Review of The Dark Knight (2008) by Jordan%20 T — 12 Dec 2017

The Dark Knight? Or the Joker show?

Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight made what would have been a good movie into what is now, and forever will be a great movie. His performance as the Joker was a phenomenal, one of a kind performance that could not have been acted any better than what was displayed in The Dark Knight. It still pains me today that The Dark Knight was Heath Ledgers last film before he passed away, but boy did he end on an amazing performance. He deservedly was awarded an Oscar for Bests Supporting Actor in 2009 after he had passed away, adding on to his amazing legacy. Heath was the star of the show, even ironically enough over Christian Bale, the Batman, in which the movie is named after.

The Joker was the definition of pure evil causing mayhem through Gotham city. He ran around the city with his purple suit and white and red face paint doing all kinds of terrible things. To name only a few of those things, the Joker went from robbing banks, to slamming a pencil through some one's head, to making videos of him torturing civilians, to bombing a hospital, to planting bombs on boats, to almost anything you could think of. Even the creepy way that he would share how he got the horrific scars on his face as he would quickly lick his lips would give me the chills. Because of his performance the 2 and a half hour movie of action packed excitement still had me wanting more when it came to an end.

The Influence that the Joker had in the movie was mind boggling. Literally everyone in Gotham city was affected by the Jokers motives to create havoc. After the Joker received stacks on stacks of cash that he and the mobs had stolen he put all that money in a huge pile, poured gasoline on it, and burned it to ashes. The Joker was the kind of villain that didn't care about worldly things such as riches or power; he didn't care if he was well known. There was only one thing on his mind, and Alfred Pennyworth described him perfectly in the movie. Comparing the Joker to another man that he had come across in Burma, he said about the Joker, "Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." That's all it came down to with the Joker, the only incentive and sense of accomplishment that he felt, came when he saw the world burn.

The Joker had not limits. He loved playing sick twisted "games" with the civilians in Gotham just to watch people suffer. There are many scenes in the movie that displays the Jokers insanity but one specific scene really puts it all in a nut shell. As the people were evacuating Gotham the Joker planted bombs onto two boats. One of the boats was filled with convicts from the prison and the other was filled with average civilians. Instead of just blowing the boats up himself he allowed the people to do it. He put a detonator on each boat that detonated the bomb to the other boat, and told them if they didn't blow up the other boat before midnight then they would all die. Instead of easily killing all the people in those two boats the Joker enjoyed bringing others down with them. He didn't want to be the only one "having the fun" so in an evil twisted way he involved others in helping him inflict pain and cause mayhem in the city of Gotham.

Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker will go down as one of the best acted villains of all time. The way Heath Ledger acted the Joker was admirable. There are not enough words to describe all that he did for The Dark Knight and the movie industry in general. He has left his mark in a big way. Heath Ledgers legacy will forever live on.