Jim's "Go or Don't Go" - The Dark Knight

Well, Saturday night we finally got around to viewing the latest Batman sequel, The Dark Knight. I have to say that I greatly prefer this current incarnation of the Batman series to the 1990s Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and whoever-else-played-Batman version. Those movies were just too campy for me. I really enjoyed Batman Begins and was looking forward to seeing this next installment.

I must say that overall, this film was a dissappointment for me. Maybe Heath Ledger's death around the time of the film's release clouded some of the judgement of critics. I really think that his performance as the Joker was over-hyped. And at times, I found him to be downright distracting. Having said that, the Joker has some of the most insightful lines of the film, which I will elaborate on later. The replacement of Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes by Magie Gyllenhaal didn't really do much for me either. And yes, that thing that they did with Batman's voice was annoying too.

In a nutshell, this movie was slowmoving and at times confusing. The longer the movie went on, the less interested I became in the plot, but a strange thing happened. I found myself becoming very interested in the question that the film raises - how do you fight a war against an absolutley evil enemy that cannot be reasoned or negotiated with? Sound familiar?

Gotham has descended into chaos; corruption has found its was into every corner of the city. Along comes the Joker and takes this madness to a new level. Batman is faced with an enemy that doesn't have a typical material motive - he just wants to see the whole system burn. The Joker has some great twisted insights on morality that I found to be some of the most compelling lines of the movie. As for our hero, he is faced with some tough choices. He engages is torture; there is illegal wiretapping and temporary suspension of basic rights; the people of Gotahm are told things that aren't true under the guise of being for their own good. Again, any of this sound familiar?

Along the way, Batman takes on the heavy burden of fighting this war. He is villified by his friends and enemies for going to far in his fight against the Joker. But he is convicted that what he is doing is necessary; maybe not morally correct, but necessary. There is a great line by one of the hostages in the film. Faced with a moral dillema, he laments that "no one is willing to get their hands dirty" to resolve the situation. Well, The Dark Knight is all about getting his hands dirty.

At he end of the day, Batman doen't betray his most important core value, but he crosses the line and pushes the envelope about as far as it can be pushed, far beyond what those around him are willing to tolerate. As his butler Alfred puts it, he will have to "burn the whole forest down" to win this war. He finds himself alone and his image tarnished. I'm guessing that his approval rating is at about 28%. So much for the rewards of public service.

So, did I like this movie? Well, I didn't really like the movie, but I loved the questions that it raised and am looking forward the where all of this leads Batman in the next installment. I think it would make for some lively political discussions, but that's not enough for me to recommend The Dark Knight. I have to reluctantly say, "Dont go."