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- First reviewJuly 20, 2008
- Last reviewJuly 20, 2008
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BenMG's Reviews
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The Dark Knight Of The Soul
PostedJuly 20, 2008
BenMG
from St. Louis, MO
Wow. That's the first thing that I'd like to say about the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Wow. I think the next reaction I would make would be a shiver, because that's what this movie does to you as you watch it. It gives you the deep, soul shaking shivers. Why? Because as mouth-full-of-popcorn action packed as this is, it's a very frightening film, it's frightening because it balances on the edge of good and evil like no other superhero movie, and even non-superhero movie, that I've seen has before. That edge is exactly what makes the film so darn captivating, and, I dare say, perhaps even important.
Unlike the first 4 modern Batman movies, these Christopher Nolan films are dark. And that darkness comes from a stern seriousness and depth that blocks out the sunny side of the normal comics. In The Dark Knight, we see an already troubled superhero be pushed to the limit, and be tempted by the dark side by a villain who is so convincing, that it's hard to refute him, even as he strikes the match that burns the world.
His main premise is this, and I'm paraphrasing just a bit: The world is orderly. People like order, even if that order is bad. For example, the news is full of gang violence and soldiers getting killed in battle, car accidents, crime, etc. and nobody gets riled up. Nobody really does anything accept those who are paid to deal with those sorts of things. Why? Because these are things we expect to happen. They are part of our normal semblance of things. But, when someone threatens a life outside of that normal bubble of violence, so says The Joker: "Introduce a little anarchy... Upset the established order... Well then everyone loses their minds!"
That is terrorism. And this film fills us with what is sadly becoming familiar: public buildings on fire, YouTube like kidnapping rants, and threats of further violence unless demands are met. And not the sort of "Take over the world" violence of normal superhero movies, no. Individual killings. Symbolic killings. Terror killings. Not unlike the beheading videos and threats seen these past few years. And this movie really gets under your skin by using these types of visual messages very affectively.
That being said, there is one major difference that keeps this film from being political, transcending it from politics to the philosophical, and that is that The Joker doesn't have an end game. He's not seeking to overthrow a government to establish a new form of government. He's seeking to overthrown the world, to burn it down simply to enjoy watching it burn.
The Joker is the purest form of what we would consider evil. And I say consider because he lives outside of our normalcy. I make this distinction because he is not unnatural. If a shark kills a man does that make the shark evil? No. The shark is doing what the shark does. Our fears project to the shark to call it evil. The Joker, as the embodiment of chaos, of anarchy, is like that shark, pure and honest in everything that he does, though he's a little more photogenic.
I don't want to sound like I'm pro chaos here, because I'm not. I'm not pro-Joker. I'm human, and humanity needs order to survive. We need laws, rules, schedules, and so forth, and for anyone out there who thinks we don't, you're fooling yourself. You're too tightly knit to the rest of society to live without these things. Our lives are dependent upon them. And that's when The Joker steps in to show us just how dependent we are, and how easily we can be shaken because we can't let go of those laws and rules, even if it means our demise.
And this is where The Batman comes in. Sometimes, someone has to break those laws to preserve them. And to do so makes one a little less human, a little less normal. This is the very core struggle our hero, The Batman, a human who must reconcile himself with his alter-ego, his something other that he's becoming or already become. And that struggle, and what it signifies, is what makes me shiver, and what made me say "Wow" as the theater brought up the lights.
*****
Unlike the first 4 modern Batman movies, these Christopher Nolan films are dark. And that darkness comes from a stern seriousness and depth that blocks out the sunny side of the normal comics. In The Dark Knight, we see an already troubled superhero be pushed to the limit, and be tempted by the dark side by a villain who is so convincing, that it's hard to refute him, even as he strikes the match that burns the world.
His main premise is this, and I'm paraphrasing just a bit: The world is orderly. People like order, even if that order is bad. For example, the news is full of gang violence and soldiers getting killed in battle, car accidents, crime, etc. and nobody gets riled up. Nobody really does anything accept those who are paid to deal with those sorts of things. Why? Because these are things we expect to happen. They are part of our normal semblance of things. But, when someone threatens a life outside of that normal bubble of violence, so says The Joker: "Introduce a little anarchy... Upset the established order... Well then everyone loses their minds!"
That is terrorism. And this film fills us with what is sadly becoming familiar: public buildings on fire, YouTube like kidnapping rants, and threats of further violence unless demands are met. And not the sort of "Take over the world" violence of normal superhero movies, no. Individual killings. Symbolic killings. Terror killings. Not unlike the beheading videos and threats seen these past few years. And this movie really gets under your skin by using these types of visual messages very affectively.
That being said, there is one major difference that keeps this film from being political, transcending it from politics to the philosophical, and that is that The Joker doesn't have an end game. He's not seeking to overthrow a government to establish a new form of government. He's seeking to overthrown the world, to burn it down simply to enjoy watching it burn.
The Joker is the purest form of what we would consider evil. And I say consider because he lives outside of our normalcy. I make this distinction because he is not unnatural. If a shark kills a man does that make the shark evil? No. The shark is doing what the shark does. Our fears project to the shark to call it evil. The Joker, as the embodiment of chaos, of anarchy, is like that shark, pure and honest in everything that he does, though he's a little more photogenic.
I don't want to sound like I'm pro chaos here, because I'm not. I'm not pro-Joker. I'm human, and humanity needs order to survive. We need laws, rules, schedules, and so forth, and for anyone out there who thinks we don't, you're fooling yourself. You're too tightly knit to the rest of society to live without these things. Our lives are dependent upon them. And that's when The Joker steps in to show us just how dependent we are, and how easily we can be shaken because we can't let go of those laws and rules, even if it means our demise.
And this is where The Batman comes in. Sometimes, someone has to break those laws to preserve them. And to do so makes one a little less human, a little less normal. This is the very core struggle our hero, The Batman, a human who must reconcile himself with his alter-ego, his something other that he's becoming or already become. And that struggle, and what it signifies, is what makes me shiver, and what made me say "Wow" as the theater brought up the lights.
*****
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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