An Obligatory Post on The Dark Knight (spoilers if youre among the two people who havent seen it)
I could spend a few days writing about the Dark Knight, about how awesome it was. But I'll try and narrow my focus. Instead, I'm going to rank the top characters in the film. Starting off with the ultra obvious....
1) The Joker (Heath Ledger)- Well, there really wasn't much thought into why he's number one. He manages to make The Joker very, very scary, but also twistedly funny. I know you laughed at the pencil trick scene, but try explaining that to another person who hasn't seen the movie. ("Well, he puts a pencil through a guy's face. Isn't that hysterical"/"Sir you need to seek professional help") He somehow makes Jack Nicholson, a person whose made a career on looking insane, look like a kindly old gentleman of a Joker. And Nicholson's Joker is supposed to be one of the all time great villains. He's also a character who openly mocks any sympathy you may have had for him by telling numerous sob stories about his scars. He's as much an idea (anarchy) as he is a villain, which is perhaps the best way to have a villain (it's the same reason Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men is awesome). He's a very simple villain, but he's in a very complex movie, which is what makes him so great.
2) Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart)- The next 3 characters are easily the hardest to judge. I think Harvey Dent is the best of the "Triumverate" of crime-fighters just because he manages to convey a true descent into madness. He's really a combination of the other 3 main characters (Commissioner Gordon, The Joker and Batman). His plot is really an altered version of Commissioner Gordon's in the famous comic "The Killing Joke," which is about the Joker trying to drive Gordon insane by having one bad day. The difference is, Harvey is so damaged he is seduced by the simple logic of anarchy. No complex good or bad people, just whatever Harvey does is left to chance. A murderous mobster has the same chance of living as an innocent child. What makes Two-Face so horrifying is that he truly was "the best of them." He offered himself up as Batman to do what was right. He did whatever what was neccesary but still correct to stop the Joker. (Hence why him threatening the schizo was ok, because it wasn't actual torture because the coin would never kill him). He had no superpowers, but he managed to win Rachel over, which makes it all the harder to lose her. Because of how good Harvey was, and how far he fell, he really is an outstanding character. (P.S. He might be in the next movie, but who knows. It looks like he died, but then Batman would have killed someone.)
3) Lt./Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman)- At this point you're probably wondering why Batman is number four in a movie about himself. I think Gordon was a better character because he was more developed in this movie. Batman/Bruce Wayne really didn't have a lot to do in this movie except fight. The fights were awesome, but its hard to perform when the only visible part of your face is your eyes. Gordon's character is somewhat intriguing. Some people dont consider him a main character, while others consider him the moral center of the film. I tend towards the latter, and originally he was #2 on my list.
Gordon, on the other hand, manages to convey how hard it is to be truly moral throughout your life. Gordon knows there's corruption, and that some of his officers may be corrupt, but he still is always doing what's right. He easily is the least emotive of the characters besides Batman, but thats what makes the part work so well. He's seen the corruption of the city, saw Bruce Wayne's parents die, worked with a corrupt cop in the first movie. Yet he still has the moral correctness to fake his own death so his family would be safe and The Joker would be stopped. I really was so surprised when Gordon's "death" was told to his wife, I was literally numb during the action sequence that followed (the truck flipping etc.). Luckily I saw it again. However, here's a guy who knows whats wrong with the world, knows evil wont ever go away, yet still always does what he can to change the world and also deeply cares for his family.
4) Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale)- It's bizarre I only rank the title character of the movie fourth, but here he is nonetheless. The reason he's so far down is that, in this film, he has neither the complexity of Gordon or Dent and he certainly isn't as entertaining as the Joker. The only really defining moment for him is the end where he continues to show that being Batman is doing whats right, not an ego trip.
However, Bruce Wayne has some very amusing scenes. Alfred and him do have a great chemistry, and it gives Christian Bale a chance to be more amusing than he was as a darker Batman in "Batman Begins." However, Christian Bale, who is one of my favorite actors, really doesnt have a lot to work with in this movie.
