Gotham Shity

The Dark Knight is full throttle cinema that elegizes 30 minutes past need to be considered a definitive classic. Frankly, film gets too greedy in message. The gluttonous final act is a masquerade of increasingly heavy-handed showdowns between citizen Gotham and Joker. And Joker and Batman. And Batman and Two Face. And Two Face and Commissioner Gordon. And Commissioner Gordon and Batman. Each pontificating the equilibrium of hero and sadist. Surely it's a message of our times. But after two hours of epic barrage, it's over-kill. Instead of peaking, the payoff needs a subdued conclusion. A quieter point would have been more emphatic to the preceding villainy. This sequel is blunt in bad guy.

Center stage is Joker, a Bin Ladenesque clown terrorizing for the sake of show. Cake-faced in certainty, he's hell bent intent to demonize Batman by matching the Caped Crusader's smoke and mirror theatrics with suspenseful purpose of his own. Their volley is full-on tactical and surprise heavy. Heath Ledger redefines the classic mad man. It is an unforgettable performance to which Christian Bale's grizzly bear of good is no match. He is forced to wallow in Batman's continued self conflict. His resolution is more reaction than consent and feels inconclusive. Perfect for sequel.

Maybe that's why District Attorney Harvey Dent gets the most fleshed out character arc. In many respects, his transformation to Two Face shepherds a new central protagonist. The confident, golden savior scared by circumstance and chance. A public figure a dark knight could never play. Dent's respective adversary then becomes Commissioner Gordon who is without doubt the pure in an otherwise grey tale. Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman dominate the film's humanity. Both are so, so good here.

But real credit of film's success must go to Christopher Nolan, whose keen leadership pulsates involvement. Here is a director at complete mastery of craft. His technical proficiency is lean, clean and is bravura in giving immediacy to action. He has created a mass audience entertainment tense in adrenaline and spectacle. The Dark Knight is best of summer by a long shot, but still feels like an epic undone by meandering.

(Note: If you haven't seen it yet, go IMAX. The sequences shot in format are truly majestic.)