Ledger performance saves “Dark Knight”

“The Dark Knight”
Running time: 152 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13

I’ve watched “The Dark Knight” three times, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. It’s either the best movie of the year, or a muddled mess that’s overshadowed by a bravura performance by Heath Ledger.

Let’s face it, the main reason many of us are seeing “Dark Knight” is to watch Ledger chew up the scenery as the Joker. And Boy Howdy does he.

Ledger has taken an iconic character and made it his own. No one can play The Clown Prince of Crime ever again without being compared to Ledger. The dude out-Jokered Nicholson, for cryin’ out loud.

That’s no small achievement, and he definitely deserves an Oscar for this performance. Not since Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lecter have I been so unsettled by an actor’s characterization.

The same can’t be said for Christian Bale, who is the worst Batman since Val Kilmer uttered the infamous “chicks dig the car” line in “Batman Forever.” Bale disappears in the suit: no character, no emotion and even worse is that raspy voice he adopts that sounds more like Homer Simpson doing his Horse Whisperer impression than a menacing and mysterious Dark Avenger of the Night.

The plot continues where “Batman Begins” left off. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Batman are trying to bring down the various mob families who have Gotham City in their grip. The two decide to back new district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), dubbed Gotham’s White Knight. Their plans to clean up the streets, however, are derailed by the appearance of the Joker, who begins to play deadly games with the mob, the police and Batman.

By playing one side against the other two, the Joker hopes to bring down the status quo in order to show the world what a flimsy artifice Civilization is. He is, as Bruce Wayne’s butler (Michael Caine) describes, one of those men who just wants to watch the world burn.

“The Dark Knight” has many brilliant scenes, but also a few (like an entire sequence involving a Hong Kong gangster) that are a complete waste of time. Plotwise, we see minor characters show up for no logical reason except to introduce a plot device to advance the story, and then disappear again. There is quite a bit of trite, hackneyed dialogue (Dent actually utters the groan-inducing line, “It’s always darkest before the dawn. And the dawn is coming.”) … And yet, I want to see this movie again.

GRADE: A