Screen Scene: “The Dark Knight”

In the debate over the creation of nuclear missile shields, many experts have said that even if a supposedly indestructible shield were built, there would always be someone or something that would find a way to surmount it with stronger missiles. Pretty bleak, right? “The Dark Knight,” the latest film from the Batman series, meditates on a similar, highly sinister predicament.

Despite the glittering, incredible capabilities of Batman’s crime-fighting tools, the villains are winning and Gotham is collapsing. What lengths will the vigilante Batman (Christian Bale) and noble District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) take to prevent it from crumbling to pieces?

While “Batman Begins” was Bale’s film, “The Dark Knight” belongs to the late Heath Ledger, without a doubt. He skulks through the midnight streets of Gotham with chalky, scabby bravado ““ and like many of the greatest cinematic villains, we don’t want him to leave the screen, even if it means safety for the heroes.

The Joker has “nothing in his pockets but knives and lint,” but that’s all he needs to strike terror and awe into his victims and amazement into the audience.

The character of the Joker becomes so penetrating, it’s like you can almost imagine his gunpowder-y, sickening stench ““ you can almost feel his breath teasing you on the back of your neck.

He rejects cliche, uplifting maxims in favor of his own more chilling one: “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.” Ledger’s Joker is smoldering, armrest-gripping, goose bump-inducing ““ about every adjective or made-up string of words you could think of to describe pure awe.

An entire book could be written on the genius nuances of Ledger’s performance, but there is more to the film. The cinematography is as crisp and sleek as Batman’s suit, and we swoop along with him between skyscrapers and tear down Gotham’s harrowing streets at reckless speeds. The sound and music is excellent, with high-pitched strings tensely climaxing with action, reminiscent of “The Shining” or classic Hitchcock.

It could be tempting for some politicos to interpret parts of the film as a type of pro-Patriot Act metaphor, but this is clearly not the film’s intent. Despite the depth of the film’s artistry and layers of psychological implications, it’s still about a superhero and his intentions for Good to triumph over Evil.

Of course, it’s more complicated than that, as director Christopher Nolan has shown in “The Dark Knight” with details that are not diluted by excessive explosions or muddied with pointless subplots.

Some old band once sang that money can’t buy you love, but with “The Dark Knight” costing a reported $180 million to produce, I beg to differ. This film is incredible, and unlike the Joker, I’m serious.

E-mail McReynolds at dmcreynolds@media.ucla.edu.

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