MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace
Recommended for ages 13 and up.
Run Time: 152 minutes
Quick Take: Not your "CRASH!" "WHIZ" "BANG!" comic book movie, Dark Knight's nightmarish villain and the deaths of some major characters require a know-your-kid judgement call before you buy tickets.
The Story: Batman, the mysterious crimefighter of Gotham City, may be a hero but he's also prompted an uprising in the city's criminal underbelly. He wonders, is he causing more harm than good? The crime bosses want him out, and hire Joker -- a sick, malevolent clown with no loyalties and no code -- to bring him down. Meanwhile, crusading District Attorney Harvey Dent is fighting crime without cape and cowl, hoping to banish the city's villains with law and letter.
Good If You Liked: Batman Begins, Batman (1989), Spider-Man 2
Heads Up: A lot of kids -- especially fans of previous Batman flicks, plus the comic books and cartoons -- are going to want to see this, but be prepared for a movie that toes the line of PG-13 and R. There are many deaths of minor characters and also of a few major ones. The transformation of one character from upstanding citizen to a disfigured maniac is visually and emotionally jarring for any age. Also, Heath Ledger as the Joker never lets up -- he's the embodiment of every kid's boogeyman rolled into one twisted package. Excellent in every way, this movie frequently drops its audience into bleak despair, though the Batman is always there to catch us.
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This Knight is Definitely Dark, But Also Extremely Good
If life came with comic-book thought bubbles, the one over my head at the end of The Dark Knight would simply say: !!!
Those who know me realize what a feat it is to render me speechless, even wordless, but The Dark Knight is that good.
As the credits rolled, I felt like I could burst with things to say about the film, yet could only gape at the screen, my half-eaten popcorn in one hand, a soda cup in the other. The thing is, I knew whatever I came up with to say wouldn't do you half the service of actually seeing the movie.
Seriously, parents who want to teach their kids about what it means to be good in a world gone bad could do worse than The Dark Knight.
You scoff. "It's just a comic book movie."
Nope.
Part crime epic, part hero's journey, part morality play, it's impossible to label director Christopher Nolan's second Batman film as just another comic book movie. (Not that there's anything wrong with comic book movies, at least when we're talking Spider-Man 2 and not, say, Ghost Rider.)
Picking up where Batman Begins left off, Gotham City's baddies have formed a playgroup, a collective "It" trying to tag the pesky bat that foils all their plots. They're failing, and need help from a fearless hired gun.
Enter the Joker. The late Heath Ledger gives a performance by which all future Jokers will be judged -- his Joker provides several of the film's laughs, but always with the understanding that we're laughing with a full-fledged madman. He's not out for money, power, or any of the usual villain motivators. He just wants to create chaos, he relishes it, and he'll do whatever it takes to draw the whole city into his plots.
The movie plays with opposites, but it's hard to be sure who Joker's opposite is. Batman might be, but by Joker's logic, he and Batman have a few things in common -- one being that they're both just men but use masks to be something more, even if they play for different sides.
Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego, can claim no hidden superpowers, unless you count having piles of money and looking dashing in a tuxedo as powers. When you get down to it, he's just a man nutty enough to put on a costume and steal into the night to fight crime. Christian Bale plays Batman as more than the sum of his gadgets. He's the way Batman (the Batman, as he's referred to by many Gothamites) is meant to be: Hardly a golden boy wonder, and more a shadowy benefactor who operates in shades of gray. Originally fueled by his parents' deaths, Bale's Batman has evolved. He wants to find a successor so he can settle down with the girl next door (Rachel Dawes, played by an excellent Maggie Gyllenthal).
Could Gotham's next hero be District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart)? He's the closest thing to Joker's opposite: Idealistic, hopeful, and wanting to be a hero in the clear light of day, rather than cover of night. Yes, one can hope, but, remember, the movie's called The Dark Knight, not Sunrise Over Gotham.
Good. Evil. Light. Dark. Order. Chaos. Heroes. Villains.
It's a joy when a film can go so well with soda and popcorn, and still give you lots to contemplate.
Even if the sum of those thoughts is "!!!"
Kids Will Like:
Batman. He's just so cool. Whether he's fending off baddies, or rocketing his Bat Bike down the streets of Gotham, Batman is a reassuring figure, even when the Joker's twisted jack-in-the-box springs up to wreak havoc. Chase sequences and big blow-'em-up moments will delight any kid in search of new storylines for their action figures. And, thanks to Nolan's use of an Imax camera to shoot six sequences, kids will love the true bat's-eye-view of the nitty gritty city of Gotham if they see the flick in an Imax theater.
Parents Will Like:
Moms, think of the time you'll save -- you never need to obsess over another McDreamy or even, say, a Sparrow, when you have a Bat. At least a Batman/Bruce Wayne like Christian Bale's. And there's more eye candy available if you see the movie in Imax. Gotham, played by the city of Chicago, looks so atmospheric and larger-than-life, you'll want to do a Batman tour of the Windy City. (Bruce Wayne not included...)
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