“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 a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a Dark Knight.”
I think if there’s one film, I referenced more times in my reviews than any other, it’s The Dark Knight. But there’s good reason for this because The Dark Knight truly changed everything. When looking at the most obvious effects of the film, it put Batman back on the map as far as big screen adaptations of the character go; and it placed renewed interest in DC and their upcoming film projects. Then comes the slightly wider effects of the film; it received unparalleled critical acclaim at the time, and was one of the first comic book films that people really took seriously, not just another braindead action-centric blockbuster. Then came the effects it had on the actual film industry; it revolutionised the comic book genre, with there being a clear watermark for films that came before The Dark Knight and those that came after it, with those that followed adopting a considerably more grounded approach. Plus, there how it changed the way films were made from a technical perspective, particularly in the way it introduced IMAX to the masses. There’s a lot of ground to cover here so without further ado, this is The Dark Knight.
Approximately one year after beginning his war on the criminal underbelly of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) has helped Detective Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the GCPD close in on the mobsters in the hope of shutting them down for good. With the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), backing Gordon’s and the Batman’s fight it seems as though a bright new future for Gotham is finally on the horizon.
Desperate and running out of options, crime boss Salvatore Maroni (Eric Roberts) and his associates reluctantly accept the help of The Joker (Heath Ledger), a criminal with a penchant for theatrics, and someone who desires no money but just wants to see the Batman dead and Gotham burn.
I think if there’s one film, I referenced more times in my reviews than any other, it’s The Dark Knight. But there’s good reason for this because The Dark Knight truly changed everything. When looking at the most obvious effects of the film, it put Batman back on the map as far as big screen adaptations of the character go; and it placed renewed interest in DC and their upcoming film projects. Then comes the slightly wider effects of the film; it received unparalleled critical acclaim at the time, and was one of the first comic book films that people really took seriously, not just another braindead action-centric blockbuster. Then came the effects it had on the actual film industry; it revolutionised the comic book genre, with there being a clear watermark for films that came before The Dark Knight and those that came after it, with those that followed adopting a considerably more grounded approach. Plus, there how it changed the way films were made from a technical perspective, particularly in the way it introduced IMAX to the masses. There’s a lot of ground to cover here so without further ado, this is The Dark Knight.
Approximately one year after beginning his war on the criminal underbelly of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) has helped Detective Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the GCPD close in on the mobsters in the hope of shutting them down for good. With the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), backing Gordon’s and the Batman’s fight it seems as though a bright new future for Gotham is finally on the horizon.
Desperate and running out of options, crime boss Salvatore Maroni (Eric Roberts) and his associates reluctantly accept the help of The Joker (Heath Ledger), a criminal with a penchant for theatrics, and someone who desires no money but just wants to see the Batman dead and Gotham burn.
Where Batman Begins was a more grounded take on a comic book film, it still leaned on its more fantastical elements to really make it feel like the Batman many recognised. The Dark Knight meanwhile presents itself as a strait-laced crime thriller with the only fantastical element to it being that it happens to have Batman as its main character. The Dark Knight presents the frightening reality of what could happen if organised crime is pushed to its breaking point and turn to terrorism in the hopes of regaining some of the control they have lost. This is not the Batman you grew up watching on Saturday morning cartoons, this is Batman at its darkest and grittiest (at least until Matt Reeves came along with 2022’s The Batman).
In terms of a sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight doesn’t really serve that purpose very well as it is for the most part a self-contained story. I mean even Gotham City looks different and considerably more realistic. There are maybe two-story threads that carry over from Begins, and one of them is contained to a single scene near the beginning of the film. The scene in question sees Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow return and talk to one of Maroni’s top henchmen about hallucinogenic drugs (clearly the toxin Scarecrow unleashed on Gotham during Begins’ climax). This scene actually does set up an interesting recurring theme in The Dark Knight regarding Batman copycats getting themselves into trouble. Bruce is clearly inspiring change but as a result some citizens of Gotham are starting to impersonate Batman, often resulting in them getting hurt or killed.
