The Dark Knight
| ♥ | This article is dedicated to Heath Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose at the age of 28 on January 22, 2008. |
The Dark Knight
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This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 2020.
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 You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
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The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second installment of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale and supported by Michael Caine, the late Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman. In the film, Bruce Wayne / Batman (portrayed by Bale), Police Lieutenant James Gordon (portrayed by Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (portrayed by Eckhart) ally to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City but are menaced by an anarchistic mastermind known as the Joker (portrayed by Ledger), who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and throw the city into chaos.
Considered one of the best films of the 2000s decade and one of the greatest and most influential films of all time, the film received universal acclaim for its screenplay, visual style, musical score, stunts, mature themes, performances (particularly Ledger's), cinematography, action sequences, and direction. The film also set numerous records during its theatrical run. The Dark Knight appeared on 287 critics' top-ten lists, more than any other film of 2008 except for WALL-E, and more critics (77) named The Dark Knight the best film released that year. With over $1 billion in revenue worldwide, it became the fourth-highest-grossing film at the time and the highest-grossing film of 2008; it also set the record for the highest-grossing domestic opening with $158 million, a record it held for three years. At the 81st Academy Awards, the film received eight nominations; it won the award for Best Sound Editing, and Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor. In 2020, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", becoming the second superhero film after Superman (1978) to earn the honor. The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in the trilogy, was released in 2012.
Plot
Ever since Batman (portrayed by Christian Bale) began his vigilante activities in Gotham City, criminals have become too scared to commit crimes. With Harvey Dent, the new security deputy, passing laws that give police officers more power to prosecute criminals and working alongside Batman to capture them, the crime lords are becoming increasingly desperate.
At the same time, a mysterious clown calling himself "The Joker" (portrayed by the late Heath Ledger) appears and launches a series of terrorist attacks against Gotham. He is always one step ahead of Batman. Batman and Joker become deadly rivals, as the Joker continues to put more pressure on Batman to surrender; otherwise, he'll keep launching more attacks and killing more citizens. Commissioner Gordon also seems to die during one of the attacks.
Unable to stop the Joker, Bruce Wayne considers giving up on Batman and letting Harvey Dent be his successor as the figure of justice against Gotham's wrongdoers, remembering that Rachel cannot be with Bruce as long as Batman exists. However, to Bruce's surprise, Harvey Dent turns himself in, claiming to be Batman.
The Joker attempts to assassinate Dent, allowing Batman to defeat the Joker, and Gordon, who had faked his death, captures him. Unfortunately, Dent and Rachel are captured, and the Joker had planned to let himself get captured. Joker sets up a trap where Rachel dies and half of Dent's face is burnt. Joker then corrupts Dent into taking revenge against everyone who led to Rachel's death, Harvey goes insane and becomes the vigilante "Two-Face". Two-Face murders multiple authority figures while Joker continues to cause more chaos.
Joker launches one more attack, blowing up two ships full of citizens and criminals. However, this time, Batman gets ahead of Joker's plans and captures him once and for all. His victory is short-lived however, as Joker's ultimate plan was to turn Harvey Dent into Two-Face and prove that even the most noble of people can become evil scum.
Two-Face takes Gordon's family hostage and holds him at gunpoint. Batman tries to reason with Harvey, but Two-Face refuses to listen, forcing Batman to knock Two-Face off a ledge to his death. Gordon fears that once the public finds out about all the crimes Harvey committed, they'll lose hope, but Batman takes the blame for all those murders so that Dent can be a martyr of justice. Gordon reluctantly agrees that Batman is labeled public enemy Number 1 of Gotham City.
Why It's So Serious
- The major highlight of this film and one of the biggest reasons it received universal acclaim is the late Heath Ledger's portrayal as the Joker: It is arguably the best and greatest incarnation of the Joker character to this day. Ledger did an outstanding job portraying the Joker as insane and unpredictable yet utterly terrifying and menacing through his impeccable method acting skills. All of the scenes featuring him (such as the monologues about his scars or when he talks to Harvey Dent at the hospital) are extremely tense and keep you at the edge of your seat; it also helps that nearly all of his dialogue is memorable and quotable. He got a highly deserved Oscar for the role, becoming the first comic-book movie actor to do so.
- And one of the things that makes him stand out the most in comparison to other comic book film villains is that he succeeds at his plan: The Joker manages to drive Gotham City into complete panic and paranoia by killing several politicians and federals as well as turning their one only morally good leader (Harvey Dent) into a split-personality murderer. This ultimately leads to Batman's decision to take the blame for everything since he knows they will have lost faith if the city finds out their only decent politician is corrupted.
