The Dark Knight

[daddytodd]

Saw it om IMAX this afternoon. It was good, but IMHO not great. It was well plotted, and paced at a breakneck speed that defies boredom, but the pieces don't really hold together as a... what's the word? Oh yeah, STORY.

But as I seem to be the last guy on the planet who judges movies on their narrative, you should probably ignore me.

Comments

Applause.

[sh3rm4n04ks.livejournal.com]

Thank you for succinctly describing the narrative which cleverly illustrates some of this (action movie's) themes: Chaos vs Order, Nihilism vs Existentialism, Ends Justifying Means, and Pessimism vs Optimism. The scene with the people on the boats with the bombs may be a bit pedantic, but it encapsulates the crux of the Joker's hypothesis: Chaos reigns, and when pushed, people are cruel, predictable, cowardly, and above all: self-serving. Who will defy him?

Many people have thoughtfully elaborated their analysis of the themes and storylines woven within The Dark Knight, so I won't re-hash them here (Google yields many). Suffice it to say, that I found the story full enough to carry the entire film and scripted superbly well. I cared about the characters, and I felt they were three-dimensional; for a movie based on a comic book it felt remarkably realistic.

It humanizes Batman (and all his supporters) in heretofore unprecedented ways (akin to the Frank Miller work it was based on - and as you described above). What would organized crime's reaction be? If Batman represents the biggest "No" in Gotham, drawing the line in the sand - who most represents his opposite: the biggest "Yes" out there? And indeed, did not Batman himself "create" the Joker by pushing him out into the open, by challenging him to push back, by mere virtue of his own war on crime?

It's an action story which poses our deepest philosophical, sociological questions, and explores them in very poignant, if depressing, shades; it's the sign of our times. It not only expresses an author's view, but it does so whilst being relevant to our current cultural climates; our overwrought Age of Terror and Corruption.

Whereas Batman Begins dealt with Ra's al Ghul's (and the League of Shadow's) assertion that humanity needs to be culled and pruned through fear and destruction, in order to survive, flourish and ascend -- The Dark Knight confronts Nihilism and sociopathic crime. The Joker is frighteningly insane - and he'll prove to you that the whole world is, too. Rather than let the symbol of hope (Dent) become extinguished, Batman himself takes the rap - takes the blame, and continues his thankless, bloody fight - in the shadows as a "vigilante." He's precisely that: a REAL hero because he's not a ornamental, branded "SUPERhero." What could be more Batman than that?