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July 27, 2008

Under the Peg - The Black Night Always Triumphs

The most important human attribute is Hope. It is hope that keps us hanging on when everything seems lost, it is hope that kept us alive during the darkest nights, the driest summers, and the coldest winters. It is the human need for hope that forms the backbone of the story in The Dark Knight.

It's some time after the first movie, and Gotham's villians have learned to fear the Batman (Christian Bale), and refuse to conduct business at night because of that fear. For every ounce of fear the Batman has put into the hearts of villians an ounce of courage and a ray of hope has snuck into the hearts and minds of the good people of Gotham. The police are stepping up raids, and a new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), is making good on his campaign promise to clean up the streets of Gotham and bring the Mob down.

Responding to police activity, and the bravado of the new district attorney, the Mob relocate all their money to a safe location. As they are discussing the security of the money transfer a twitchy man in a purple coat walks in on their conversation. This person calls himself The Jocker (Heath Ledger) and he fondly remembers the days when the Mob could do as it liked, and then the Bat came along. He makes two points to the Mob: Batman can go anywhere, so their accountant will be caught; and The Joker is quite possibly the only one insane enough to risk killing the Bat. He offers the mob his services. His plan: Kill the Batman. His Price: Half the Mob's money. Meanwhile, just as the Joker predicted, Batman tracks the mob accountant to Hong Kong, captures him from within his corporate stronghold and delivers him to the authorities. With the help of Rachel Dawes (Maggie Hyllenhaal) the authorities get him to agree to turn in all his Mob buddies, and the warrant is served the next morning. As the police move to arrest the mob, the mob decides to hire the Joker to deal with the Batman, Harvey Dent, and anyone else separating the Mob from its money.

This is definitely not a movie for the faint of heart. Even though it only has a PG-13 rating, the movie does its best to bring us all the action it can fit into the time it has. Explosions and martial arts abound and the sense of peril is persistent and overwhelming. Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is astounding. He manages to pull off a twisted view of the world combined with a lust for chaos that makes the whole of nature look downright planned in comparison. This is a somewhat less sane Joker than has appeared in the comic books, and is several volumes more dangerous: Less the bad clown, more the twisted psychopath. All of the old characters from the first movie return in the second (although Katie Holmes opted not to participate this time), and they maintain the roles we loved the first time. All the good stuff has been kept, some of the bad stuff has been changed, and some shiny new gadgets have been thrown in just for kicks.

Overall: Good Action, Good story, good message.

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