The other story thread brought over from Begins is that of the complicated romance between Bruce and Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaall). In Begins Rachel makes it clear to Bruce that she would wait for Bruce until the day Gotham no longer needed Batman, but in The Dark Knight Rachel is tired of waiting and is dating Harvey Dent. Rather than approach this like a typical action movie love triangle with the men having a dick swinging contest, Nolan allows Bruce and Rachel to work out their issues independently of Harvey, which is great because that’s the relationship we care about as viewers. Throwing Harvey into the mix there would have meant that we wouldn’t have connected as well with his character, thereby weakening the overarching theme of the film which is integral to his character.
In terms of a sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight doesn’t really serve that purpose very well as it is for the most part a self-contained story. I mean even Gotham City looks different and considerably more realistic. There are maybe two-story threads that carry over from Begins, and one of them is contained to a single scene near the beginning of the film. The scene in question sees Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow return and talk to one of Maroni’s top henchmen about hallucinogenic drugs (clearly the toxin Scarecrow unleashed on Gotham during Begins’ climax). This scene actually does set up an interesting recurring theme in The Dark Knight regarding Batman copycats getting themselves into trouble. Bruce is clearly inspiring change but as a result some citizens of Gotham are starting to impersonate Batman, often resulting in them getting hurt or killed.
The other story thread brought over from Begins is that of the complicated romance between Bruce and Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaall). In Begins Rachel makes it clear to Bruce that she would wait for Bruce until the day Gotham no longer needed Batman, but in The Dark Knight Rachel is tired of waiting and is dating Harvey Dent. Rather than approach this like a typical action movie love triangle with the men having a dick swinging contest, Nolan allows Bruce and Rachel to work out their issues independently of Harvey, which is great because that’s the relationship we care about as viewers. Throwing Harvey into the mix there would have meant that we wouldn’t have connected as well with his character, thereby weakening the overarching theme of the film which is integral to his character.
In the words of BBC film critic Mark Kermode, The Dark Knight is the most expensive art house film ever made. When Warner Bros. brought Nolan on to direct Batman Begins, Nolan was very clear that he wanted creative control as an auteur filmmaker, and WB. gave it to him. With The Dark Knight, Nolan takes that even further by presenting a film that isn’t about Batman, nor really any of the characters, or even Gotham, but is about light and dark and how even the most incorruptible among us can be broken.
The title, The Dark Knight, doesn’t only refer to Batman, but also to Harvey once The Joker’s plan succeeds.
The art house comparison stems from the fact that The Dark Knight is quite unlike any major Hollywood blockbuster out there. It’s a bit messy and inaccessible to your average joe moviegoer who is probably just interested in Batman punching people, and whilst you definitely get Batman punching people, that’s not the focal point of the film. Even the big action set-pieces aren’t particularly action driven. Take the film’s big finale, all of the excitement comes out of holding the tension on a knife-edge as to whether one person will push a button, or the other will. There’s fighting happening around it in a separate location, but that’s not the exciting bit, what’s really got you on the edge of your seat is wondering who’s going to push a button first.
Perhaps the most action heavy set-piece is the film’s incredible opening bank heist staged by The Joker. It’s loud and thrilling, but there’s no car chases or explosions, just some incredible music, fantastic cinematography, and brilliant dialogue. That’s not to say The Dark Knight doesn’t have car chases or explosions, I mean there’s a brilliant car chase around the midpoint of the film, and around the beginning of the third act a building is blown up (yes, they actually blew up an entire building rather than doing it digitally). But whilst they are fun, that’s not what keeps you coming back to the film over and over again.
What does keep you coming back is the incredible performances. Bale only gets better as Bruce/Batman, and I would wager that the times where he is Bruce in this film are (mostly) more enjoyable than the scenes where he’s Batman. He’s had time to settle into the Batman role now and that’s had a knock-on effect as to who he is as Bruce Wayne.
Eckhart is fantastic as Harvey. For the first act Harvey is the real stand-up guy of Gotham, truly incorruptible and the future Gotham needs. Come the second act he’s starting to lose his grip on things and slowly tarnishing the shine he had in act one. Then by act three he goes full on villain by transforming into Two-Face. It’s a performance that has so many layers to it as Harvey gets progressively darker and hopeless as the film progresses and Eckhart knocks both D.A. Harvey, and Two-Face Harvey out of the park, as well as everything in between.
