Movie Review

The Dark KnightArticle Rating

Ledger's 'Dark' Joker raises pic to a classic

Joe Neumaier

Wednesday, July 16th 2008, 5:59 PM

"The Dark Knight," opening Friday, is twisted, tortured, terrifying - and terrific.

Heath Ledger's final completed film, this new Batman action-drama - "action-adventure" is too slight a description - marks the moment superhero movies turned serious. The PG-13 rating seems tame; this sucker is rough.

To answer the question audiences have wondered about since his tragic death in January: Ledger is so horrifically riveting you can't take your eyes off of him.

Comic-book fans may point to earlier mixtures of adult themes and real-world subtext ("X2: X-Men United," "Spider-Man 2," this year's "Iron Man"), but "The Dark Knight" is something else.

The ax-grinding, soul-churning, thought-provoking sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins" dives down and dirty into the unholy mess a society sinks to when fear is its driving force.

Without sacrificing thrills, it finds sober excitement inside the ticking time bombs people can become. It's the "Unforgiven" of superhero movies.

In Gotham City, crime is the force that never ends, and the arrival of the maniacal Joker (Ledger) is a manifestation of its most anarchic impulses.

With his butchered face resembling a wrinkled finger wrapped in a Band-Aid for too long, his love of chaos drives the Joker to take giddy pleasure from dragging everyone down to his murderous level.

Meanwhile, Gotham's new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), is doing all he can to jail the city's felons.

The white knight Dent joins Batman and Police Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) in their crusade against corruption - something Batman's alter-ego, millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), does with a wounded heart, since Dent is the new boyfriend of Wayne's once-and-ever love Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

No one is untouchable, though, and their reluctance to deal with Joker's terrorism doesn't make a frightened populace feel safe.

As the Joker's mousetraps get more dangerous - and morally slippery - Harvey's fate is to mirror the evil he's fought against. Spoiler alert: Stop reading if you don't know that heroic Harvey becomes the vengeance-seeking Two-Face.

There are other twists, some surprising, others turned in on themselves. Director Christopher Nolan plays with expectations and lets the chips fall wherever.

Bale, Gyllenhaal, Oldman and Eckhart add a maturity that "Batman Begins" lacked. The action scenes - several of which were shot supersized for IMAX screens - are also more assured. "Begins" was filmed too tightly and edited choppily, but "Dark Knight" is epic.

Using real Chicago locations; a grinding, spare score; and a minimum of computer effects ground the movie in reality - there are no Gothic-looking sets left over from Tim Burton's 1989 film.

And no Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Bury him; he's dead. Ledger's take on this iconic creature is mesmerizing. With his stooped gait, darting tongue and a flat Midwestern sneerrrrr in his voice, he creeps in doing a danse macabre and gives the movie the jitters.

No joke: For Ledger, it's the role of a lifetime in the movie of the summer.

jneumaier@nydailynews.com

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  • The Dark Knight

    http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/

    Starring: Christian Bale , Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Nestor Carbonell, Nathan Gamble, Anthony Michael Hall

    Directed by: Christopher Nolan

    Produced by: Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas

    Genres: Action/Adventure

    MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace

    Release Date: 2008-07-18

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