The Dark Knight

This film is an extraordinary crime thriller, transcending the superhero genre and its adolescent wish fulfillment connotations. Downbeat and uncompromisingly gritty, Batmans eventual triumph over his titanic enemy is pyrrhic in the extreme. Thematics of sacrifice and insoluble ethical quandaries are meticulously explored, conveying the immense emotional burden upon Gothams saviors shoulders.

Batmans unassailability is negated with cold blooded simplicity, but he is spared by the jokers paradoxical code of honor in an epiphany of profound co dependency. He delights in creating twisted moral tests for the people of Gotham designed to make them morally bankrupt themselves. His view is that men are easily corrupted, their veneer of moral decency is like a flimsy mask hiding the true ugliness within.

Ledger often incandesces as the architect of pandemonium, he is a being of monumental despite and capricious brilliance augmented by a madmans fearlessness. Harvey Dents tragic decline into hideous rage and vengeful insanity externalizes the pitfalls of the psychological tightrope Batman must walk in his burdensome role. Eckart radiated avid intensity both as an avatar of justice and deranged avenger, reminiscent of Cruise at his former best. Bale gives an excellent performance, both charming and sympathetic as Wayne and dark and imposing as the Batman.

The direction was understatedly noirish and well composed, and by avoiding excessive staging the sense of verisimilitude was optimized. A true magnum opus, enthralling on all levels.

The dark knight is a masterclass on sophisticated plotting. Its amazing the explosive dynamics that are inherent in superhero movies because of the secret identities, Nolan was the first one to tap into that raw surging power. When I watch the dark knight I'm certain Nolan couldn't have even guessed the raw dramatic power that was inherent in the story, though he must have known it would be about the joker trying to blackmail batman into revealing his true identity and eliminating his un-assailability. The brilliant thing is that he gives it back to him when Reese Coleman almost reveals his identity. The joker demonstrates his capriciousness when he has the face to face with Batman and reveals how much he enjoys battling with him; without him his life would be empty. Having batman in his power and then setting him free out of a profound sense of co-dependency was so brilliant. The other dramatic fulcrum around which the story turns is the fall of Harvey Dent, Dents rise to power as the white knight savior of Gotham rivals Batman himself, and with the death of Rachael and his own hideous scarring he becomes degraded to the Jokers level of insanity. He becomes enraged by the corruption in Gotham, and blames Gordon for making a deal with the devil. He becomes an agent of chaos when he holds the heroes lives on the line for the sins they commited, but Batman uses his coin flip to defeat him. The dark knight does take some ideas from previous iterations, like batmans identity being exposed, or being at the mercy of his enemies but set free, but it grounds them in a complex real world conflict with gravitas and tragedy. The third component of the story is the jokers ascent to crimelord of gotham over the crime bosses, and he uses lau as a fulcrum to gain leverage over the crimelords through their money. The fourth component of the dramateurgy is the love triangle between Bruce and Harvey, it fuels dents homicidal rage in the finale. The fifth component of the dramateurgy is the hunt for the joker, and that ends with the joker at the polices mercy and seemingly helpless, when he escapes using the phone call and the sucide bomber. The final brilliant component is the sonar cell phones, how batman uses it to hunt down the joker, and how he uses it to gain omniscience at the end.