Review: He's the Dark Knight, not the Batman

He’s the Dark Knight, not the Batman

     Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is one of the most spectacular movies that I’ve ever seen. As one of the Batman series, starting from The Batman Begins, I thought this moview would be just so similar to the typical 'super-hero-action' films. All of the comic-based hero movies I've seen were way to simple to be called as good films. First of all, most of them rely on special effects; explosions, lasers and so ever. Also, the hero is literally the "good" guy, one distinct villian the "bad" guy and the rest are ordinary, innocent citizens so naive and ought to be protected. Typical hero films completely fit to the "hero's journey," which makes the plot banal. However, The Dark Knight is different.

      I have five critieras to evaluate and discuss on this movie, which are how the movie is creative, dynamic, well-developed, funny/heart-warming and engaging.

1. Creative

Batman, before diving down the skyscrapers

     The Dark Knight was very creative in the sense that Christopher Nolan turned the "batman" into an extremely complex figure, whom he named the "Dark Knight." Batman is not a super-hero any more. In the movie, he takes control over the ordinary mobs and mafias. But, the Joker is an exception. The role seems to be reversed; the Joker almost "plays" with Batman by forcing him to difficult situations where he finds his limits. The two great principles that "batman always wins" and "batman always makes the righteous decisions" are totally destructed. In the end of the film, Gordon says,"he's a hero Gotham deserves but not the one that is needed," explaining the reason why the police ironically has to chase after the righeous man.

2. Well-developed

     

     The three main characters, Bruce Wayne the Batman, Harvey Dent the new District Attorney and the Joker were all well-developed along with the plot itself, too. The three stood as distinct features of the whole story, showing their own symbolic meanings and values. And also, Gordon, the lieutenant and later the commisioner of Gotham, takes an important role in the story.

     Bruce Wayne, played by Christian Bale, stood for the "truth" and "justice". He vigorously strives to save Gotham from falling into the hands of the evil, more particularly the Joker. Bale's acting was outstanding, depicting a saint-like figure. Also, the Joker was exceptional in this movie, too. Late Heath Ledger showed spectacular acting to describe an original villian who "just wants to watch the world burn." The complex character was well-developed and desribed in the film.

3. Funny/Heart-warming

     Unfortunately, The Dark Knight cannot win many points from this criterion, since the movie was far from both comedies and romantic. This movie was more about action and philosophical meanings. If there is someone who finds this movie "funny," then that person must be weird for he is laughing at how Gotham is breaking down.

4. Dynamic

     Not much explanation needed! The Dark Knight is consistant with a lot of firecrakers, bullets and racing throughout the film. Anyone who enjoys action movies will love this film.



 5. Engaging

     In this section, I measured how much I was engaged into the story while watching the movie. Therefore, it is related to how the movie is "believable" and "not too absurd" like many of the SF movies. A fleet of aliens suddenly attacking Earth doesn't seems to be good film. In the same sense, I believe that a movie would be better if one could take it as something very close to his or her own life, and being engaged in it.

     The Dark Knight wasn't perfectly yet suffficiently interesting and engaging. It's because the movie revealed how the Batman isn't really extraordinary or extraterrestrial like the Superman. Also, gangs, mobs and crime is common in our world too. And most of all, the Joker guides the audience to the theme of human nature; are common human beings good or evil? His answer is both. Citizens of Gotham demand Batman to reveal himself and follow Joker's demands but they also show that humans are inherently good from the pairie incident. There were two pairie boats on the river, one carrying innocent citizens and the other carrying criminals. Joker gives both boats the device to blow up each other, with a time limit to make a decision. Turmoil and chaos overwhelms both boats, with people arguing that they should live. But in the end, both sides do not choose to press the buttton. Like this, the film discusses about the deep nature of human beings, which is both thoughtful and engaging.