5) Alfred (Michael Caine)- the next four character are all true supporting characters, but they give the movie the proper background. Alfred is my personal favorite. Although the metaphor about the jewel thief in Asia is a little too blunt (we get it, some criminals cant be bought), Alfred makes you pay attention, and caps it off with a cynical/amusing finale (burning down Gotham will not stop the joker). Really I just found Alfred to be the funniest character. The one other thing that was awesome about Alfred was the burning of Rachel's note. In movies, it seems like everyone finds out the truth, but Alfred did what was the wrong thing to do, but it was also the right thing to do. Bruce thinks hes lying to Harvey about Rachel, but really he too is being lied to. Why is lying correct? "Because sometimes people deserve to have their hope rewarded."
6) Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman)- Morgan Freeman is pretty much an awesome actor. He's really the only actor who anyone would believe is God, just because he seems so confident and modest at the same time (casting him as God in Bruce Almighty was pure genius). Fox doesnt have a lot to do in this movie except give out weapons and look disapprovingly at Bruce, but he does it awesomely. And also the scene about the blackmail just shows how much Morgan Freeman can make someone else look inferior.
7) Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts)- Sal Maroni is the new gangster taking over for Carmine Falconi (Tom Wilkinson). He's not as intimidating as Falconi, but he really is a very needed performance. He shows how the mob seemed like the big problem at the beginning, but its the "Supervillains" like the Joker that will be the problem of the future. He's as commanding as he should be. He knows Batman wont kill him (although the leg breaking was a big FU to that). However, when he gives up the Joker, he shows he's a villain, but the kind you'd rather have. The kind of villain who is rational, whose actions can be guessed. The Joker is unpredicatable, which is why he is scary.
8) Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhall)- When I heard they recasted Rachel, I really was excited. I mean, they replaced an actress whose basically just a pretty face with a real actress. Now I kind of realize; Rachel worked better as a simple pretty face. Her role was pretty small, and her only real purpose was to be hit on by Bruce and Harvey, and then be a damsel-in-distress. The thing thats bad about the debates on whether or not Maggie Gyllenhall is attractive is this; its true that Katie Holmes is much more gorgeous (or at least was) than Maggie Gyllenhall. However, in real life, most dudes would definitely go for either. She's not ugly; she's just not Hollywood beautiful. And however much I don't want to say this, sometimes a gorgeous face is more important than a real actress.
1) The Joker (Heath Ledger)- Well, there really wasn't much thought into why he's number one. He manages to make The Joker very, very scary, but also twistedly funny. I know you laughed at the pencil trick scene, but try explaining that to another person who hasn't seen the movie. ("Well, he puts a pencil through a guy's face. Isn't that hysterical"/"Sir you need to seek professional help") He somehow makes Jack Nicholson, a person whose made a career on looking insane, look like a kindly old gentleman of a Joker. And Nicholson's Joker is supposed to be one of the all time great villains. He's also a character who openly mocks any sympathy you may have had for him by telling numerous sob stories about his scars. He's as much an idea (anarchy) as he is a villain, which is perhaps the best way to have a villain (it's the same reason Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men is awesome). He's a very simple villain, but he's in a very complex movie, which is what makes him so great.
2) Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart)- The next 3 characters are easily the hardest to judge. I think Harvey Dent is the best of the "Triumverate" of crime-fighters just because he manages to convey a true descent into madness. He's really a combination of the other 3 main characters (Commissioner Gordon, The Joker and Batman). His plot is really an altered version of Commissioner Gordon's in the famous comic "The Killing Joke," which is about the Joker trying to drive Gordon insane by having one bad day. The difference is, Harvey is so damaged he is seduced by the simple logic of anarchy. No complex good or bad people, just whatever Harvey does is left to chance. A murderous mobster has the same chance of living as an innocent child. What makes Two-Face so horrifying is that he truly was "the best of them." He offered himself up as Batman to do what was right. He did whatever what was neccesary but still correct to stop the Joker. (Hence why him threatening the schizo was ok, because it wasn't actual torture because the coin would never kill him). He had no superpowers, but he managed to win Rachel over, which makes it all the harder to lose her. Because of how good Harvey was, and how far he fell, he really is an outstanding character. (P.S. He might be in the next movie, but who knows. It looks like he died, but then Batman would have killed someone.)
