The Dark Knight
Tina
Special thanks to Joyce for the free special screening tickets. I say that this is the best Batman movie I’ve ever seen. And I’ll have to agree that the late Heath Ledger deserves to win an Oscar for his portrayal of Joker. He practically owned the character, I can’t think of any other actor that can take his place. Some might not like it because of its length (2 hours and 32 minutes), but the story is so brilliant and I think that it was all worth it.
The Madness of Joker
It was said that Heath Ledger used to shut up on his hotel room all alone just to internalize the character of Joker. And I have to admit, his portrayal of Joker is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I didn’t read the comic book, so my character profile on Joker was based on the animated series and the previous Batman movies. I thought that Joker was just the happy arch-nemesis of Batman. It was actually the first time that I was able to feel his madness, brought about by the corrupt society represented by Gotham City.
The Joker is probably the smartest villain Batman ever encountered. He appears to be spontaneous, but his plans are actually intricate, having multiple objectives. He exists to spread his madness to the people of Gotham City, and show them the corruption of the entire system. His best plan, in my opinion, was to blow up the hospital in order to get to Harvey Dent. He completed Harvey’s transformation from a virtuous district attorney to a vengeful villain, Two-Face.
I admire the way that the story was developed. It was lengthy, I admit, and I bet that most viewers will find it boring. But what stimulated my senses were the themes presented about human society. Take for example the social experiment regarding the two boats, one filled with ordinary citizens and the other filled with convicts. I might have lost my trust for humanity, and I actually thought that the ordinary citizens will blow up the ship filled with convicts. I was just as surprised as Joker was when the man supposed to press the detonator backed out at the last minute. But I can’t help but admire the character of the convict who threw the detonator out of the window. How I wish that all people were like him. But then, I am dreaming.
Batman’s Role in Gotham
As a kid, I always thought that all superheroes are good, and it wasn’t clear to me why the people of Gotham City regarded him as a menace. It was only after watching this movie that I realized that what Joker said was actually true: You either die as a hero, or live long enough to find yourself the villain. Makes you wonder why Batman continues to fight for the sake of Gotham City, even if people condemn him for being a vigilante. Maybe it’s another form of madness, and Gotham should be thankful that he is the complete opposite of Joker.
Winning Lines
Batman: Why do you want to kill me?
Joker: I don’t want to kill you. What would I do without you? You complete me!
Joker: Why so serious?
Posted on: Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 1:07 pm 
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September 19th, 2008 at 12:14 pm