The Dark Knight: Pyrrhic Victory

Pyrrhic: achieved at excessive cost also : costly to the point of negating or outweighing expected benefits (from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary). This is the term that describes Batman's victory in The Dark Knight, the second installment in Christopher Nolan's new Batman series.

In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne conquered his fear, caused the criminal elements of Gotham to fear him and saved the city from Ra's Al Ghul's fear gas. But in The Dark Knight, things are different: there's a new villain in town and he's here for laughs, albeit sadistic and dark laughs.

Yes, the Joker has come to town and he's not here for stand-up comedy. The late Heath Ledger's take on the Joker is an Oscar-worthy depiction of a man who is pure evil, a man who will destroy a city to make the point that even the best person, when the chips are down, will become a villain. The victim: Harvey Dent, Gotham's "White Knight" DA who loses everything and becomes the vigilante Two-Face.

In the meantime, Bruce Wayne is considering stepping down as Batman so that the city can return to order. Yet he finds that the city needs him more than ever and that he must "Endure" as the ever-faithful Alfred tells him.

The real battle in the film is for the soul of Gotham. The Joker, as a sadistic joke, wants to prove that Gotham is just as bad as it ever was and that "when the chips are down" they'll cut each other's throats. While the Joker succeeds in destroying Harvey Dent, he underestimates even the worst elements of Gotham. I won't give away what happens, but Joker is disappointed when ordinary people do the right thing.

Then comes the showdown: when Two-Face and Batman face off and Batman kills the former DA in the act of saving someone. Realizing that Gotham needs a symbol and that he can't be that symbol. Batman heroically takes the blame for Harvey Dent's sins, presenting the people of the city with a face that they once knew and taking that face's dark side upon himself.

All in all it was a good movie. It was intense and quite disturbing. The Joker seems almost possessed at times. This Film is not for the faint of heart. It's also not one that should be watched for mere entertainment value, but for its ideas. Thus, I recommend watching it infrequently and thoughtfully.

Artistically, it was flawless. Nolan manages to pull off all of the Joker's murders without showing a single drop of blood, somehow making it all seem all the more horrific. Of course there were explosions and car chases galore.

Actingwise it was brilliant. The late Heath Ledger pulls off a chilling, disturbing, and Oscar-worthy performance as the Joker. Aaron Eckhart also did an excellent job as Harvey Dent, making him a sympathetic character who is deceived by the Joker. And of course Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman do great in reprising their roles.

Hopefully a sequel is forthcoming: Gotham cannot remain in darkness.

~Roccondil