The Dark Knight

This is easily one of my favorite films of all time. The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan, is the sequel to the film Batman Begins. The story continues with Bruce Wayne, as his alter ego Batman, who still continues to be Gotham’s guardian. However, Bruce finds that protecting Gotham poses a tradeoff; his crime fighting activities severely interferes with his personal life, especially with Rachael Dawes, Bruce’s love interest.
To me, what sets this film apart from other superhero movies is theme of this movie. Although superheroes films are mainly about the action, the Dark Knight provides the audience with more than just the intense fighting scenes. The theme of The Dark Knight is how a man is pushed to his limits to do whatever is necessary. The Joker, played brilliantly by Heath Ledger, is Batman’s most interesting and yet difficult enemy. Unlike other criminals who have a certain purpose to do what they do, the Joker however is a man without a logical purpose. In fact his only purpose is to show that the world we live in is really a “dog eats dog” world. Throughout the movie the Joker always pushes Batman to commit the one deed that he refuses to do which is to kill.
The Dark Knight also shows the delicacy of balance between good and evil. During the interrogation scene, the Joker stated that Batman completed him. This to us shows that without Batman there is no Joker and vice versa. It’s sort of like yin and yang; wherever there is light there must also be darkness.
Overall The Dark Knight challenges us to think about the role of human nature and to what extent would we commit something that we would never think of doing. This film sets apart from many superhero movies because of the amount of substance that it contains. I would urge anyone to see this film.