- Aside from that, the acting is excellent all around; while Ledger stands out the most, the truth is, everyone in this film is top-notch: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
- Two-Face is also a great and intimidating villain driven by revenge, instead of his split-personality disorder worsening after his face is burned.
- Brilliant cinematography, as usual for a Nolan film, makes its image and picture quality look excellent, like in HD, and its true potential in 4K. The location where this was filmed is also unique, with great lighting and good depth.
- The poster is exceptionally creative because it features the Batman symbol (on the building) in flames, with its symbol of blue light at the bottom.
- As a film released in the 2000s, this is one of the most successful attempts to make a superhero movie appear realistic.
- While a majority of blockbusters fail to stand the test of time for several reasons, one thing that makes this film timeless is that things were dark in 2008 for America, with two tough wars (Afghanistan and Iraq) and natural disasters (9/11 and hurricane Katrina) on people's minds and a massive economic collapse just a few short months away. While movies that directly addressed the issues and their effects usually bomb at the box office, the people still had some serious psychological issues to vent collectively. This film can address several serious topics like organized crime, corruption of politicians, vigilantism, terrorists, and even the heroes losing without having to get too serious, as it's masked as a Batman superhero movie (who in general tends to reflect with the mood of the times) to appeal to everyday audiences.
- Incredible directing from Nolan (who has also directed other notably good films such as Dunkirk and Oppenheimer); this has become the most iconic film he ever directed in the 2000s.
- Memorable and now iconic scenes, some of them include the opening bank robbery, the Joker's pencil trick, the truck chase, Batman interrogating the Joker, and the hospital explosion.
- Rachel's death is an unexpected moment; subsequently, it majorly affects Batman for the rest of the film's trilogy into The Dark Knight Rises.
- It updates the bat-suit closer to resemble the logo symbol and the Batarang itself. They even explain this in the film by having Bruce ask Lucius for a more flexible suit.
- Much like Barbie and The Simpsons Movie, this film is iconic for having one of the best marketing campaigns ever that went as creative and bonkers as possible. From viral videos, alternate reality games, people dressed as the Joker in staged events, hidden clues scattered around the internet, character websites, etc. It's also impressive how this campaign was more centered on the Joker and Two Face, instead of just being about Batman.
- The film's dark and gritty tone is done right and does things correctly at being dark and cool; it never fails or tries too hard to be either.
- These quotes:
- I believe, whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you...stranger!
- It's simple, we kill the Batman!
- And i thought my jokes were bad.
- How about a magic trick?
- I'm a man of my word. HA HA HA HA HA!
- Enough from the clown!
- Some men just want to watch the world burn.
- Sometimes the truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.
- Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair!
- See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.
- Now I'm always smiling!
- It's not about money... its about sending a message.
- This city deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them!
- Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.
- Why So Serious?!
Bad Qualities
- The lack of blood in the scenes when the Joker shoves a man into a pencil and when Batman punches Joker during the interrogation are continuity errors.
- Two-Face's death is rather anti-climactic; when he uses his coin to determine whether Gordon's son will live or die, the wounded Batman stops him and has Two-Face fall to his death.
- The infamous and unintentionally hilarious scene when Harvey Dent doesn't recognize the Joker dressed as a nurse until the Joker removes his surgical mask, even if his white and black make-up is still evident.
Reception
The Dark Knight was met with universal acclaim and many people consider it to be better than its predecessor and one of the best superhero films of all time it received critical praise for its screenplay, visual effects, musical score, themes, performances (particularly Bale and Ledger), cinematography, action sequences, and direction. On the aggregating review website Rotten Tomatoes, The Dark Knight has an approval rating of 94% based on 341 reviews, with an average score of 8.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Dark, complex and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga.". Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating based on reviews from top mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 84 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade cinemagoers gave the film was "A" on an A+ to F scale; audiences skewed slightly male and older.
Box office
Seven weeks after its worldwide opening, the film became the fourth ever to cross the billion-dollar mark in total box office receipts worldwide.
Trivia
- Katie Holmes was planning to reprise her role as Rachel but chose instead to star in Mad Money with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah.
Videos
External links
The Dark Knight at the Internet Movie Database
The Dark Knight on Rotten Tomatoes
The Dark Knight on Metacritic
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