The Joker

The Joker was such a great character in this movie. His mysterious beginnings, his motives, and the acting. I tried to not be influenced by the rave reviews of Heath Ledger's performance, but there were definitely spot on. I actually saw part of "Ten Things I Hate About You" and won't believe its the same actor. Again, I do give away parts of the plot so you have been warned.

Anyway, the Joker is not after money, as the mob is, but seems to be out to prove a point. He seeks to create chaos, but show that everyone has a price, everyone can be bought. He shows this over and over, whether it be money or to protect loved ones. When Batman and Lt. Gordon are talking near the end, they say the he sought to prove that the best of us (Harvey Dent) was corruptible. I saw on TV they said that the Joker seeks to prove that law and the rule of law is a joke, because everyone has a price and the rules and laws of society can be broken for a price, so the laws that make everyone feel safe are a joke. I don't know if I believe that or not, but its an interesting take on the Joker. But that's the intriguing about the Joker.

Another interesting thing about the Joker is the situations he puts people in. The choice between faced by the two boats, the choice between Dent or Rachael that Batman has to make, the choice of killing Coleman Reis or destroying a hospital, or anyone of the policemen who are asked to betray Dent and Rachel in order to protect their family.

He also remains a step ahead of the police, the mob, and Batman as he intentionally gets arrested, supplants the mob, and has free reign over the city (he makes everyone panic and try to leave). In fact, the Joker destroys the mob as much as Batman does. Throughout the movie, you constantly wondering how he stays one step ahead of the game, even though as he claims to Dent/TwoFace that he doesn't have a master plan and that everyone else has plans and intentions.

The other interesting aspect about the Joker, but more about the movie is the aspect of terrorism. As the Joker says, think what I did with a couple barrels of oil, a few guns, and some knifes. What he did was push Gotham to the brink. As his escalation of terror picks up, he causes panic across the city and that is what terrorism is about, using terror and fear as weapons. Killing a few people, militarily is not going to bring down a large city, but inject those murders with a public displays and random killings and you have terrorism. In this respect, I feel the movie moves beyond the comic genre and makes political commentary about today's world. His acts are intentionally fuel the flames of fear.

As the movie climaxes the Joker gets to each of the three heroic characters. Harvey Dent obviously cracks and turns into Two-Face. Lt. Gordon's familiy is in danger. He, of course, antagonizes Batman the entire movie. The question becomes how far is Batman willing to go to rid himself of the Joker, who is threatening the city and Batman's very being. Will Bruce Wayne reveal himself? Will Batman kill the Joker? Is he willing to invade everyone's privacy to do it (another political statement)? How will Alfred's and Lucius's advice be taken?

The question is who will be around for the next movie, if there is a next movie. Both lead villians from this movie seem not to be able to return. There is still the Scarecrow, but that seems like a road we've been down before. Some have speculated it could be the Riddler (Coleman Reis or Mr. Reis although I don't know the comic stories) or Catwoman, with the mention of cats and body armor. Also, how will that movie compare with this one. After the success of this movie, the next one would have astronomical expectations.