Without a doubt, The Dark Knight is one of the most intelligent films of its genre. It defies the viewer to think outside the generic square and there's a lot in it to cogitate and chew over.
As a film that wants to face off between good and evil, it is a philosophical tour de force, however as a film about Batman, I think, it disappoints a little. I loved Batman Begins because I thought that for the first time we were watching a film about Batman/Bruce Wayne and what drove him to inhabit that persona, albeit somewhat uneasily.
Perhaps the film's greatest strength is also its greatest flaw. In typical Nolan style, it is dense, convoluted and ideologically weighty. In Begins, I saw a human drama gradually unfold but in The Dark Knight, it is the clash of opposing ideologies that takes centre stage. Batman appears relegated to the sidelines in this drama, waiting and watching as a piece of cleverly contrived theatre, quickly spiralling out of his control, play out in blazing madness. Hence, the film really belongs to the manical Joker and public crime crusader, Harvey Dent. Dent represents all that the crime-fighting Batman cannot be... to battle the criminal elements of Gotham publicly and with the sanction of the legal system. To rub salt on a wound, Dent is now dating the love of Wayne's life, Rachel Dawes. He is dubbed “the white knight”, bringing law and order to the chaos that is Gotham... the antithesis to the psychopathic and anarchic Joker. As an observer in the shadows, Batman is more than content to be a bystander to allow this public figure to take over where he hopes to leave off.
Bruce Wayne longs to shed his Batman mask, craving for the time where he hopes to enjoy some normality in his life, particularly with the aforementioned Ms Dawes. She, however, is caught between two crusading men, both of whom have their attractions. Her presence in this film is more than just the obligatory love interest or damsel in distress but becomes a pivotal catalyst for later events.
It is a brilliantly conceived story... character-driven and dense with layers, helped considerably, of course, by some amazing performances. Heath Ledger is superb as the Joker, creating a memorable sinister and devilish villain to send shivers down many a spine. Aaron Eckhart is a good choice for the idealistic Harvey Dent and Christian Bale continues his wonderful potrayal of the profoundly conflicted dark knight. But to me, the underrated star of the show is Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon... the understated, ordinariness of his performance was a joy to watch.
As a fan of the first film, I was expecting this to be more of Batman film and less of a morality tale, while the morality tale works well and will probably generate a good discussion for a long time, I couldn't help feeling cheated by the denseness of the film. With our senses and mind constantly bombarded, the film did not take the time to savour the enotional elements. I wanted desperately to delve more deeply into the emotional core that is Bruce Wayne but he kept eluding my grasp. In all likelihood it was a deliberate narrative choice. Perhaps, there becomes less and less of a place for Bruce Wayne as Batman becomes a permanent fixture in Gotham's misguided imagination.
