I must say that I was nothing short of dying to watch the movie when I went into the theater … I mean, the movie was everywhere – status messages, critics’ reviews, newspaper ads, radio contests. The fact that it shot to IMDB’s top spot in about three weeks of runtime, about Ledger being considered as a posthumous Oscar nominee, about Chris Nolan’s way of tackling an ensemble cast … everything made me visualize the experience of watching ‘The Dark Knight’ as something great, majestic. I must say, it was not disappointing on many accounts, in fact, on most of the accounts.
I should say that the fact that the title did not have any reference of Batman in it, was something of relevance, and I was only amazed at the way Chris Nolan treated his characters – giving the Joker, Harvey Dent, Batman, Alfred their own place in the script. In an ensemble cast, makers often end up being unable to give proper space to all the characters, The first thing that you realize when you think of it, is that you can remember prominent durations in the movie for all the actors – Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Cain, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale. Yes, there were that many actors and they all were properly pitched in. That in itself is a big thing! Needless to say the individual performances were brilliant. Heath Ledger’s Joker is probably the most brilliant portrayal of a comic-book villain. A lot has already been said about his performance, which was in fact so brilliant, that he received standing ovations in my theatre (and that’s the first time I have seen a villain get that kind of praise). His brutal acts, his delivery of brilliant lines, that psychotic strain in his movements and conversation … he just perfected the Joker in the true sense of the cruel character that Kane and Finger created.
Looking at the other major character in the movie, Gotham City’s White Knight, DA Harvey Dent got another strong portrayal in Aaron Eckhart. Now this character was really critical, as Dent is not an out and out evil personality. His transformation to Two-Face was a result of an overwhelming shock and dilemma. Eckhart has brought that out so well, that in the end when you see the fall of the White Knight of Gotham, you feel something tingling inside you … you want to see more of him. Christian Bale as Batman might not have that intelligence in appearance, and that air about himself as George Clooney did, but his portrayal makes him look like a superhero without any powers, and he has been able to get to that mental dilemma of Batman quite well – two things that form an integral part of the character of Batman. Michael Cain is the best Alfred I have seen, and the lesser I say about an actor of his stature the better it is for me. As Commissioner Gordon, Gary Oldman completes the trio of good that fights the evil for Gotham, and he holds up his end well to complete the portrayal of the trio.
I could not help noticing the fact that, even though it was a Batman movie, Nolan has used batman as a link, to tie up all the major characters, and unlike in other Batman movies, we do not find the caped crusader appearing in every alternate scene, and not emerging victorious at the end (he ends the movie being chased by dogs … I mean that’s out of the box for a superhero movie). The movie was replete with brilliant moments. Apart from the ones where the major characters interplay, there is this one scene where the two ships carrying Gotham’s citizens and criminals are to be blown up (a part of a ‘social experiment’ by Joker). The city people believe the criminals are anyways gonna kill them … but they do not somehow detonate the remote. While on the criminals’ ship, one rugged toughie comes up, asks the police to hand him the remote so that he can finish off what should have been done long back, and throws off the remote into the river. The entire sequence formed a really memorable piece of cinema. Also, the concept of the victory of Evil in its battle against the Good by bringing the Best of the latter down and weakening it to prove a point … how effective a theme to drive a movie! The very essence of Joker’s psychotic cruelty was this, and eventually in the movie when Dent dies, Batman realizes how the Joker’s plan of proving a point by exposing the weak point of Gotham’s Good Forces was successful.
To say more about the technical details of the movie will not be proper for me, as the overall effects in the movie have been point perfect in my opinion. Who can not be overwhelmed by the scene where Batman flies across the skies to capture the mob head business tycoon. Who can not be struck by the scene where Alfred and Bruce Wayne walks down a long corridor, with the ceiling lights switching off as they walk down, and Alfred telling Bruce ‘But I did bloody tell you”. Amazing moments, brilliant performances, brilliant dialogues – everything adding up to produce a whole entity that is greater than the sum. I am gonna watch it again, and try collecting an HDTV softcopy when it comes out. It’s a brilliant piece of cinema, and a most brilliant exit for Heath Ledger. If I were on the panel, Ledger’s academy award would have been a certainty :D
Here’s to The Dark Knight, and all the other efforts that will follow from this same team.
