It's a shame when any talented performer's career ends, be that from self-imposed retirement, old age, or -- worse yet -- an untimely and unexpected death. That's only exacerbated when their last performance appears in a vehicle that doesn't live up to their abilities or the best examples of their craft, thus somewhat diminishing the public perception of them and/or their body of work.
Whether "The Dark Knight" is Heath Ledger's ultimate or penultimate performance is still to be determined (the outcome of Terry Gilliam's pending and incomplete "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" still being up in the air), but there will be no debate that his performance as The Joker is his best work. And such critical raves won't be from reviewers posthumously going easy on the actor who died early in 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription medication. His recreation of the character is so stunning most any way one cuts it that end of the year awards are all but guaranteed.
What's most amazing, however, is that while such a stellar performance would usually run the risk of overpowering those of his co-stars (especially in a comic book movie) or even the entire film itself (ditto), here it's another magnificent piece in a movie that's right up there with the original "Superman" as the best such adaptation ever made, and -- so far -- one of the best films of 2008. Yes, you read that right.
Returning writer/director Christopher Nolan (co-penning the script with his brother Jonathan), having dispensed with all of the exposition, et al. in 2005's "Batman Begins" has taken the comic book genre, turned it on its head, ridded the genre of much of its unneeded baggage, and created something entirely different than what's come before it.
True, character angst, guilt and more have always been present in some of these films, but never like this. In short, Nolan has melded the usual comic book material with a gritty, urban cop drama, a study of character and all sorts of thematic material about right and wrong and good and bad, and terrific action. The result is a compelling, exciting and decidedly disturbing thinking-man's version of a superhero movie that surprisingly feels as if it could actually be real.
Complaints leveled at the last, positively reviewed film -- weak villains, lackluster action and uncertain direction regarding the handling of that -- have been completely rectified this time around. The special effects, stunts and action are all top-notch and believable (compared to say "Iron Man" which was fun and exciting, but obviously faked no matter how photo realistic it might have been), but the best effect, hands down, is Ledger's performance.
I'd say it was a thing of beauty, but of course his character is anything but that. While previous incarnations of The Joker (Cesar Romero on the TV show, Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's version) have been menacing buffoons as filtered through camp, there's nothing light here beyond a few funny, if creepy lines (such as a soiled riff on the famous "You complete me line" from "Jerry Maguire"). Licking his colored lips as if part reptile and coming off as the bad cousin of sorts to Malcolm McDowell's "Alex" from "A Clockwork Orange" (in terms of evil impishness), Ledger's portrayal is simply stunning and easily worth the price of admission alone.
What's nice is that Christian Bale -- along with the Nolan brothers -- understands the needs of the film and thus doesn't worry about being upstaged by the supporting character. In fact, this is more akin to an ensemble piece where the Batman and Bruce Wayne personas are just two more important cogs in the overall machinery. That said, the lead actor is still quite impressive, which also holds true again for Gary Oldman in the returning role of Lt. James Gordon.
Aaron Eckhart is solid as the coin-flipping district attorney whose actions -- along with Batman's -- set all of the terrible things into action (just one of the deep thematic elements touched upon by the smart script), while Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman provide some additional gravitas to the proceedings.
If there are any complaints, one is that Maggie Gyllenhaal's character (played by Katie Holmes in the last film) isn't as meaty as her male counterparts, and that the pic is perhaps a few beats too long, clocking in at around 2.5 hours. And it sadly doesn't finish on its strongest point, a shot of The Joker, sloppy facial makeup and all, walking down the street in a female nurse's gown as the hospital behind him blows up room by room until the entire building collapses upon itself.
Yes, I understand the need to continue the storyline for the creation of the next villain in the all but guaranteed next sequel, as well as the final showdown between the clashing antagonists. Even so, the aforementioned moment is so visually powerful that it would have been a great if bleak conclusion (not that the current ending is all smiles and roses).
Those expecting a standard good vanquishes evil superhero pic might find a great deal of this as unsettling, but that's part of the point of this brilliant, but bittersweet film that has Ledger bowing out on the highest note possible. While The Joker's comment "I think you and I are destined to do this forever" now sadly can't ever be, "The Dark Knight" is good enough to rate as an 8.5 out of 10.
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
