"Dark Knight" Running Commentary/Thoughts

Why does the Gotham license plate look like Illinois'? Does it have to do with rampant corruption endemic in both Gotham City and in Illinois?

I really do think that Christopher Nolan is one of the few cinematic geniuses of today. One of the top 10 or 15. It may not sound like much, but considering how many filmmakers there are today, how many good and even great ones, it's a huge compliment. From Memento, to Insomnia (a good remake of the a 1997 Norwegian film, thought the original was much better), to Batman Begins (a good, though NOT great, film for which I do have serious reservations), to The Prestige, Christopher Nolan has continuously honed his craft and surprised us with his originality. The only possible exception is for Insomnia, but as I said, it was a remake; even still, he manged to get great performances from Robin Williams, Al Pacino, and even Hilary Swank (which is not easy in a non-Oscar-winning performance).

Nolan is also great at casting. Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss, and Joe Pantoliano in Memento; the aforementioned cast in Insomnia; Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson (along with David Bowie and Christian Bale (who he had previously worked with in Batman Begins)) in The Prestige; and in the Batman series: the previously underrated (and possibly still underrated in his non-Batman roles) Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine (inspired!), Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal...in fact the only real bad casting move he's made was Katie Holmes, and she's a good actress; the timing just wasn't right it seems.

Nolan may be one of the best filmmakers today, but as much as I want to extol his virtues, he's not conquered everything he should before I feel he ranks amongst the top. Although I don't think there's an historical equivalent to the modern action-thriller, certainly the war films of the past, especially movies like The Great Escape or The French Connection would come close. But those examples are only several decades old, not the 70, 80 year old examples we have for most other genres. My point is that the truly great directors have excelled in or at least made great films in several genres. That is, unless they so totally excel in one genre that it revolutionizes that genre and other genres (such as Hitchcock and Scorcese). Nolan hasn't done that yet. He could either revolutionize the action-thriller, excel in other genres, but he hasn't yet.

I have already talked a little about casting, and I would like to say some more about that; about Maggie Gyllenhaal in particular. Katie Holmes has talent, and is a decent actress, but M. Gyllenhaal is much better. I don't know if she auditioned or campaigned for the role in the original reboot, but she should have been cast to begin with. She's done some films that are a little trite (Mona Lisa Smile), but overall she's been great in her films (Donnie Darko, Cecil B. Demented, Secretary, Stranger Than Fiction.

I'm raving about Maggie Gyllenhaal, and everyone else is raving about Chistian Bale and Heath Ledger (and they are worthy of all the raves they are getting), but Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart both are very capable actors. Both are great performers. Gary Oldman going back to Luc Besson's Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, even further back to Sid & Nancy; he's always been a great actor, and now is no exception. Aaron Eckhart is remembered most recently for his star-making turn in Thank You for Smoking, but was previously well-known for playing Erin Brokovich's boyfriend in the Julia Roberts' Oscar-winning movie.

When serious attempts at making live-action Batman films have been made, casting has not been an issue. Michael Keaton defined the role for a decade, the equivalent to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond; they were able to get Jack Nicholson (Jack Nicholson!!) as the Joker, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, Danny DeVito as the Penguin, and included Christopher Walken. The 1989 film also had Kim Basinge, Billy Dee Williams, and Jack Palance in the cast. Heck, even the cartoonish films Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin managed to get A- and B-list actors like Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Michael Gough, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not to mention future Oscar-winner George Clooney as Batman in B&R. My point is, Batman films have never has trouble finding qualified actors to take on the roles. So obviously it comes down to the script and the director.

Obviously Christopher Nolan is a great director, and his brother Jonathon Nolan is a great screenwriter. That's all there is to say. They tap into what today's audiences want to see in their heroes. Batman, Jason Bourne, James Bond, they are all getting grittier and getting away from glam and glitz that invaded movie heroes, particularly James Bond, of the '80s and '90s.

They not only are able to tap into it, but they are able elicit top-shelf performances from geat material. This is what makes a truly great film. It's a marriage between direction, material, and performance.

The film is over now. Hope my running commentary and thoughts were helpful in some ways.