stevechristian

Expert Rating:

10

Christian Bale

Heath Ledger

Aaron Eckhart

Michael Caine

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Finally it is here. The single most antisipated film of 2008. Sadly one of the reasons for that antisipation is the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger. I can say that- only now after seeing and experiencing this film- can we understand what a great talent we have lost. Only after seeing his total immersion into the role of a Hanibal Lecter type persona, can you come to appreciate what a great actor he was. What a great actor he could have been.

I should also add that this is a very dark movie in its themes. It is surprising to me that it has been rated PG-13. It is not a typical superhero movie. Your kids will want to see it because they think its like Spider Man. But it is NOT like Spider Man. It begins very bleak and goes down hill from there. Personally I would not take a child under the age of 15. There are very few, if any, light-funny moments. This a serious drama, wrapped in the blanket of a comic book story.

Perhaps I should explain why Batman is my favorite of all the so-called "comic book superhero's". As a young guy growing up I always liked Batman the most because he wasn't like all the other comic book superhero's. While Superman was super, or Spider Man was a genetic freak, or the Fantastic Four were fantastic because they could be flames or storms, or whatever.. Batman was just a man. He had not been transformed into a creature with otherworldly powers.

No. Batman garnered his powers from his inner soul. We have all read stories about people who performed amazing feats when extreme measures were called for. A man lifts the front end of a car to let a woman escape. Someone endures days of darkness and cold in a collapsed mine, waiting to get free. And so it is with Batman. His is a tortured soul. He has been able to make himself into more than he would have been, had he simply lived the easy life. And so because of his damaged past he has evolved into a crime-fighting machine.

It is darkness and pain that drives him. Thus the title, The Dark Knight. He lives constantly on the edge. He walks in that dangerous territory between good and evil, for at times they can be very similar. How far would you go to defend what you percieve as the goodness in your life? Would you commit an evil to preserve that goodness? And if so, does that become an evil-ness of its own? This is the delemma that The Joker brings down upon Batman in "The Dark Knight". How far would you go?

I might also point out that, if you are a fan of villains or femme fatales, ask yourself a question.. who are the most famous villains of all time? That list might include Hanibal Lechter, or certainly Darth Vader. Yet where do the names "The Joker", the Riddler", or "Catwoman" sit on your list. You will then realize that some of the most recognizable baddies of all time are lined up against Batman. Of all the so-called superheros, Superman, Spider man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Silver Surfer... all of them... none have the line-up of Baddies that Batman has had to face. We know all the names, and for a reason.

That reason is because each, in their own way, propose a different ethical delemma for Batman and for all of us. Since Batman is only human, like all of us, he must then make those ethical decisions. He must face his own demons- as well as the baddies in his current situation. THAT is why Batman is the greatest of all comic book heros. And that is why "The Joker" is the preimeminent "bad guy" of any story created.

The Joker is that wild card we can not account for. He is the chaotic difference between what is normal and what is insane. The Joker walks into a convenience store and shoots all the people- only to leave one man sitting on the toilet alive- to tell the story. The Joker is that part of life that makes us all lock our doors. Logically we don't really need to. Yet there may be that one man out there who would simply be filled with evil and do us all harm. That man is the Joker.

In watching the movie you might be reminded of "The Empire Strikes Back", or perhaps "The Godfather Part 2". You might, because I was. For those are two films in which it is generally regarded that the sequel was actually better than the original. I remember the electricty of the second Star Wars flick. There was the build-up from Time magazine as to how great the second installment might be. They did not divulge the ending, and that was good- because when I heard Darth Vader say, "Luke, I am your Father", it simply blew me away. Game over. The second was better than the first. And So it is now with this effort from Director Christopher Nolan.

As good as the "new" original was with "Batman Begins", this next chapter simply overwhelms any that has gone before. And I don't mean just any Batman film, I'm talking about any film of the genre'. Any comic book hero. Any superhero. I firmly believe that as time goes by this movie will come to be known as the gold standard for the so-called "superhero" movies. This is the apex.

You can spread credit all around. As Batman, Christian Bale simply defines the role. We've already seen this in his first go-round in Batman Begins. There is Michael Caine as the loyal butler Alfred. There is Gary Oldman as the super-trustworthy officer Lt. Gordon. And we can perhaps see the future in the performance of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent.

But it is under the direction of Nolan that this film works. It is his vision of what happens next in the saga that makes all the logic fit, that makes the sequences happen. It is Nolan's world and we get to peer into it for a while. But what a world it is.

As one critic that I respect put it (James Berardinelli), at last we have consequences. Seemingly forever our superheros and their adversaries lived in a world where they could reek whatever havok they could muster, only to sneak away in the end to live another day. Not so in this film. There is a sense of consequences, of possible death. There is the genuine potential for great loss. And when you see that in a film, you then know anything is possible. It lifts a movie from not just good- but into great territory.

Now a bit of insider notes. Originally Matt Damon was wanted for the role of Harvey Dent, a complex character who later impacts the story of Batman. But Damon tuned it down. Others considered were Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber. It went to Aaron Eckart. Also, this is the first-ever Batman film without "Batman" in the title. Interestingly country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakim was "offered" two roles in the film, and turned both down- to work on a tribute album for Buck Owens. Initally Robin Williams and even Adrian Brody expressed interest in playing "The Joker", but it eventually went to Heath Ledger.

So now for Ledger. The story goes that- to prepare for the complex role of The Joker- Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a full month, while he formulated the depth and feel of the Joker character. There in that room he formulated the characters posture and voice. And, word is, he found the Joker's "voice" the single most difficult to create. But he must have come up with something good.

It may well be that Heath Ledger would have gone on to do great roles in other films. He might have reprised some all-time classics in newer versions. And he might have created new characters that we would have come to know. like his own "Rainman", or a "Forest Gump" type. But we will never know. And because of that, and the great respect that the Academy has for his early work- we might just be seeing THE Academy Award winning performance of 2008.

His performance is all that we have heard about, and more. First, any movie insider would tell you that "The Academy", as it is known in Hollywood, just does not award trophies (the Oscar) to actors in comic book action films. The simply do not. As a group they only nominate, and later award, those performances that come from the so-called important films. But truly I believe this year will be different. For not only will Ledger be nominated, but he will be the favorite to win the Oscar as Best Actor. And if he should win, it will be well deserved. Such is his performance in this film.

You could do worse than to choose the new Batman film. It has depth. It is smart, well-crafted, and the performance of Heath Ledger is one that, if he would've known that he would die soon after making it- he would have been proud. And so am I.