Some thoughts on The Dark Knight

I am, in general, a big fan of the superhero genre. As a kid, I loved Burton's take on Batman, and, like millions of other fans, I was excited to see the new one. I had heard all the hype about how amazing Heath Ledger was as the Joker, and the previews promised something dark and unsettling, so I was really looking forward to seeing the movie. Ever the thoughtful spouse, my wife bought us tickets to the midnight showing at one of our favorite theatres here in Atlanta. The fact that I usually go to bed around 11 on work nights (and, let's be honest, on a lot of weekends as well) is one factor that I had going against me in the first place. I was yawning in line, and there were points in the movie, especially during some of the talkier moments (and there were several - more on that later), I sort of found myself unable to really decipher what the characters were talking about. So maybe this tainted my viewing experience somewhat. Beyond that handicap, however, there were a couple of things about the film that left me with mixed feelings.

Before I describe those, I will say that, with Batman, the filmmakers face a unique challenge that is lacking in other superhero films: there are no superpowers, just a lot of eccentric humans who are, despite their extra-heroic or extra-evil missions in life, are nonetheless bound by the laws of physics and the limitations of the human body. So there are fewer opportunities for the jaw-dropping, escapist images of the hero launching himself into space (Iron Man) or throwing a exploding tank (Hulk) or swinging via spiderwebs throughout New York City (duh). And it's that challenge that sort of makes the Batman franchise brilliant. We're not able to suspend our disbelief as much as we are with the Marvel films, as we're drawn into a surreal, but not impossible, world in which an incredibly eccentric group of human beings have dressed themselves in elaborate costumes, with the aim of advancing a great pure evil or a great pure good throughout a dark, twisted American city. And that's kind of a brave story to try and tell.

And maybe its just that I'm not accustomed to that. The fast-paced, divorced-from-reality, brightly colored Marvel films that have defined the genre for the past several years have led me to expect a certain rush of candy-coated adrenaline from my superhero films. With that expectation on the table, it's no wonder that a film like The Dark Knight leaves me a little let down. The characters are all tethered down by the realities of gravity; the Joker's crimes involve knives and explosives, rather than some other-worldly monster or unstoppable nuclear force; Two-Face, despite his disturbing appearance, is just a guy with a gun. And don't get me wrong, I think each of these characters are brilliantly painted. But I'll get on with my "complaints," if you can call them that. I have a feeling that this is a movie that I will come to appreciate more upon a second viewing.

My main hesitation, I think, comes from the film's pace. There were many moments when the characters spend a long time explaining their motives or describing some complicated element, and I thought that many of these moments were superfluous and could have been cut without detracting from the story. The most egregious example came in the form of the Joker's occasional and random stories hinting at how he became who he is. While the film itself doesn't illustrate the villian's origins, there are several moments where he "introduces" himself to some group of people by telling some story of an event in his life: some crime his father committed upon his mother; some event in which he (?) cut his own tongue with a razor. Each of these stories does little to really elucidate who the character is, and they are each quite long-winded, so they serve only to add length to the film without contributing anything real to our understanding of the Joker's madness. I thought that some of these moments of talk could have been cut, quickening the pace of the film and eliminating some of the movie's duller moments. There are similar moments in which, for example, Batman goes into some long pontification about whether Gotham needs a vigilante hero like himself, or the prosecutors attempt to describe their RICO case against the city's crime lords. As a general premise, I feel that, if a film's plot is to be effectively advanced by dialouge, rather than action, that dialogue has to be quite compelling and well-written. Unfortunately, I didn't think that the writing was up to the point of excellence at which the audience is really drawn into the character's words. Plus, I don't like the raspy, whispery voice that Bruce Wayne adopts when he's dressed as Batman: but that's just an aesthetic thing, I guess.

That being said, another thing that I really liked about the film was the vivid, disturbing picture it painted of the complete madness that the Joker brings upon the city of Gotham. In many of the aforementioned Marvel films, the action sequences take place upon a sort of hypothetical, generic cityscape: we get the impression of the chaos that a battle between superhuman forces brings to a city block, but there's never much work done to explore the broader civic implications of the event. The Joker's reign of terror on Gotham, on the other hand, is not a singular chaotic event, but a systematic plan to break down civic order and crush any sense of hope among the city's residents as a whole. Each step the Joker takes--from robbing a bank to killing an important public figure to disfiguring the district attorney to bombing a hospital--is a blow to the psychological well-being of the city's residents. We are presented with several striking images of the populace poured into the streets, gripped by panic and fear, desparate for some salvation from this ultimate in home-grown terrorist. What makes these images most gripping, perhaps, is the spectre that someone might actually be able to pull something like that off. I think of the demented mind and violent determination of the Virginia Tech shooter and wonder, what if someone with that same disposition, but with immense resources and a great intelligence, decided to carry out some Joker-like escapade? It's far from impossible.

In the end, I really enjoyed this fim, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. The more I think about the challenge of bringing such a strange human story to film, the more I want to give it another shot, leaving behind the expectations created by other recent superhero films. All in all, it is an inspired and inspiring artistic effort, especially in the face of the challenges that its story presented.