The Dark Knight

Bruce Wane’s nights as Batman (Christian Bale), cleaning up the crime of Gotham City, is finally making progress. Alongside Lieutenant Jim Gordan (Gary Oldman)and the newly elected District Attorney Harvey Dent(Aaron Ekhart), they begin to make real headway against the city’s criminal underworld.

That progress is threatened by the sudden rise of the Joker (Heath Ledger), a mysterious criminal mastermind who creates chaos through a series of escalating attacks. Rather than seeking wealth or control, he finds pleasure in undermining Gotham’s sense of order and forcing the cities heroes into impossible choices.

As the situation intensifies, Batman is pushed to his limits—physically and morally—while the people of Gotham are forced to confront what justice really costs.

From the perspective of a film geek, the Dark Knight is beautifully written. Every event is purposeful and direct, nothing feels meaningless or unimportant. Coleman Reese (Joshua Harto), an accountant at Wayne enterprises discovers Batman’s identity and brings it up to Lucius Fox (Morgan freeman). They have a quick round of dialogue which doesn’t seem to amount to much. However, that leads to him trying to expose Batman publicly which leads to the Joker putting a hit on him for sport, this continues to domino effect into the climax causing character development and furthering the plot.  A scene that is seemingly pointless ends up setting up the entire plot, and every scene does that. From Batman’s relationship with Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to the butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Cain) telling stories of his past life, everything fits into the story.

               Another aspect of the storyline that improved upon it was the stakes were high, but not world ending catastrophe like most superhero movies are known for. Instead of a “Batman has to save the world” plot, we have a plot that seems to resonate with the audience, the need to keep up hope. Batman’s goal is to restore faith in Gotham city, a city so corrupted by violence that hope is lost. Hope finally is instilled in Gotham but the Joker arrives, set on destroying all order and hope and replacing it with chaos. The stakes are high because the movie is centered on how things can change if people believe, even highlighting how people believe in Harvey Dent to make a difference and how people believe in Batman because he is making a difference. The Joker tearing down that belief is a high stake because the film has focused on how the power of belief is important. The audience is invested in the struggle for belief, and that makes the stakes high and the Dark Knight’s story stand out.

 Bruce Wayne is more than the awesome hero Batman; he struggles to balance his life as Batman and his life as Bruce Wayne while also trying to win the love of his life’s heart. He wants to abandon his vigilante life but also can’t seem to let it go, this attachment is relatable to the audience and gives Bruce Wayne depth.

Harvey Is a symbol of hope and lawful justice but he too is human and can crack under the pressure. He struggles to live up to Gotham’s expectations while still being the white knight he appears to be. This gives a character who would usually feel impenetrable and immortal some mortality. The idea of living up to expectations and trying not to crack is one most people have felt at one point or another, making Harvey relatable.

The Joker, however, is in my opinion the most compelling of all the characters in the movie. He doesn’t have a backstory or something to relate to. In fact, we really know nothing about him, but this makes him the movies strongest antagonist. The Joker doesn’t have a story but seems to represent chaos itself. He’s insane, unpredictable, and rather unsettling yet that makes him fascinating. He messes with the characters beliefs, as we mentioned earlier, testing the other characters in their interactions with him. He directly contradicts the core value of the film; where the protagonists represent order the Joker represents chaos, where Batman and Harvey represent Justice the Joker represents corruption, he’s the polar opposite of the characters making him the perfect antagonist and a strong character.