The Dark Knight (2008)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan | 152 minutes | action, drama, thriller, crime | Actors: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts, Aaron Eckhart, Cillian Murphy, Anthony Michael Hall, Monique Curnen, Nestor Carbonell, Joshua Harto, Michael Jai White, Chucky Venice, Nydia Rodriguez Terracina, Melinda McGraw, Nathan Gamble, Danny Goldring, Chin Han, Sarah Jayne Dunn, William Fichtner, Vincenzo Nicoli, Beatrice Rosen, Winston Ellis, Colin McFarlane, Ritchie Coster

It’s a horrific joke: The Joker is Heath Ledger’s best role ever and it will be his last. Ledger’s performance in ‘Brokeback Mountain’ was far from undeserved, but his portrayal in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ makes it clear that he could have had a truly great career. A career that was brutally brought to a halt in January 2008 by the sudden death of the promising young actor. The Joker himself would probably respond to this with his patented maniacal laugh, but the movie world is crying. Ledger’s inspired acting leaves a big mark on the best Batman film to date. It’s a brilliant rendition of a classic movie villain in a summer blockbuster who finally manages to live up to all the hype: ‘The Dark Knight’.

It’s no small task: to revive and honor a role previously played by none other than Jack Nicholson. Because it is this combination that is crucial and oh so delicate. It is almost impossible to find the right balance. On the one hand, this new Joker should not look too much like the old one, due to the inevitable comparisons with Nicholson and accusations of lack of creativity, but on the other hand, the character must remain recognizable as the Joker in his appearance and previously introduced puffs. Ledger succeeds wonderfully in creating a convincing, yet new and familiar character at the same time. Of course he still has clown make-up on his face, which is also intended here to disguise a facial mutilation. However, the face paint has run a bit here, probably to emphasize the anarchy and chaos as the Joker’s philosophy of life, and perhaps to give him a tragic appearance through the possible suggestion that his tears are responsible for his make-up bleeding. He also looks more menacing because of the black eyeshadow. He also still has the old Joker’s familiar cackle, though Ledger uses it at a higher dose than Nicholson. The latter was mainly a cartoon character who was brought to life, quite brilliantly, while Ledgers Joker has more dramatic weight. He has childhood traumas and comes across realistically as an eccentric psychopath bent on chaos in society. In addition, he is also very easy to digest as a movie or comic strip villain, with funny tics and black-comedy actions. For example, he makes a pencil “disappear” on a table by smashing a skull of another villain on it, and puts a grenade in another victim’s mouth after which he himself drives away in a van with a grenade pin attached to the grenade pin. string in his hands. The outcome can be guessed.

‘Batman Begins’, Nolan’s first Batman film, is improved on many fronts in ‘The Dark Knight’. One of the film’s biggest flaws was that there wasn’t a good, imaginative villain for Batman to compete with. This has now been completely resolved with ‘The Dark Knight’ due to the presence of the Joker, who is after all Batman’s nemesis. It takes a while before a real confrontation between the bat and the clown takes place, but fortunately the patience of the viewer is richly rewarded. Another strong point of ‘The Dark Knight’ is that the role of Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon has been expanded considerably. It’s always good to see this top actor, who manages to disappear in every role, in a bigger role. The same goes for Morgan Freeman. It’s getting boring to keep saying this about this actor, but he always knows how to add an extra quality to a film with his engaging personality and appearance. Here he is a little less the servile sidekick who just does what Bruce Wayne tells him and his character gets more depth. Furthermore, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a great replacement for Katie Holmes who seemed out of place in ‘Begins’, Eric Roberts is just acceptable as a mobster, and Aaron Eckhart is a welcome addition with his subtle portrayal of prosecutor Harvey Dent. Although the film is a bit chatty here and there, ‘The Dark Knight’ contains a lot of action and nice new gadgets. Nolan also seems to have listened to the criticism that the fights were not always clear in his previous film. These are now presented more clearly.

Bale still uses a somewhat quirky dark and raspy voice when he’s Batman, which pulls the viewer out of the movie somewhat, and the cliché of suddenly disappearing in the middle of another character’s dialogue might have been reshaped too. . But these are only minor objections. A little more annoying are the talkative, explanatory moments in the film, in which the message or moral dilemmas are explained a little too easily and neatly for the viewer. Also, these messages are too predictably repeated by other characters and on the whole a little more could have been left to the viewer’s intelligence. Finally, the story aspect of a world that doesn’t need – or doesn’t need – a hero like Batman is very similar to Bryan Singer’s ‘Superman Returns’. Fortunately, these moments and aspects are only a small part of the film as a whole, and ‘The Dark Knight’ is above all a huge success, both in terms of drama and spectacle.

Fans of superhero movies that are all about fun and cartoonish, uncomplicated characters might leave the cinema a little less enthusiastic because of the dramatic atmosphere of ‘The Dark Knight’. ‘The Dark Knight’ has, despite the black humor and fun action moments, a fairly heavy dramatic charge. But those who welcomed Spider-Man’s struggles with himself, appreciated Ang Lee’s psychological approach to the Hulk character, or simply wanted to recreate the realistic, semi-dramatic style of ‘Batman Begins’ combined with sizzling action and top-notch acting. lol on. ‘The Dark Knight’ will conjure up a wide Joker grin on the face of many viewers.