Unlike most blockbuster flicks, The Dark Knight never flinches answering the question.It is a breathtaking, ominous sequel that quickly shreds the world set-up by Batman Begins, diving from the rooftops of the world into an underbelly of heroism, insanity and sheer, unaldulterated anarchism.
Christopher Nolan raises the bar, and refuses to flinch every step of the way. Every single character is forced into desperate decisions and there are real consequences to every action.
This is not your daddy's superhero flick. This is the way I always imagined a cape vigilante of the night. Bats feed on the vermin of the night, and Christian Bale's Batman crushes his way through it, and you feel the bruises he accumulates along the way. He may not be the heart of this story, but without the stoic, believable, spine of Bruce Wayne, this would be little more than a costume show.
Amazingly, the film is full of real performances. From Michael Caine's nuanced take as the dutifully, well-trained, Alfred, to Morgan Freeman's principled Lucius Fox to Maggie Gyllenhaal's heartfelt Rachel Dawes to Gary Oldman's dedicated Lt. Gordon, the supporting cast serves a real purpose in this mousetrap of a story. Each is given great weight to carry as the film unravels into sheer darkness.
By now everyone has heard of Heath Ledger's extraordinary farewell embodiment of the Joker, and it's hard to disagree with those assesments. This is a tour-de-force embodiment of a truly fearful enemy -- the one who really has nothing to lose. This farewell from such a young talented actor is all the more disturbing because of the loss.
But the surprise is Nolan had another such performance up his sleeve.
While The Joker carves his way through the heart of the film, there is a worthy adversary facing him in Aaron Eckhardt's Harvey Dent. Like two sides of a coin they are opposing forces careening through the darkness at each other. Both actors give gravitas to roles that could easily have gone, well, the Jack Nicholson or Arnold Schwarzenneger route.
Dark, disturbing and heartbreaking. By the time this movies pushes through to the end, there is not a single character unscathed. Every action has it's effect and the Batman is left alone to be the hero Gotham City needs. It is nothing short of brilliant.
Quite simply, The Dark Knight is far and above, the best movie of the year.
It dares to be seen again and again.
