The Dark Knight

"Nothing. No name, no other alias. Clothing is... custom. Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint." This essentially sums up the Joker. He is a mystery, unique and completely evil. Heath Ledger has given us a rare moment in moviemaking. He left us with the performance of a lifetime.

However, before going any further, I should say the Director, Christopher Nolan has out-done himself. What makes this movie so strong is Nolan's belief in bending reality just a bit, but not too much. He avoids CGI, directs every shot (dosen't use a second crew with an assistant director), does not use story-boards - which allows for pure creative energy on set (just may have something to do with Ledger's performance), and co-wrote the film with his brother. He has themes and ideas he wants to communicate. In Batman Begins, he told us about fear. This time, he shows us Chaos.

The Joker sums up the plot of movie with, "This is what happens when an unstoppable force (Chaos) meets an immovable object (Batman)." He later tells Batman, "We could go on like this Forever" Which is indeed what the comics do. The endless struggle between Batman and the Joker. Fight fire with fire.

Everyone is saying Ledger and Oldeman just disappear in their roles. But don't overlook Christian Bale. I thought he did the same with Batman. He really is getting the character down, especially the Bruce Wayne side. Oddly enough some of the best humour in the moive comes from him.

Despite the loathing I felt for the Joker, you just can't get enough of him in the film. He has an almost other-worldly persona, like he was sent straight from hell. If the Joker were to exist in reality, he'd be close to this incarnation. Some of his stunts are just too well planned, but very interesting and entertaining. His jokes are purely sadistic, yet you find yourself laughing. I may be wrong, but I think the character was hugely influenced by the Saw movies (which I have not seen - I'm not a horror guy), which revolve around placing people in situations where they have to make terrible choices. Bottom line: if this performance does not win an Oscar, then I don't know what would. Give Heath the credit he is due.

Take away the masks, make-up and gadgets and it feels like this story could be real. I read one review that call this movie The Untouchables with the Joker as Al Capone and Batman as Elliot Ness. Almost no one can be trusted, anyone can be bought or sold. This movie is dark, demoralizing and wildly entertaining.

One performer in the film we never see is the music and it was terrific. It did such a good job of heightening the tension, bleeding emotion and spicing up the action, yet you forget it is there, but I realized after it was over, just how well crafted it was. Hats off to Zimmer and Howard. All great movies have unique and memorable scores.

Finally, I think this move hits home on a deeper level as it deals with curent issues of terrorism and how to fight it. I daresay this movie was practically propaganda for the Patriot Act. Shunned of course within the film, but it raises the question, how far would you go to stop a bomb from expoloding in a hospital? Would you kill someone to save others? What does it really take to win a war with people who only want one thing - death? This is where Nolan finds a way to give us our popcorn and food for thought as well.