The Dark Knight Trilogy part 2

The Dark Knight~ The Tragedy of Superheroes 

"I Believe Whatever Doesn't Kill You Simply Makes You.. Stranger"

"And I Thought My Jokes Were Bad" 

            " WHY SO SERIOUS..?!"

- The Joker

Why So Serious?

The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero crime film that was directed by Christopher Nolan and features an ensemble cast with Christian Bale as the eponymous superhero and features Heath Ledger, Micheal Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cillian Murphy and Morgan Freeman in the second instalment of The Dark Knight Trilogy. In this film, Batman teams up with James Gordon and Harvey Dent to bring down the mob for good, cleansing Gotham of its criminals that has plagued the once great city for so long. However, a new enemy emerges who calls himself only as 'The Joker' who seeks nothing but chaos and destruction of Gotham city.

Christopher Nolan has once again outdone himself in The Dark Knight. Many critics have labeled it as the best superhero films in the twenty-first century. It also became the first superhero film to break its own "superhero" genre and becomes as Roger Ebert has stated "an engrossing tragedy". In this analysis, I will be looking into what makes The Dark Knight the engrossing tragedy as it is.

The Villain

If you want to make your film interesting, you have to create a villain that is exceptionally good at attacking the hero. The greater the villain, the greater the challenge the hero must  overcome. In The Dark Knight, The Joker is the ultimate villain that Batman has to overcime but why? Was it because of the Joker's maniacal laugh and unpredictablity? Or was it because of Heath Ledger's performance? It has always been how the film utilises the Joker to its maximum advantage. The Joker is constantly one step ahead of Batman and the cops which is what makes the film thrilling. We see how Batman has to face the moral dilemmas created by The Joker in order to psychologically "break" him. In order to make your story engaging, the writer must have the forces of antagonism pressure the hero to make choices that will reveal their true character. The greater the pressure, the conflict between the hero and the villain becomes compelling. However, the conflict between the hero and the villain must be fleshed out in order for us as the audience to care about the consequences of the conflict. The Dark Knight fleshes out the conflict really well between Batman and The Joker. Batman represents peace and order for Gotham whereas The Joker represents the chaos and anarchy. Both are fighting for the soul of Gotham which is entertaining as we see The Joker constantly trying to prove that Gotham's heroes can be corrupted. He is the living embodiment of a terrorist working today. This is a man trying to destroy everything that the dark knight stands for to make Gotham lose hope, to corrupt the symbol of the dark knight. 

"Madness is like gravity. All it takes is a little push"

For example, The Joker understands Batman's weakness after he witnesses the way Batman risked his life to save Rachel during the crashing of the fundraiser party. This is a weakness which he uses to gain leverage over the dark knight. The Joker orchastrates the kidnapping of  Rachel and Harvey Dent and are strapped to a bomb. He then has Batman choose who to save during the intense interrogation scene in which he causes Batman to nearly break his no-kill code by making Batman feel the hopelessness of the situation and taunts him to kill him, laughing maniacally as he does. The Joker feels untouchable as a result because he has established that he has power over the dark knight, in a situation like this we continuously side with Batman to save them both eventhough we cannot help but watch as Batman's sanity is being devoured by The Joker. 

There is also a saying that a hero is only as good as the villain which has been proven to be true in most films such as this one. The Joker is the active character who is actively pushing the plot forward while the characters around the Joker are simply responding to what the Joker is doing. It is what drives the pacing and the consequences of the Joker's presence in the film that makes the audience compelled throughout the film. We see that because of The Joker's presence, he complements the main heroes' character arcs in the film. By the end of the film, Batman's character arc is completed as he becomes the dark knight and takes the blame for Dent's crimes to restore hope. Gordon then has to hunt down Batman as a result of killing Harvey Dent. Dent falls from grace and becomes corrupted by the Joker. Lastly, the Joker wins the battle for Gotham's soul by corrupting Harvey Dent into becoming a criminal. All these characters completed their arcs which is very satisfying for an audience because it evokes a variety of emotions from the audience. This is what distinguishes The Dark Knight from its superhero peers is that not many filmmakers can build a sequel that improves upon the original and leaving the audience asking for more.

"You Have Nothing, Nothing to Threaten Me With. Nothing to do With All Your Strength" 

Symbolism and Themes

Christopher Nolan also has also kept the subtleness of the symbolism present in Batman Begins and he uses them extremely well here. As previously stated in my analysis for Batman Begins, Nolan uses fire which is the central focus of the story. In Batman Begins, fire was foreshadowed to be the greatest weapon of mankind but can ultimately lead to their destruction. In this film, fire is used as the Joker's motives of burning down Gotham city. The Joker has always been fascinated by fire as it is the most destructive element in nature. So what does fire represent? It represents chaos and destruction. The Joker uses fire to convey his twisted visions into reality by setting a fire truck on fire. Fire trucks are supposed to represent hope and security but to the Joker, his twisted sense of humor can always be funny at times. I used to laugh after realising that the Joker is trying to correct society that a fire truck must be LITERALLY on fire. 

