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'Dark Knight' is a stunner

BY Mina Hochberg | Special to amNewYork

7:49 PM EDT, July 15, 2008

HEATH LEDGER stars as The Joker in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' action drama 'The Dark Knight,' starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman. (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. TM & DC Comics)

It's hardly the carefully wrought opus that its predecessor, "Batman Begins," was, but "The Dark Knight" is so effectively macabre, tense and energetic, it's certainly one of this summer's most worthy popcorn flicks.

When "The Dark Knight" begins, Batman (Christian Bale) is cleaning up crime in the city, his vigilante reputation dividing Gotham into admirers (including a host of Batman copycats prowling through the night) and critics who see him as a portent of ruin. One of his staunchest supporters is the city's white-knight D.A., Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), whose zealous sense of righteousness wins equally staunch admiration from Batman/Bruce Wayne.

Just as the city seems to finally be on the up and up, in comes a purple-suited maniac who calls himself The Joker (Heath Ledger), his face pancaked with eerily smudged clown makeup. The Joker, whose motto is turning order into chaos, treats Gotham like one big laboratory for twisted social experiments. One of his favorite experiments is seeing what folks do when forced to choose between saving themselves or saving the life of a loved one -- and you can imagine the kind of taut drama those scenarios make for.

Now that Maggie Gyllenhaal has replaced Katie Holmes as Bruce Wayne's love interest, Rachel Dawes, it's safe to say that the cast of "The Dark Knight" is one of its biggest assets, from Bale to Michael Caine to Morgan Freeman. Ledger, especially, gives an uncomfortably haunting performance. Even if Ledger's untimely death hadn't primed his role for scrutiny, his Joker rendition would have riveted your attention, anyway -- the unnerving way he modulates his voice, fingers his knives, forces his hands onto the cheeks of a paralyzed victim. He prances around the streets, working with local mobsters to wreak as much havoc as he possibly can on one city. As the film progresses, events take such a turn for the worse that the second half is essentially one long daisy chain of dismal developments. One in particular, a tragic downfall that we won't give away, strikes the most mournful note of all.

"The Dark Knight" gives Batman a chance to really show off his high-tech toys, and you will be awed. The wow factor comes at a cost, though, which is that the thrills can feel cheap. Unlike the pensive "Batman Begins," which focused largely on character back story, this movie relies more on shock value, scare tactics and trumped-up music. Its ambitious plot, which frequently bifurcates during the course of the two-and-a-half hours, seems more appropriate for two movies -- one compelling story arc, involving Mr. Dent, deserved an entire movie of its own. In fact, there is so much afoot in the film, it leaves woefully little time to delve into the Joker's past, of which you glean very little.

It's hard to begrudge a movie too much for its ambitions, though, and the finale leaves you eager for the next Batman film -- and that's no small feat for a franchise.

The Dark Knight. Directed by Christopher Nolan; Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman