The Darkest Knight

*****

The death of Heath Ledger has been widely exaggerated. He is alive, well and compellingly grotesque in the latest Batman encounter: The Dark Knight.

I attended an early morning screening of this film the first day knowing that the nationwide midnight screening had already exceeded the record of $16 million set by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. Over $17 million and counting. But could it be that good? I sat watching reels of future attractions thinking about Ledger and wondering if Jack Nicholson was going to the movies today. I fantasized that he had a private showing at his home, and wondered how he would feel after seeing one of his greatest roles pirated by this young, very capable actor. Leaving the theater I have to believe that Jack felt just like I did. “Holy crap! Heath Ledger will live forever as Joker.”

Writer/director Christopher Nolan’s vision of a darker yet more human, complex Batman continues with this film. Christian Bale as Batman often trades personal asides with Alfred, his butler played by Michael Caine, while Gary Oldman as Police Chief Gordan supports the honest, hardworking D.A. Harvey Dent and his assistant D.A. Rachael Dawes played by Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal, respectively. Finally there’sLucius Fox, friend and Batman gear specialist played by Morgan Freeman. Quite a cast, and yet without Ledger’s performance, this Batman is just another guy with a cape.

The interesting development here is that The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, both Nolan films, seem to indicate that Nolan has figured out what many in Hollywood still grapple with. You can have the best special effects and if there’s no human story alive in your film, it’s not going to reach an audience. This Batman not only reaches the audience but reaches into the audience bringing to light the close interconnectivity between good and evil … and after all that’s what Batman has always been about. While Joker is cruel and unusually deranged there is a specific logic to his madness drawing the hero close to the edge. But, this is Batman and he is here to show us that the defining human characteristic is knowing the difference between right and wrong.

This is not a movie for kids. It’s violent and Ledger is completely taken with the malevolence of his part. It is, hands down, the very best of the comic genre films and will live as a testament to Ledger’s brilliant, but short life. If you want to see the Oscar performance of the year, go see this.