Fire is also shown to have consumed the lives of Rachel and half of Harvey Dent. Batman chooses to save Rachel but is lead to Dent's location instead which he has no other choice but to rescue. It also signifies Harvey Dent's downfall after losing the woman he loves and his own reputation. Harvey refuses to move on as a result of the Joker taking what he loves so dearly to him. 

In The Dark Knight, the central theme was escalation. The Joker's influence over Gotham's citizens becomes much more powerful until it undermines Batman's influence. Hence, Gotham soon believes that by giving in to the psychopath's wishes which was to humiliate and destroy the symbol of the dark knight, The Joker will free them. The citizens begin to believe that because of Batman's choices, the citizens blame Batman for the corruption and violence started. Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced by the Joker to make impossible ethical choices that will determine the future of Gotham. In a nutshell, the moral foundation of the film's protagonists are being threatened. 

Another theme that was also featured in the film was order vs chaos. Batman, represents order as he tries to round up the city's remaining criminals and making Gotham a better place. The Joker, on the other hand, believes that everyone is as ugly as he is. Simply put, in one of his quotes :

"When the chips are down, these civilized people. They will eat each other. See I'm not a monster, I'm just ahead of the curve" 

This quote basically summarises that whatever hell he launches or orchastrates at the citizens of Gotham which includes terrorism and anarchy, they will panic. This further vindicates that by threatening to kill the mayor of Gotham, the city loses its mind and without a doubt will descend into chaos, complementing his plan. Ironically, nobody panics if a truckload of soldiers die in battle because it is always part of the plan for they are trained to prepare for any danger they come across. Batman and Joker are the complete opposites but yet they need one another to complete themselves. Whether they are two sides of the same coin, their relationship is somewhat mutual. As the Joker has stated, "You complete me".

"Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order and everything goes into chaos"

Cast

Perhaps one of the stronger assets of The Dark Knight take in the form of the film's acting performances. Take Heath Ledger as an example. Several critics have noted that Heath Ledger is the key performance that keeps the audience on the edge of the seats. He is cold, calculative and cunning for a villain, he is willing to strap you to your seat and commands your respect for him whenever he appears on-screen. I believe that Heath Ledger will forever be remembered as the actor who changed the way the audience will see The Joker from now on. It is also stated by Micheal Caine, that when shooting the scene where The Joker crashes the party, he was supposed to have a line. After seeing Heath Ledger's terrifying makeup. He completely forgot his line and Heath had to improvise during that scene. That shows how terrifying Heath was as The Joker. If he were alive, I be happy to see him claim the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Joker crashes the party.

Let's not forget about the remaining cast here, Christian Bale was electrifying as the Caped Crusader. He does a great job in toeing the line between the rich, famous, billionaire Bruce Wayne and as the stoic, endearing Batman. I genuinely believe he still has the best portrayal of the Dark Knight and how it should be, not like the cartoonish Adam West or the one-liner George Clooney as in Batman and Robin. Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Micheal Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal were all fantastic in their respective roles, although I have to admit that this might be Aaron Eckhart's best work yet as Harvey Dent. He goes from being the suave, calm and pretty boy persona only to lose it all when The Joker breaks his mind and spirit. I still find him to be underrated here because the entirety of the movie was centred around his character, in which he also plays a key role in the concluding chapter in The Dark Knight Rises. Overall, there was no weak link in the film and it was an enjoyable experience to watch.

"You Either Die a Hero or You Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become a Villain"

-Batman and Harvey Dent 

"The Night is Darkest Just Before The Dawn. And I Promise You, The Dawn is Coming" 

-Harvey Dent 

Ending

Lastly the ending of The Dark Knight is just endearing because it is one of those bleak endings where the villain has won and the hero has lost. It is a risky move done by the Christopher Nolan but I think he did an impeccable job in the direction and the writing for the film. It all perfectly summarises what the film was planning on taking the character of Batman. By the end of the film, The Joker has seemingly won the war for Gotham's soul by gloating that they will lose hope once Harvey Dent's rampage becomes public knowledge. Batman, however refuses to allow Joker to win by having Gordon to place the blame of him. This shows Batman slowly taking responsibility of his actions as a hero. Batman becomes The Dark Knight because of The Joker. That is why the ending is so memorable because in many Christopher Nolan films, the endings are always in an ambigious case. This is no exception as though the credits roll, the film is still playing in our heads. How will Batman defeat the Joker? What will happen next?

"I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be"

"He is a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark 

knight"

THANK YOU