'Batman: The Dark Knight' delivers new level of raw evil

By Bruce Watson

Published on July 25, 2008

A little over fifty years ago, America waged a war against comic books. Told that comics were causing juvenile delinquency, Congress held hearings. Parents convinced kids to burn their "Batman" and "Superman" comics. Eventually, comic book publishers agreed on a code of decency. And the nation debated "The Seduction of the Innocent."

It all seems rather silly now. And with "Batman: The Dark Knight" setting box office records, it's clear who won that culture war. Yet as you watch the sinister simplicity of pre-decency code comics take over summer movies, you can't help but wonder.

Yes, the new Batman has Heath Ledger's final performance and it will go down in cinematic history as one of the greatest and darkest performances ever. But the rest of "The Dark Knight" is more disturbing than Ledger's psychotic persona.

Director Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" was a surprisingly intelligent drama. Nuanced and deftly narrative, it told how Bruce Wayne overcame deep doubts and the murder of his parents to become the haunted and brooding Batman.

But this sequel, following the usual Hollywood quest for bigger box office, is driven more by testosterone than by drama. When Ledger is onscreen, "The Dark Knight" is fascinating and even a little fun. When he's not, it's just dark and, with its endless variations of violence and mayhem, simply numbing. Summer movie cultists will eat up all the explosive slaughter. But those just curious about a much-hyped performance by a star who died tragically young may come away in need of a little sunshine.

Woven into the movie's two-and-a-half hours are serious questions. Should we lionize heroes like District Attorney Harvey Dent? Is humanity good or evil? Or are there shades of gray in all of us? But these issues, though they are blown to the surface toward the end, mostly take a backseat to more primal concerns.

Who is Batman bludgeoning in this scene? Which criminal is gunning down which other criminal? Who's driving that semi truck as it smashes through an underpass, taking out a dozen cars? Which block of Gotham City is bursting into flames now? And in a movie steeped in corruption, who did producers have to pay off to get a PG-13 rating for a film that so clearly deserves an R?

Along the way there's a twisting and very twisted plot involving the mob, a sinister Chinese accountant, and the Joker's masterful blackmail. Will "the Batman" reveal his true identity before another city official is blown to bits? How can Bruce Wayne just sit there and let the Joker torch half of Chicago, standing in for Gotham City?

Had the film stopped there, after about two hours, it would have been a decent sequel. But as Heath Ledger proved - on and perhaps off screen - once you've probed the depths of human depravity, it's hard to stop. And so, "The Dark Knight" descends to a level of raw evil that hasn't been seen onscreen since "The Exorcist." The corruption, the killing, the explosions, the mangled bodies and scarred faces just keep coming.

Comic books. Innocent stuff, right? Congressional hearings? What a joke. Still, when a nation watches a comic book in numbers like we saw last weekend, when exploding bodies, burnt faces, and demonic psycho-killers become summer "entertainment," the joke may be on us.

"The Dark Knight" and other cinematic comic books are surely no cause of delinquency. But could our annual summer fare - darker and more frenetic each succeeding season - be one reason our culture, and too many "innocent" adults, remain so juvenile?