"Holy sequels Batman!" - The dark hero - a story re-told

Warning! Spoilers below!

Last Saturday I went to watch the latest Batman movie - "The Dark Knight". Since Tim Burton properly launched the caped crusader onto the silver screen in 1989, he has had a total of six Hollywood outings (Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin , Batman Begins and Batman the Dark Knight).

Tim Burton's original movie marked a return from the garish TV Batman to the original dark streets of Gotham that The Batman patrolled in his debut years in 1939. Sadly a change of direction (into primo family explosive blockbuster mode) for the third and fourth films meant a hideous decline in quality and an almost circular return to the bright comicness of the 1960s. Thankfully, a thoughtful Christopher Nolan sucessfully resurrected Batman in 2005, returning him to the bleak world in which he was born. You see, Batman was never a 'nice guy'; his alter ego, Bruce Wayne may be a billionaire philanthropist, but when he puts on his cape, his streetfighting persona, is as violent and (arguably) as twisted as they come.

It is here that Nolan has really hit the mark. We live in a violent age, our daily news stories consistently full of shootings, robberies, teenage knife crime and this is the world in which our modern Batman lives. He deosn't have any 'real' superpowers, he uses intelligence, physical training and discipline, technology, guile and cunning to outwit the organised criminal minds of Gotham City. Gotham too may be a work of fiction, but Nolan's vision brings it closer to our cites, New York, London, Manchester - we may not always see the underworld, but in his latest movie, its the focus. So with a believeable Batman in a quasi-believeable city, the story itself becomes more real; as we walk past a darkened alley on the wrong side of town, it could be a shadowy version of Gotham itself. Nolan takes the viewer on a journey, ever in danger, but with the wings of hope somewhere above us in the sky.

To complete the picture, the Joker returns to do battle with his nemesis and it was here that I really sat up and take notice. The critics have praised Heath Ledger's performance and rightly so. Jack Nicholson's utterly brilliant performance is not eclipsed by Ledger's interpretation, but Ledger makes Nolan's vision of a real-life, dark as sin Joker chill your spine. Burton and Nicholson retained an element of comic humour for their portrayal, and painted the colour into their frames with the Joker's toys, but Ledger makes the character's insanity colder, more real, he's crossed a line none return from, his humanity removed completely, his hideous black soul exposed for all to see. He calculates with murderous effect - and for what purpose? Purely his own torturous enjoyment. Heath surely deserves a posthumous Oscar, may he rest in peace.

The six films have seen three different directors, two different Jokers, two Harveys and no less than four actors putting on the Crusader's Cape. With a new Dent, Gordon and Joker joining in this Batman tale, I wondered how many times the story will be re-told? I for one am pleased that the Nolan brothers (Jonathan penned the script) have re-told the Batman tale in this way. Its not cheesy (yes its a blockbuster so there's lots of explosions, special effects etc - what do you expect? Its not an arthouse production!) and it returns to its origins - the theme and the message have been uncovered once again. The light and bright comic-book-for-kids layers have been removed and the raw characters of good, evil and the environment in which they battle are revealed; the original message clear. As I watched and the storyline unfolded, this context struck me as very familiar. Just how many stories do we re-tell?

The story of Jesus and the Gospel has been around for 2000 years and it has been re-told in so many ways. We have so many traditions (denominations, expressions, cultures, whatever you like to term them) that tell and have re-told the good news for centuries. Apostolic Catholics, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicans, Reformed (Baptists, Methodists etc), Pentecostals, Evangelicals... the list goes on. According to World Christian Encyclopedia (year 2000 version), global Christianity had 33,820 denominations!! But there is one God and one Truth: The one God created the universe we live in, and humnanity to love him and worship him. You have to be able to choose to really love, so He gave us that choice. We responded by trying to do things our own way (because we could choose to), which ultimately resulted in death for each individual (Gen 2:15). This ruined our loving relationship with our creator by allowing Sin to have a hold in the world and in our hearts and lives. We don't have the strength to combat that so God sent Himself as His Son, to pay the balance for that Sin and re-right humanity's relationship with God the Father. And here we are back to the film.

Nolans' Batman is human. He loves, he fears, he has no superpowers, he is aware of his own physical limitations and he responds to being toyed with like any other man. Yet he too makes a choice. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, taking the sins of the world on His back, breaking Him to death: as the son of God only He could. But Batman too sacrifices himself. He lets his honour and the truth of his actions die for the sake of the people of Gotham, the people he loves and has sworn to protect.

So the film may be too violent for children as young as 12 to watch, but peel back the layers and what do you find? In our churches and outside of them, where we are the 'Dark Knights', God's chosen people commissioned to spread the good news and protect the world from evil (in His Name, authority and power), are we retelling the story? Are we telling the Truth? Or are we letting our layers darken and overshadow the Message we have been entrusted with? Let's be clear. Let's not be afraid and let's show the world that however dark the streets and corners are, the light of Jesus will always shine through.



PS - Todd Bentley is outpouring everywhere!