The Dark Knight: A Review

A joker.

A businessman. Dressed in spandex.

A movie based on the frivolities of a comic book series.

Yet it isn't what it seems.

The Dark Knight transcends the played out comic book to big screen catastrophe.

Instead, it's an exploration into crime, psychology, history and social order.

An ageless Michael Cain plays a flawless Alfred Pennyworth, offering insight that goes beyond the battle between good and evil.

He tells him to know his limits.

He doesn’t listen.

“Batman has no limits.”

But Alfred persists.

“Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

That man, played by the late Heath Ledger, believes “whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger.”

He's a sadistic serial murderer, he who takes pleasure in questioning, “why so serious?” before carving a grin into his victims.

This isn’t any Clinique-wearing clown.

He’s the joker, who fittingly mocks social order and the subsequent absurdity of attempting to uphold it in spite of chaos.

Amidst the twisted metal, rappelled bodies, explosions, there is a sentimentality secreted in the frenetic.
Its rapid fire is complemented by a reverberating score from the brilliant Hans Zimmer.

Haunting and tragic, The Dark Knight soars on the wings of its clandestine hero, yet resounds with a triumphant declaration, rising into a deafening crescendo.

And so you question why so serious?

Perhaps directing the question to Batman would merit a sufficient response.

He is unlimited. Isn't he?