written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
directed by Christopher Nolan
USA; 2008
"At least it was better than Batman Begins," in the words of my brother. I couldn't agree more. Yea, it was solid, it was fine. Nolan's first Batman offering had its share of cool bits but man, did it stumble often. A mystical Tibetan (?) madman that comes back to rid the world of the plague that is Gotham? That's admitting that there's actually a world outside Gotham, something Nolan keeps hinting at. Also, the frozen lake kendo fight.. Laughable. When does Batman ever use a sword? Tim Burton's pair take themselves far less seriously and are more fun than these newest installments and thus come off as far more satisfying, more complete. For the record, though, I'd give anything to see David Lynch direct the next sequel. You wanna see dark?
About this film.. I see Harvey Dent working thematic overtime here. First, his story is a passing of the torch. Something like what Tolkien put forth in the LOTR trilogy, mythology takes its ideals along with its heroes and rolls them over onto society. As the myth of the Batman subsides, it is left to humanity to take up the torch in the fight against evil. But as the heroes phase out, so do the villains. Thus, humanity is left with the legacy of both good and evil, and the choice to commit to either. Harvey Dent/Harvey Two-Face also embodies this idea. Not only does this character speak to the archetypes, but there are real-world ideas here too. He is responsible for choosing between public service and private safety. He is even responsible for the tactical choices as well! It's a ton of bricks to lay onto a character, and it's why Harvey's end transformation is not suitably built in, and never quite sells. If it sounds like this film is about Harvey Dent, that's because it is. Batman's screen time is negligible. Which is fine, because frankly he's running out of gimmicks, and you can only carry a hard-headed internal conflict until the movie count moves to a second hand. Unless you're Michael Myers or Tackleberry from Police Academy.
There's a glimmer of promise when The Joker starts talking about "The Plan" and some bit of anarchist theory shines through. Follow through, Nolan. What are you scared of? Also, there's a mention of mass surveillance, and a moral question! Follow through, Nolan! Now this one I can't forgive him for. If this director was at all responsible as a thinking person, there would have been a comment about the government, or wiretapping, or anarchists, or just people that are tired of the system in the same way that it seems all these characters are exhausted living in modern-day Gotham. Doesn't living in this brutal, exploitive system just exhaust you? Follow through, Nolan. Also, this is the only review of this film that doesn't use the words H____ L______. He was a good actor, he died, his character was interesting, but it still doesn't top Nicholson's version, how's that?
