SO DAMNED GOOD

1. Okay - let's get the one criticism out of the way. The dialogue is a bit stilted. It sounds like it came from...well, a comic book.

2. Commissioner Gordon is the hero of the story - I think.




I cannot wait to discuss this movie in class. It deals with such fantastic issues that I can use to rock their world. Who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy? What's the difference? Should be awesome. Gordon is the only one who seems to consistently fall on the same side of things - but even this is complicated by his willingness to work with cops who may not be clean. But he seems to always want to do the right thing - and is well aware that "right" is not just vague, but sometimes impossible. Batman deals with the same issues - but by virtue of being Batman he often falls on the darker side of righteousness. I think in the next one Gordon will be a fascinating character to watch.

3. Incredibly political.

The first one was pretty political in that it was all about fear. As a weapon. The ultimate weapon.



This one goes even further - the word "terrorist" is bandied about quite a bit. And there is a lot of discussion (thank you Harvey Dent!) about who should have power and when and why. This gets played out later by my favorite character:



I would love to go on and on about the wisdom of his commentary, but I don't want this to be a spoiler.

4. Provocative

We couldn't talk about the movie for quite a while after we saw it because there was so much to digest. The New Yorker apparently did not like it for that very reason - they said there was entirely too much going on. And there might have been. But it was good stuff. It really is a smorgasbord - amazing visuals and wicked action sequences, all in an effort to get you to think about some pretty important things.

5. THE ENDING

I clearly can't tell you what happens. But if you are still living in a fantasy world where heroes are good guys and villains are bad guys and you can always tell the difference - don't see this. You'll be much happier in in your constructed, blissfully ignorant reality. And there is nothing wrong with that. But the reality I recognized is a bit more complicated. And Christopher Nolan thinks so, too.