Movie Review: The Dark Knight
The Batman. My favorite comic book character of all time. Followed secondly by The Daredevil, then the usual suspects (X-Men, Superman, Spiderman, etc…)
I wrote an excited review of Batman Begins. When I heard they were making another movie in this series, I knew I had to see it. All the hype surrounding Heath Ledger made it all more interesting. The Joker was brilliant, as good as Nicholsen’s. Seriously, who among you did not raise at least one eyebrow upon hearing that he was cast in the role? I was skeptical. His performance, however, was award winning. As good as it was, the further development of the Batman character was what won me over on this movie.
The cinematography was wonderful. The plot was well conceived (if a bit long). The movie benefited from great casting and a good story line. The themes of the movie are very timely. However, it’s success is owed in large part to the brilliance of The Batman character. Christian Bale is the best Batman yet.
Uncompromising, relentless, unafraid, single-minded. Everything I wish I was. His pursuit of justice and a peaceful Gotham City crossed every boundary. Not blurring the line of right and wrong, but definitely showing the absurdity and flaws of “the system”. Ironically, this is what The Joker character is driven by as well, though he fails because he is, well, evil.
spoiler alert
The clincher for me, however, was the ending. As a follower of Jesus, it made my heart sing, point and say “there! there it is!” In a small way, however unintentionally, The Dark Knight illustrates what it takes to be a savior of men. The analogy is flawed in many ways, of course, what analogy isn’t!? But it still holds.
Gotham City had finally found hope in the midst of complete chaos. The City is a cesspool of criminal activity. Utterly corrupt. The mob runs the show. The police and government are either sold out to the criminals or afraid to do anything about it (much like our human predicament…), however finally a ray of light: The Batman willing to fight back and a knew “Knight in Shining Armor”: Harvey Dent, a DA who is finally willing to prosecute, unafraid of the death threats and retaliations, not despairing of a system that cannot “process” criminals (appellate court mucking up the process, etc…), Dent fights to finally, FINALLY clean up the streets.
However, after a series of events (known to the comic book readers, but not named here) Dent snaps and becomes the criminal “Two-Face Dent” and kills several police officers and several innocent citizens. These crimes are known only to The Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and The Joker. If word of these crimes get out, Harvey Dent will be discredited, the criminals he prosecuted will be set free, and all of the work will be undone.
Unless someone intervenes.
In a moving moment: Batman tells Commissioner Gordon to blame all of Dent’s crimes on Batman, completely destroying The Dark Knight’s already checkered reputation. Officially making him an outlaw, no longer just for vigilante justice, but now for murder and kidnapping (which he did not commit). Taking this crime on himself: he preserves (the now dead) Dent’s reputation, and thus legacy, and thus the hope of Gotham City. His prosecution stands, Gotham can have a shot at peace, though it means Batman having to run and hide.
This hints at a deep truth that saved my life about nine years ago:
The prophet Isaiah, foretelling the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth, God born as a man, who lived a life to pay the price we all deserve for our sin against God:
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:3-6)
This small, flawed example in a great movie reminded me of the most important thing one could ever understand: our system of justice, fairness, right and wrong, is screwed up to the point of being useless. All of us have done wrong. All of our attempts to right those wrongs, all our belief systems to try and clean ourselves of our guilt, are helpless in the face of the weight of our crimes. Only by someone coming in with a new system of justice, sacrificing themselves and fixing the wrongs we’ve done for us, can give us any hope.
(And yes, I realize that it’s a bit lame to break a long blogging silence with a post about a movie, but I promise, some new content is coming. I have a few posts brewing about Perspicuity and Distanciation, Monergism vs. Synergism, my journey towards Reformed Theology, and what God is showing me in scripture recently.)
matt, i look forward to some new theological postings! and thank you for the movie post. the amount you “spoiled” was enough to tide me over until jensen gets back (i’m trying to wait so we can see it together)!
I agree 100% with your analysis, Matt, but I’d like to put in a disclaimer. This is a seriously dark and, at some points, disturbing movie. So much so, that I would caution people with weak stomachs before watching. I probably wouldn’t recommend young women see this movie, at least not alone (go with friends).
Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised by Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. Going with a spiritual analogy, I think he portrayed the devil well (evil for evil’s sake, enjoying watching others suffer, etc). I was seriously creeped out and am glad we have Jesus who saved us from an eternity of suffering.
Holly - indeed. This movie is INTENSE and at points unnerving. Not gory, but creepy and a lot of “JUMP” scenes. Otherwise fairly clean, but I cringed several times. The action is on the level of Mi3 if anyone saw that. Use with caution.