A Better Class of Criminal

As far as my fairly comic-hero ignorant mind can tell, this is Batman's third major film outing. There was the laughable and cheesy 1960s television show, followed a couple decades later by a round of movies that were slightly more serious but still highly cheesy. With Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005), Bruce Wayne's batsuit character took on a much darker and mature tone. With Nolan's latest, The Dark Knight, things don't lighten up; they just get heavier.

The question is not if, but when you should see this one in theaters. Have I ever actually coughed up the money to see a film in theaters not once, but twice? If so, I can't remember.

What's most impressive about The Dark Knight is the menacing and sickly fascinating Joker. Informing fellow mob bosses that he is the "chaos factor" and that Gotham deserves a "better class of criminal," the late Heath Ledger's character proves such a scary villain not merely because of spooky face paint, but more that he enjoys death and destruction for its inherent entertaining value. Perhaps this is most clear in such moments as the purple-robed clown torching millions of dollars of mob money to prove that accumulating filthy lucre is a sissy criminal's motivator.

In fact, the Joker is such an impressive and terrifying villain that the "light" emanating from the good guys in this film seems to be very dim indeed. If one were to confront moviegoers exiting the theater after watching this violent and hopeless flick, one could effortlessly convice them the film could have been just as easily been named "The Joker."

And the thing is, he always seems to win. Forget your good-will-triumph-over-evil-every-time superhero movie. The fact is, many people die and many criminals bask in impunity time and again, with relieving moments of Good trumping Evil interspersed through the 2 and a 1/2 hours of silver screen mayhem. But that's what makes a moralist rejoice. Despite evil on every side, the good guys are relentless in their stand, incorruptible...for the most part.

Aside from the Joker and his facial scars of dubious origin, other stand-outs include Lieutenant Gordon, the fancy-moustached man who is a pillar of integrity, quite possibly the strongest character in the film. Harvey Dent is the city attorney who awakens a sleeping giant through pursuing prosecution of dozens of wormy Gothamites involved in a money-laundering scheme of global proportions. Michael Caine's growing-ancient character gives plenty of thick-British-accented keen advice to Mr. Wayne at the moments it is needed most. And Morgan Freeman's character once again delivers as the man of mystery who is the firm and unyielding underbelly for all of the crazy Batmaniac inventions needed to fight back the mob demons loosed from the gaping mouth of comicbook antagonist hell.

And there's the main man. The man who can become the outcast, who can do the job that no one else wants to do because he can take it, as old man Alfred says. The hero Gotham deserves, but not the hero Gotham needs. The most glorious moment of the film, for me, comes when Bruce Wayne decides that Gotham does not need another hero, but rather someone to bear the brunt of the blame, so that the city's people will not lose hope in righteousness. As a Christian, this moment could not but remind me of a greater story in which an infinitely more worthy individual takes the blame for the entire world's sin, because that is what is needed for salvation, rather than a superhero tooting his own horn.

So what does this movie have? Appeal. Appeal that extends beyond geeky comic book infatuation. Intellect? Check. If you can decipher the money laundering scheme, you're one up on this accounting major. Action? Check. Nonstop, and well thought-out. Wait till you see the air rescue with the forked-nose aircraft, which actually was used by the American military in the Vietnam War. Character? Check. It's easy to see past the bullets, knives, and clown costumes to see raw humanity.

The one thing the movie may lack is a change of scenery. A location movie, this one's all about Gotham. You're looking at concrete and skyscrapers nonstop. The film was shot in Chicago, which seems fitting when one thinks of the prohibition-era mob wars circa 1930.

I think that The Dark Knight is about understanding. Learning to understand what truly motivates one's enemy. Learning one's own limitations. Understanding human fallibility. Understanding that though Evil may have a number of mini-triumphs, Good will ultimately triumph just because it's Good.

"Why so serious?" Jokerman asks? Because the film will leave you with a lot to ponder. And, perhaps, because a clown holding a knife to one's throat instantly slays any remaining shreds of belief in a happy and soaring comic book story.