7-29-08, 9:58 am

Review: The Dark Knight Directed by Christopher Nolan

Original source: Morning Star

Given that the US appears to have abandoned any notion of truth and justice in its pursuit of the American way, it appears that Hollywood has decided to follow its political precedent and provide another court jester.

Not any old joker, mind you, but a truly terrifying incarnation whose only mission in life appears to be to create chaos – the ideal state our free-market mandarins claim necessary for creative capitalism.

In short, Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins is a brilliant, bombastic blitzkrieg designed to reflect the policy doctrine of shock and awe so crudely championed by President Bush.

Shown in IMAX 3D, it is even more spectacular, with Heath Ledger's characterization of the Joker as a demonic psychotic being underscored by the cosmetics of a crazed clown.

His mouth, a smear of lipstick that strikes across his disfigured face, looks like a knife slash, a fact that this sadist keeps recalling as he carves his victims from ear to ear.

Ledger conjures up Caesar Romero's crazed make-up in the Batman TV series (1966), Jack Nicholson's mad ways in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Johnny Depp's charisma in Pirates of the Caribbean.

The difference is that this is no camp characterization, it is a caricature of pure cruelty. It's mesmerizing stuff.

As you may know, Ledger died of an accidental overdose of prescribed drugs and this film was his swan song.

According to some critics, he should be awarded with a posthumous Academy award. The question is, would it be for the ultimate act of corpsing?

It comes as something of a jolt when Batman (Christian Bale) arrives on the scene as a conflicted character, now struggling with the fact that his alter ego is contrary to notions of law and order.

Personally, I have never been a fan of Batman, since Bruce Wayne's essentially a billionaire businessman who created his avenging character to protect private property from the criminal fraternity.

The Dark Knight takes it to its logical conclusion. Having got rid of the Chicago-style crooks, he's faced by an adversary who ups the ante, simply because his hubris demands that he unmask this self-styled hero.

However, Batman is offered a solution in the arrival of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), a straight arrow who is standing for district attorney and doesn't believe in vigilante law.

The problem is, he's dating Wayne's former girlfriend Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a factor that will inevitably lead to the conflict of interests experienced by every superhero.

With Michael Caine as his cockney butler, Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Jim Gordon and Morgan Freeman acting like James Bond's Q, the cast list looks as if it's been designed to spot the star.

Thus, with a script designed to reflect the current post-September 11 climate, it engages the audience at the most visceral level before confronting us with a contemporary conundrum.

Faced with such evil, is it right to dispense with the usual constrictions of democracy and resort to vigilantism?

Obviously, such questions are rhetorical when faced with frightening fiction.

Whether Nolan intended the metaphors is irrelevant, the parallels are obvious. Reality is much more complex.