Movie Review: The Dark Knight - Darkest Before the Dawn - Page 2

This is not a film for children. It is bleak and unrelenting in its depiction of endless violence that cannot be stopped by the prescribed ways for superheroes, government officials, and the righteous. Like the senseless violence of our times, The Joker is senseless in his motivations, though they make perfect sense to him. He simply has a need to disrupt and corrupt everything and everyone around him, especially Batman. Alfred (Michael Caine) explains it best: "Some men just want to watch the world burn." And Gotham City, as well as Batman's reputation, and his conscience, is burning.

Batman (Christian Bale), who arose from the first movie, Batman Begins, as a symbol of hope and justice for a beleaguered city, is no longer certain in his actions; neither are Gotham's citizens. First hailed as a hero, his influence has taken a turn for the worse. Denounced as a vigilante by some, while others emulate him and take the law into their own hands, the Joker exploits this uncertainty by threatening to kill Gotham's citizens daily until Batman reveals his true identity. Cue the crisis of conscience for Bruce Wayne, and let the games begin. Seeing salvation in the form of Harvey Dent, both Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Batman bring him into their ongoing war against organized crime. To Batman, Dent is the more traditional — square-jawed, gleaming smile — hero the people of Gotham deserve. To The Joker, Dent is the man to bring down if Batman will not be so obliging. For comic book fans, Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face, so you already know where this confrontation is going.

The crime syndicate, reeling under the unrelenting punishment Batman's war on crime is delivering to them, turns to the "freak" Joker for salvation. In a gruesome introduction punctuated by a cleverly wicked vanishing pencil trick, the Joker persuades the syndicate to make him their leader. The syndicate wants to protect its assets, but he only wants to wreak bedlam and destroy the social order and its strongest proponent, Batman. We are shown this Joker is not fun and games and puppy dogs tails. His preferred weapon, aside from the pencil, is a knife. No glitzy lethal gadgets such as razor-sharp playing cards, acid-spewing flowers, and lethally electric joy buzzers for him; just a sharp blade to etch a permanent smile on unsmiling victims.

Article Author: ILoz Zoc

Founder of the League of Tana Tea Drinkers (LOTT D), expiring writer of Zombos Closet of Horror Blog, and valet to Zombos, the noted B-movie horror actor (to his few remaining and decaying fans).

Visit ILoz Zoc's author page — ILoz Zoc's Blog