The Dark Knight

Dark Knight is, well, dark, for lack of better term and to be concise. And I'm fine with that. It's what makes this movie one of the best films I've ever seen. If it wasn't for some untimely car issues, I would have gone to see it a second time today. The storyline, while complex and jam-packed, is well-thought and crisp, and the character development (with the exception of Bruce Wayne) is so much richer than Batman Begins, which was a goldmine in its own right. I really hope that Dent shows up in the next film, because there's so much there to work with, and of course, we have Heath Ledger's Joker.

Let me say too, that The Joker was far more interesting a character than Bruce Wayne/Batman in this film. Christian Bale's performance dominated Batman Begins, and rightly so, but I was disappointed that Nolan didn't focus more on Wayne this time around. Still, there was plenty of righteousness on display through most every other major character in the film, making for what I believe is a typical, though extreme, "problem of evil" film by director Christopher Nolan.

Okay, on to The Joker.

I'm not sure that I've ever been more disturbed by an evil on film. In my opinion, Ledger stole "The Joker" title away from Jack Nicholson within the movie's first 30 minutes.

Ledger did an incredible job at portraying an evil that hasn't been seen much in film. I think what made his portrayal so disturbing was the fact that he was just a human. There are no superpowers or "alien-like" nature about the Joker, yet he seems so other-worldly. I kept thinking to myself throughout the movie "how could a human being be so void of a figment of humanity?" How could he be so human, yet not need even the common things that mankind normally lies, cheats, steals and kills to get? He fed off of chaos. In many ways, I see Nolan's Joker more as a portrayal of Satan than of a fallen man entangled in sin.

And while Ledger's performance was great (I'm not going to jump on the posthumous award bandwagon), I really don't think the movie theatre was bursting at the seams with highly-thoughtful film critics making mental notes of Ledger's quirkiness and cackling and responding with laughter and applause.

Shortly after Rachel Dawes had been killed and half of Dent's face had been blown off (by the way, two of the film's characters fighting against evil) we see a scene where The Joker "visits" Dent in the hospital. He's wearing a wig and a nurses uniform...aaaaaaaaaaaaand people were laughing and clapping in the theatre where I saw the movie...yes, kudos to Ledger for freaking the snot out of me with his flippant behavior in the midst of his killing spree, but I find it hardly worth applause (who are we applauding anyway...I didn't see Ledger or Nolan there) and definitely not worthy of a laugh.

I think that some, perhaps many, of the responses were a result of pure discomfort from the evil portrayed and the true darkness of The Dark Knight, which is a shame because I think to truly appreciate a film you have to let yourself become part of it and sift through the feelings later. But I also know that we live in a cynical world that worships anti-heroes because they don't believe true righteousness exists. Sin is way more fun, and I think that was quite evident in my theatre. The sad thing is that Ledger's Joker isn't even an anti-hero. He's not a Danny Ocean from Ocean's 11 or a John Creasy from Man On Fire...he's completely void of anything remotely redeeming on a human level. Which makes me question what was so attractive about him to the audience in which I sat?

Don't worry, I'm not becoming a "doom and gloom/hellfire and damnation" preacher, but we live in dark times. Maybe "Dark Knight" speaks more to our time that people want to believe.