3) Lt./Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman)- At this point you're probably wondering why Batman is number four in a movie about himself. I think Gordon was a better character because he was more developed in this movie. Batman/Bruce Wayne really didn't have a lot to do in this movie except fight. The fights were awesome, but its hard to perform when the only visible part of your face is your eyes. Gordon's character is somewhat intriguing. Some people dont consider him a main character, while others consider him the moral center of the film. I tend towards the latter, and originally he was #2 on my list.
Gordon, on the other hand, manages to convey how hard it is to be truly moral throughout your life. Gordon knows there's corruption, and that some of his officers may be corrupt, but he still is always doing what's right. He easily is the least emotive of the characters besides Batman, but thats what makes the part work so well. He's seen the corruption of the city, saw Bruce Wayne's parents die, worked with a corrupt cop in the first movie. Yet he still has the moral correctness to fake his own death so his family would be safe and The Joker would be stopped. I really was so surprised when Gordon's "death" was told to his wife, I was literally numb during the action sequence that followed (the truck flipping etc.). Luckily I saw it again. However, here's a guy who knows whats wrong with the world, knows evil wont ever go away, yet still always does what he can to change the world and also deeply cares for his family.
4) Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale)- It's bizarre I only rank the title character of the movie fourth, but here he is nonetheless. The reason he's so far down is that, in this film, he has neither the complexity of Gordon or Dent and he certainly isn't as entertaining as the Joker. The only really defining moment for him is the end where he continues to show that being Batman is doing whats right, not an ego trip.
However, Bruce Wayne has some very amusing scenes. Alfred and him do have a great chemistry, and it gives Christian Bale a chance to be more amusing than he was as a darker Batman in "Batman Begins." However, Christian Bale, who is one of my favorite actors, really doesnt have a lot to work with in this movie.
5) Alfred (Michael Caine)- the next four character are all true supporting characters, but they give the movie the proper background. Alfred is my personal favorite. Although the metaphor about the jewel thief in Asia is a little too blunt (we get it, some criminals cant be bought), Alfred makes you pay attention, and caps it off with a cynical/amusing finale (burning down Gotham will not stop the joker). Really I just found Alfred to be the funniest character. The one other thing that was awesome about Alfred was the burning of Rachel's note. In movies, it seems like everyone finds out the truth, but Alfred did what was the wrong thing to do, but it was also the right thing to do. Bruce thinks hes lying to Harvey about Rachel, but really he too is being lied to. Why is lying correct? "Because sometimes people deserve to have their hope rewarded."
6) Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman)- Morgan Freeman is pretty much an awesome actor. He's really the only actor who anyone would believe is God, just because he seems so confident and modest at the same time (casting him as God in Bruce Almighty was pure genius). Fox doesnt have a lot to do in this movie except give out weapons and look disapprovingly at Bruce, but he does it awesomely. And also the scene about the blackmail just shows how much Morgan Freeman can make someone else look inferior.
7) Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts)- Sal Maroni is the new gangster taking over for Carmine Falconi (Tom Wilkinson). He's not as intimidating as Falconi, but he really is a very needed performance. He shows how the mob seemed like the big problem at the beginning, but its the "Supervillains" like the Joker that will be the problem of the future. He's as commanding as he should be. He knows Batman wont kill him (although the leg breaking was a big FU to that). However, when he gives up the Joker, he shows he's a villain, but the kind you'd rather have. The kind of villain who is rational, whose actions can be guessed. The Joker is unpredicatable, which is why he is scary.
8) Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhall)- When I heard they recasted Rachel, I really was excited. I mean, they replaced an actress whose basically just a pretty face with a real actress. Now I kind of realize; Rachel worked better as a simple pretty face. Her role was pretty small, and her only real purpose was to be hit on by Bruce and Harvey, and then be a damsel-in-distress. The thing thats bad about the debates on whether or not Maggie Gyllenhall is attractive is this; its true that Katie Holmes is much more gorgeous (or at least was) than Maggie Gyllenhall. However, in real life, most dudes would definitely go for either. She's not ugly; she's just not Hollywood beautiful. And however much I don't want to say this, sometimes a gorgeous face is more important than a real actress.
posted by Harry at 10:59 AM
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