The blockbuster juggernaut “The Dark Knight,” is one the most eagerly awaited films in recent memory. But this film isn't just a monolithic marketing event; it’s not composed of mere mindless action-movie antics, nor does it rely on stale super-heroics to entertain its audience.
In fact, unlike its fellow comic-book/super-hero movie predecessor, “Spider-Man 3” (which previously held the record for highest grossing opening weekend - a title now held by "The Dark Knight") this film is actually good. A lot of the insanely high expectations for this film having been matched somehow can be attributed to its central villain: The Joker.
The Joker's Influence
Indeed, The Joker is one of the reasons contributing to the biblical amounts of hype behind "The Dark Knight." The late Heath Ledger’s performance in the role had become legendary even prior to the film’s release. The draw to Ledger’s character goes beyond the honoring of a great actor having passed away before his time. Ledger is entirely deserving of all the praise he has earned for his performance; he is mesmerizing in the film.
One of the most uncanny details of the character is that Ledger completely disappears into the role, and to a disturbing degree. The make-up is thin and messily applied to his face, but Ledger is still completely unrecognizable. One scene even shows The Joker’s face briefly with no make-up; one still cannot see Ledger somewhere within the character. At least psychologically, it’s as if there is no Ledger there at all - there is only The Joker. And that is truly frightening.
Mysterious Origins
Director Christopher Nolan co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan, and the sibling team has provided a script that gives the movie’s primary antagonist depth without having to tell his ‘genesis’ story. In fact, the mystery as to The Joker’s origin and whereabouts up until the point of his introduction in the film greatly add to his mystique.
The incredible sense of dread and sheer palpable presence The Joker commands on-screen has been compared to the likes of Darth Vader and Hannibal Lecter – both villains who have also remained entirely ambiguous in their origins until, ironically, each was given a movie (or prequel-trilogy of movies) detailing their descent to darkness. Ledger’s Joker needs no such tiresome introduction. What is important to the experience of "The Dark Knight" is the here, the now, the present that is ever threatened by the villain’s ravenous thirst for disorder.
An Agent of Chaos
And it is that insatiable lust for chaos and destruction that makes The Joker so scary. He is flesh and blood, he is not immortal, but it is his disregard and denial of such petty constraints that truly make him terrifying. In one pivotal scene, The Joker quietly but vehemently urges Batman (Christian Bale) to run him down with the Batpod, a collision that would surely kill The Joker. It is not his own survival that The Joker considers, but the assertion of chaos. To get Batman to break his one rule – to never resort to killing – would be The Joker’s ultimate victory.
To spread the influence of disarray, to transform Gotham into a true “world without rules” (to reference the film’s latest tagline) is The Joker's only goal. Not to survive, not to kill Batman, but to break Batman, to drag him down to The Joker’s level. This ultimate embrace of sheer ruthless nihilism both effectively scares the other conventional villains in the film, as well as the film’s audience. Heath Ledger's deeply unsettling performance as this beacon of cinematic evil will endure in audiences' memory and film history for generations to come.
