So the tenth anniversary of the release of The Dark Knight is approaching this coming July. In 2008, critically worshipped director Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk, Inception) created arguably the best movie in the entire Batman franchise and in the time since its release, it has come to be hailed as a true classic. Just for funsies, let's have a look at the movie in some detail, shall we?
Firstly... What an opening sequence!
EXT: Daytime... The morning sun rises over the urban work of art that is the Gotham City skyline (filmed in Chicago, IL) and a gang of disreputable gentlemen in clown masks are preparing to rob a bank owned by the mob, led by the mysterious and certifiably insane criminal genius known only as The Joker. Okay, we're all hooked in seconds.
Look out for: Who's the shotgun wielding suit in the bank? His face looks strangely familiar does it not? Name on the tip of your tongue?
That would be everyone's favourite 'that guy' actor, Mr. William Fichtner (Prison Break, Contact, Entourage, Heat and tons of other stuff in which he miraculously appears without warning)!
Let's talk about the late Heath Ledger.
What an actor! We've seen him in rom coms, we've seen him in dramatic love stories and historic depictions, we've even seen him portray a hilarious knight in medieval England. The man is the epitome of diversity as an actor.
This time, he smashed it.
Ledger made the character of The Joker as creepy and disturbing as humanly possible along with Christopher Nolan's script. The terrifying nature of the Joker is that he represents the potential capacity for madness within all of us, hiding his malice and sadism within a massive intricate web of worryingly sound logic and legitimately understandable reasoning. As with most Batman stories, the focus is less on the character of the caped crusader himself and more on the villain as the antihero of the film. Nolan couldn't have picked a better actor. Unfortunate consequences aside, he was incredible.
What about Batman?
After the carnage of 2005's Batman Begins, our, mask-wearing, roof-fancying protagonist must battle with his inner demons as he is faced with new challenges from the stubborn criminal element of Gotham City. Ordinary citizens in bat masks fight in his name, calling him a symbol of courage and vigilance and are being killed in the process which one would assume makes him feel a little bit guilty about the whole fiasco. It's okay though, they're wearing hockey pads they'll be fine.
Look out for: Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Dunkirk, 28 Days Later) returning to reprise his role as the infamous 'Scarecrow' Jonathan Crane in the multi-story parking lot scene.
As you're probably getting sick of me rambling about my favourite bits, here's a summary...
You've just got to love this movie! It's got drama, it's got a love triangle, it's got action and violence and adventure and mental car chases and gadgets! It's a mafioso movie, it's a crime drama, it's not overly faithful to the comic series but if it was, realistically... Who would care anyway.
The film features the development of infamous characters we've all seen before in previous Batman stories. We see James Gordon becoming Gotham's straight-laced Police Commissioner and we see Harvey Dent's rapid descent into madness, becoming the deadly criminal known as Two Face. We see Bruce Wayne using not only his strength and physical ability but also his genius-level intelligence to take down The Joker, armed with extra wisdom imparted by his faithful butler and gadgets built by Fox's little elves in R&D.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Firstly... What an opening sequence!EXT: Daytime... The morning sun rises over the urban work of art that is the Gotham City skyline (filmed in Chicago, IL) and a gang of disreputable gentlemen in clown masks are preparing to rob a bank owned by the mob, led by the mysterious and certifiably insane criminal genius known only as The Joker. Okay, we're all hooked in seconds.
Look out for: Who's the shotgun wielding suit in the bank? His face looks strangely familiar does it not? Name on the tip of your tongue?
That would be everyone's favourite 'that guy' actor, Mr. William Fichtner (Prison Break, Contact, Entourage, Heat and tons of other stuff in which he miraculously appears without warning)!
Let's talk about the late Heath Ledger. What an actor! We've seen him in rom coms, we've seen him in dramatic love stories and historic depictions, we've even seen him portray a hilarious knight in medieval England. The man is the epitome of diversity as an actor.
This time, he smashed it.
