Dark Knight review

‘The Dark Knight’ might borrow from the old films, but there are no superheroes here

Gruesome. Utterly gruesome. Where ‘Batman Begins’ re-introduced Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego with an equal measure of realistic plausibility and sinister fantasy, ‘The Dark Knight’ presents us with a disturbingly convincing world where suffering and horror are inflicted without compromise.

After saving Gotham City from the Scarecrow, Batman (Christian Bale) must deal with how the criminal underworld will respond to his actions, as well as putting his personal life in order as millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. But it’s not that easy, as new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) has stolen Bat’s girl Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Striking up an alliance with loyal cop Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Dent promises to tackle organised crime and strikes a fine figure as an honest crime fighter who doesn’t hide behind a mask.

The mafia need help and turn to the villainous Joker (Heath Ledger) who announces himself to the mob bosses with the plan: ‘Kill the Batman’. Ledger is haunting in his portrayal of Batman’s vicious, visceral foe; his lip-licking, knife-wielding Joker is a fearless sadist who stops at nothing to destroy Dent and Gordon’s quest to restore order to Gotham and will make them suffer for their efforts.

Watching this film is like sitting in an electric chair. The tension is unbearable as Batman is outmanoeuvred and manipulated by an opponent who fears no pain or consequence. The Joker grimaces with delight as Batman smashes him against a wall, and is later seen strutting capriciously away from an explosion in heels, nurse’s uniform and wig. This last image recalls Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ but this villain is ultimately more memorable and macabre as his psychoses are in our full view, like a car crash you cannot stop yourself from watching.

But this is not the most surprising aspect of this film, nor is Aaron Eckhart’s admirable turn as Gotham’s would be saviour, or Nolan’s ability to craft a compelling story of moral values that outweighs our interest in any one character. It is, in fact, the number of times other Batman movies are referenced throughout the film. The batsuit’s new ‘sonar’ technology was first used in Joel Schumacher’s rubber-nippled Gaultier advert ‘Batman Forever’ and the vehicle-within-a-vehicle idea of the Batpod was the brainchild of Tim Burton for ‘Batman Returns’, although his Batmissile lacked the brutal charm of Nolan’s hedgehog crushing two-wheeled tank.

Perhaps the most interesting allusion comes in the film’s climax, where, as in Burton’s ‘Batman’ of 1989, the Joker’s fate hinges on gravity, a skyscraper, and Batman’s belt of nifty tricks. Does the Joker plummet to his doom? Let’s just say Nolan’s version of this situation marks him out as the most gifted director to take on this story; if he really is referring to the older films on purpose, he’s only showing us how much better his realistic, revisioned Gotham really is.

This is a rare treat; other superhero movies released this year have entertained but not satisfied. ‘Iron Man’ was a witty fan-pleaser and ‘The Incredible Hulk’ descended into a cartoon fight between the pea-headed smasher and a pointy marshmallow man on steroids. Perhaps the appeal of these Marvel heroes is the sheer fantasy of stories which can now be brought to life by computer effects. What director Christopher Nolan has given us is quite the opposite. Buildings explode, trucks are flipped and Batman cavorts between skyscrapers like a ferocious acrobat: the action sequences are slickly rendered without any hint of computer meddling.

That’s the disturbing thing too. Superhero films have always offered us the comfort that the world is an okay place and evil can be stopped. But there is no escapism here. The Joker is a masochistic terrorist who plays on very modern fears. By the time the he is finished, Gotham is in chaos and the rules which our crimefighters have held dear are shattered. ‘The Dark Knight’ is 150 minutes of excitement and terror with a resolution that is as gratifying as it is malevolent: the film left me with a knot in my stomach and a bad taste in my mouth. Unmissable.