My Take on the Dark Knight

In His divine wisdom, God instilled a love of movies and comic books into me as a young child. In other words, I was destined to be a geek.
I don't mind it, however, I have the uncanny ability to get wrapped up in stories and really see all the aspects of what I am watching or reading. I am also able to hold on to things I loved as a child, like comic books and my teddy bear, Chocolate.
One of the many comic books I loved as a child was Batman. I read the comics and watched the cartoon and even watched any episodes I could find of the the 60s television series with Adam West, and I always used to think the comics were so much better than anything in the multi-media platform.
Until two weeks ago.
I was able to finally see "The Dark Knight" and it was everything I was hoping it would be and more. As a fanboy, I could point out that not all of the story-lines were accurate, but I would be nit-picking. The movie was just about perfect.
Before I get to Heath Ledger's absolutely phenomenal performance as the Joker, I would like to point out that Christian Bale is the best Batman to ever cross the screen. People may say his rough and gruff "Batman voice" is over the top, but they would be wrong. The way Bale portrays the crime fighter is straight out of the comics. Beat up the bad guys, put the fear of God into them and then probably fight them again because apparently jails and insane asylums in Gotham are just horrific at keeping inmates locked up.
Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and Two-Face is also straight out of comic books. Not the way he transforms into the villain, because that was wrong, but the way he portrays his villainous side. Two-Face is the bad guy I like because of his simplicity. He believes in justice, but he also thinks everyone deserves a second chance. For Two-Face it is simple. If you land on the right side of the coin you live, you land on the wrong side, you die. It is such a simple concept, but also one that is very powerful because he is what Batman wishes he could be.
Batman only has one rule: he doesn't kill people. The whole premise of "The Dark Knight" is the Joker trying to convince Batman that people are inherently evil and even the masked crime-fighter has no hope of winning the war on crime, much less following his one rule.
The film shows the Joker beating down the city of Gotham and its hero to prove his point, and it shows how people react in a time of terror.
Call me a cynic, but I believe the film did a fantastic job of showing how easily people will turn on the person they praised the day before. Even in the Bible it shows Jesus being praised by people with palm branches one day and the same people cursing him and killing him the next.
One difference from the Bible, however, is that the people end up not being so evil at the core. They may act scared, but that is just because they are scared.
For Two-Face, it is all black and white. You did something bad, you are a bad person. Batman on the other hand believes that people are good, but justice must also be served.
The Joker believes in nothing but chaos. He wants to sow the seeds of chaos and just "wants to watch the world burn." He does evil things just to do them because he believes that life and money hold no importance.
Watching the cartoons and reading the comics as a child and teenager, I could always tell a distinct difference in the way the character was portrayed. In the comic book, the Joker was a homicidal maniac who killed without a second thought. In the cartoons and old television show, the Joker seemed just like a goofy uncle who also liked to rob people.
In the 1985 "Batman," Jack Nicholson does a great job as the Joker, but he leans a little to the campy side and I always felt like it wasn't an accurate portrayal of the villain that made me fear clowns.
Ledger's performance was what Batman fans have been waiting for as long as there have been movies about Batman. He tapped into something no one has been able to capture before and brought the villain from the comic to life. I watched the film and knew that Ledger was playing the Joker, but even with all the hype surrounding his performance, he did such an excellent job at transforming himself into the villain that I would often forget it was an actor. It was like the filmmakers actually hired a crazy clown to play the role of the Joker. I have heard many people say that Ledger deserves a posthumous Academy Award for his performance, and while I am not ready to say I agree, it would take an incredible performance to overshadow the late actor's performance. His performance alone is worth seeing the movie.
While I was a big fan of the film because it delved into the dark side of characters and presented itself almost like a Greek tragedy, not everyone will share my enthusiasm. I was really glad that non-comic book fans enjoyed the film, I also am aware that rating the movie PG-13 was pushing the limits of the rating system. I know that as a 13-year-old I would like the movie because of the action, but I would be terrified of the Joker and Two-Face.
The film is by far the best movie of the summer and arguably one of the best comic book movies ever made. But, then again, I am a comic-book geek.