Ledger made the character of The Joker as creepy and disturbing as humanly possible along with Christopher Nolan's script. The terrifying nature of the Joker is that he represents the potential capacity for madness within all of us, hiding his malice and sadism within a massive intricate web of worryingly sound logic and legitimately understandable reasoning. As with most Batman stories, the focus is less on the character of the caped crusader himself and more on the villain as the antihero of the film. Nolan couldn't have picked a better actor. Unfortunate consequences aside, he was incredible.
After the carnage of 2005's Batman Begins, our, mask-wearing, roof-fancying protagonist must battle with his inner demons as he is faced with new challenges from the stubborn criminal element of Gotham City. Ordinary citizens in bat masks fight in his name, calling him a symbol of courage and vigilance and are being killed in the process which one would assume makes him feel a little bit guilty about the whole fiasco. It's okay though, they're wearing hockey pads they'll be fine.
Look out for: Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Dunkirk, 28 Days Later) returning to reprise his role as the infamous 'Scarecrow' Jonathan Crane in the multi-story parking lot scene.
Can't forget the team...
Bruce Wayne a.k.a The Batman (Christian Bale), his faithful and mysteriously "harder than a Scottish winter" butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) and Wayne Enterprises gadget genius Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman) once again put their heads together to protect their fair city. None of it would be possible without the super-charismatic law enforcement stylings of Gotham's finest incorruptible cop, James Gordon (Gary Oldman) standing by the iconic bat symbol skylight.
Look out for: The bloke playing Commissioner Loeb... Seen him before? Yep! That's Colin McFarlane, an English actor you will likely have seen playing various bit roles in classic British sitcoms and sketch shows, notably Black Books, The Fast Show and Harry and Paul.
Bruce Wayne a.k.a The Batman (Christian Bale), his faithful and mysteriously "harder than a Scottish winter" butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) and Wayne Enterprises gadget genius Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman) once again put their heads together to protect their fair city. None of it would be possible without the super-charismatic law enforcement stylings of Gotham's finest incorruptible cop, James Gordon (Gary Oldman) standing by the iconic bat symbol skylight.
Look out for: The bloke playing Commissioner Loeb... Seen him before? Yep! That's Colin McFarlane, an English actor you will likely have seen playing various bit roles in classic British sitcoms and sketch shows, notably Black Books, The Fast Show and Harry and Paul.
You've just got to love this movie! It's got drama, it's got a love triangle, it's got action and violence and adventure and mental car chases and gadgets! It's a mafioso movie, it's a crime drama, it's not overly faithful to the comic series but if it was, realistically... Who would care anyway.
The film features the development of infamous characters we've all seen before in previous Batman stories. We see James Gordon becoming Gotham's straight-laced Police Commissioner and we see Harvey Dent's rapid descent into madness, becoming the deadly criminal known as Two Face. We see Bruce Wayne using not only his strength and physical ability but also his genius-level intelligence to take down The Joker, armed with extra wisdom imparted by his faithful butler and gadgets built by Fox's little elves in R&D.
Here's some stats for the nerds...
The Dark Knight is a real game-changer in the Batman franchise, without which the change in tone that led to the more dramatic and dark production of comic-book-inspired movies (made by DC, Marvel and Dark Horse alike) would never have become the norm.
The film scored a domestic box office taking of $535 million in the US and $1 billion worldwide, it was the highest grossing movie of 2008, the all-time highest grossing movie in the Batman franchise, the second highest domestic grossing comic-book adaptation of all time behind Marvel's The Avengers and is currently ranked at #4 in IMDb's top 250 list just behind The Godfather Parts I and II and 1994's The Shawshank Redemption.
The Dark Knight is a real game-changer in the Batman franchise, without which the change in tone that led to the more dramatic and dark production of comic-book-inspired movies (made by DC, Marvel and Dark Horse alike) would never have become the norm.
The film scored a domestic box office taking of $535 million in the US and $1 billion worldwide, it was the highest grossing movie of 2008, the all-time highest grossing movie in the Batman franchise, the second highest domestic grossing comic-book adaptation of all time behind Marvel's The Avengers and is currently ranked at #4 in IMDb's top 250 list just behind The Godfather Parts I and II and 1994's The Shawshank Redemption.
