PREVIEW: The Dark Knight Cometh

With 2005’s Batman Begins, British director Christopher Nolan reinvented both the Bat-franchise and the comic book genre as a whole. Like Tim Burton and Bryan Singer before him, he brought out a side to his superhero’s world that had not seen before, and the film was one of the hits of the year. Three years later, Nolan has added to an already impressive cast for the sequel, and probably the most anticipated movie of the year, The Dark Knight.

The main ‘spine’ of the cast are all returning - Christian Bale is of course back as the caped crusader, along with Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as weapons expert Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as the Commissioner Gordon. One change however was Bruce Wayne’s love interest- Rachel Dawes, played by Katie Holmes in …Begins. Holmes chose to turn down the role, blaming ‘scheduling conflicts’, and is replaced by Secretary star Maggie Gyllenhaal. Another new edition is Thankyou For Smoking actor Aaron Eckhart, who plays the role of District Attorney Harvey Dent. As Bat-fans will already know, the role has a ‘double-sided’ nature to it, and will no doubt play a big part in the film’s climax.    

The plot is set in the aftermath of the first film - Gotham is in chaos, with Batman joining forces with the (newly promoted) Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent to bring down the city’s rampant crime. However, as Gordon had warned, escalation in the law has led to a similar escalation in the crime world, with a ghoulish bank robber known as The Joker emerging as the leader of the underworld. At the same time, Bruce Wayne is dealing with further difficulties. The decision to become Batman was meant, in his eyes, to be temporary, but now he is beginning to face the prospect of leading this double life forever, sacrificing his own life to save others.

The web campaign for this film is unlike anything the movie world has ever seen. Fake websites set challenges for readers, resulting in treasure hunts all over the world, and a mob of Bat-fans in Joker makeup descending on last year’s San Diego Comic Convention. Short trailers and photos were periodically released, but no release was met with more enthusiasm than the trailer that revealed the face of the new Joker, Heath Ledger.

When asked why he cast Ledger in the role, director Nolan replied, “Because he’s fearless”. The actor lived in isolation for a month, perfecting the voice, posture and even keeping a diary of the Joker’s ‘thoughts’. Co-star Michael Caine described Ledger’s performance as “terrifying”, and in his first scene with him, Caine was so shaken by his performance that he forgot his lines. Caine has said in interviews that he believed Ledger had indeed topped Jack Nicholson’s famous performance as the character, and from evidence given in trailers and the prologue released in IMAX cinemas, that appears to be so. Many predict one of the all-time great acting performances. Tragically, this would also be Ledger’s last completed film, as the actor died in January.