Not a Hero, But Something More

The level of anticipation I had going in to see THE DARK KNIGHT for the first time is really unparalleled to any movie-going experience I have had before. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING comes close, but there have really only been two experiences to match that level of anticipation: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS and every season finale I have seen live on LOST. With those kind of expectations about the movie, it would really be easy for me to be let down, but let me tell you, somehow, just as it happens with LOST every year, and as was the case with the final HARRY POTTER, my expectations were far exceeded. They were so far exceeded that I did not know how to react during and immediately after my first run through. I had to go back and experience it again, almost immediately, so that I could really digest it, and the experience of seeing this movie for the second time secured it as my all time favorite movie.

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, SPOILERS FOLLOW. BEWARE.

The opening scene of the movie really gets things moving with a heist of one of the banks of Gotham City. It is being carried out by men hired by the Joker to steal from the mob, essentially. As the heist progresses each of the men kills the others, narrowing down the ranks to two men. As one makes note of it to the other, supposing that the guy who hired them said to kill him next, the clown masked robber, silent until this point says, "No, no, no, no. I kill the bus driver," in a voice that will come to be highly recognized. The bus backs in over the other clown masked robber, and then the bus driver is killed. When the bank manager claims that criminals like this Joker who set up the heist don't believe in anything like the mob bosses who clearly fronted this bank, the remaining clown said he believes that what doesn't kill you simply makes you...stranger. And we meet the Joker.

From here there is some very quick exposition where we learn that Jim Gordon has been put in charge of the Major Crimes Unit, and that Batman's crusade to save Gotham is not going unnoticed. There are copycat vigilantes (a la Frank Miller's THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS) who use guns, which Batman does not like, and dispatches them in the same manner as the criminals. Mob bosses are coming together because on their own they can stand little to no chance against the duo of Batman and MCU. Along with this we meet the new District Attorney Harvey Dent, who has been dubbed Gotham's White Knight.

The movie plays out like a good crime drama. There are double crosses over the place. The mob decides to hire the Joker to take out Batman, and in order to do this, Joker begins preying on public officials. The sequence where he begins this with hits on Commissioner Loeb, a Gotham City Judge, and Harvey Dent is brilliantly executed (no pun intended) with the music and quick cuts between locations. This sequence leads directly into the first meeting between Batman and the Joker, and it does not disappoint.

The film really keeps you on the edge of your seat as Joker announces all of his hits in attempt to bring Batman out from behind his secret identity, and then shifting to making Harvey Dent fall from his heroic status to the poeple of the city. The Joker's plans are always nearly three or four steps ahead of Batman and the police, even when you believe that he has lost the upper hand, he is still in control. As Alfred put it best, he is a man that cannot be understood because he is such a unique brand of criminal to what Gotham City is used to. "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

By the time Two Face enters the picture, Joker has really torn Gotham City asunder. The people of the city fear for their lives, and when Joker leads them into his social experiment of a trap, the rush like sheep to the slaughter. His plan is not entirely foiled though, because he kept Harvey Dent as his ace in the hole to make sure that he would not lose "the battle for Gotham's soul" in a fight with Batman. Harvey, having lost everything he ever cared about (Rachel Dawes), and becoming heavily scarred from half of his face burning nearly all the way off, holds Gordon's family at gunpoint. The intense scene where Harvey tries to make Gordon experience his same suffering by losing the person he cares for most in the world. The music is haunting as we see what kind of monster Harvey, the former White Knight has really become.

Batman is able to save Gordon's son, but not before Harvey could go on a killing spree of those he held responsible for Rachel's death. If Harvey's actions got out, then all the good work he had done would have been for nothing, and all of the criminals he put away would be released. The Joker would win. But in a moment that practically brought me to tears, Batman says he will take the blame. As Jim Gordon tells his son, he is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs.

There are some other moments through the film that deserve attention. The entrance of the Batpod from the wreckage of the Tumbler (which jumped into a rocket to protect the truck transporting Dent) into Batman flipping a semi longways, and then turning a nerd-gasm inducing flip on a wall pretty much made me giddy with joy. Also Joker's destruction of a Gotham City hospital to cover up Dent's departure, and get some hostages was beautifully done. And Joker's magic trick in his first real scene really set the stage for his calculated insanity.

There is more, and I could probably go on for hours about why I loved the movie, but I don't want to bore you. So, let me know what you thought of the movie. Was it as good as I said it is? What parts did I not mention that would be worth a shout out? Did I write this well enough for you? Let me know. You can comment on this after all.

Next time I'll talk about Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Until then.


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