could ruin this rollercoaster, which is loaded with surprises, twists and turns, and yet it never feels heavy. Even with the shoe-horning in of yet another major villain (and if you know the characters in this movie well, you can guess with little effort) and subplot after subplot, what we end up with is not so much a re-telling of a comic book but an actual film - one that has finally catapulted itself out of its genre into consideration as a piece of art. It's amazing when you think about it: just like he did to the comic book world, the Batman character once again changes the way we look at a medium. Perhaps it's the fact that he has no actual super-powers, or perhaps it's because his world is just a condensed version of an undeniable part of ours. Whatever it is that makes Batman so successful, it's definitely in this movie, making this a must-see for the year.