Screw Superheroes — Just Give Me Darkness

The Dark Knight succeeds as a film because it fearlessly trashes the idea of heroism, and turns hopelessness into a motivation so pyrotechnic that even torture is a kind of seduction. Nothing escapes corruption. Even the poignant anguish of loss is an emotion summarized by gleeful beatings in police stations, innocent faces burned down to bone, and brute-force surveillance that turns an entire city into one giant spy camera. This is a movie that grabs you by the hair and mashes your cheeks against the cold, flat reality that nobody will ever save the day again. Your only joy from now on will be in destruction. And what glorious destruction it is. Spoilers ahead. More »