Gary Oldman is arguably the best actor in the whole film, and his potentially career best performance is often overshadowed by a certain someone I’ll talk about in a bit. But Oldman takes Jim Gordon to a whole other level in this film and provides the most emotionally diverse character, as well as the only true voice of reason. Every single scene he has is thrilling, particularly the scene where he returns to his family after faking his death which never fails to get me just a little bit choked up.
Maggie Gyllenhaall had a tough job picking up the pieces of Rachel that had been left behind by the character’s former actress Katie Holmes. Holmes chose not to reprise her role in the sequel, and so Gyllenhaall does what she can to make the character hers. Unfortunately, it does feel like it clashes with Holmes’ portrayal. Honestly, I sometimes feel like they’re two entirely different people. I prefer Gyllenhaall’s performance in the role, but it's definitely a little jarring when you come off the back of Begins to such a drastically different take on the character.
The elephant in the room when it comes to acting performances in The Dark Knight is of course that of Heath Ledger’s Joker. Approximately six months before The Dark Knight premiered Ledger died of a drug overdose, and as a young Hollywood heartthrob his unexpected passing hit the world hard. Of course, with his upcoming role as Batman’s most famous nemesis, the hype surrounding The Dark Knight in the lead up to release was astronomical. Ledger didn’t disappoint either with a performance that’s disturbingly terrifying. A criticism that’s often levelled against the film is that Ledger’s performance wouldn’t have been considered as strong had he not died, and whilst I don’t think that’s true, I do feel like Gary Oldman may have shared that spotlight with Ledger for the best performances in the film had Ledger’s tragic passing not loomed over the film.
But Ledger is without a doubt captivating in this film. Every single line he delivers is unnerving, and his presence can be felt even when he isn’t on screen thanks to just how threatening he makes the character. It truly is a shame that the character doesn’t get a proper ending as Ledger had expressed his interest in reprising the role for the planned third film, but rightfully Nolan chose not to recast The Joker and so his story ends here in The Dark Knight.
The title, The Dark Knight, doesn’t only refer to Batman, but also to Harvey once The Joker’s plan succeeds.
The art house comparison stems from the fact that The Dark Knight is quite unlike any major Hollywood blockbuster out there. It’s a bit messy and inaccessible to your average joe moviegoer who is probably just interested in Batman punching people, and whilst you definitely get Batman punching people, that’s not the focal point of the film. Even the big action set-pieces aren’t particularly action driven. Take the film’s big finale, all of the excitement comes out of holding the tension on a knife-edge as to whether one person will push a button, or the other will. There’s fighting happening around it in a separate location, but that’s not the exciting bit, what’s really got you on the edge of your seat is wondering who’s going to push a button first.
Perhaps the most action heavy set-piece is the film’s incredible opening bank heist staged by The Joker. It’s loud and thrilling, but there’s no car chases or explosions, just some incredible music, fantastic cinematography, and brilliant dialogue. That’s not to say The Dark Knight doesn’t have car chases or explosions, I mean there’s a brilliant car chase around the midpoint of the film, and around the beginning of the third act a building is blown up (yes, they actually blew up an entire building rather than doing it digitally). But whilst they are fun, that’s not what keeps you coming back to the film over and over again.
What does keep you coming back is the incredible performances. Bale only gets better as Bruce/Batman, and I would wager that the times where he is Bruce in this film are (mostly) more enjoyable than the scenes where he’s Batman. He’s had time to settle into the Batman role now and that’s had a knock-on effect as to who he is as Bruce Wayne.
Eckhart is fantastic as Harvey. For the first act Harvey is the real stand-up guy of Gotham, truly incorruptible and the future Gotham needs. Come the second act he’s starting to lose his grip on things and slowly tarnishing the shine he had in act one. Then by act three he goes full on villain by transforming into Two-Face. It’s a performance that has so many layers to it as Harvey gets progressively darker and hopeless as the film progresses and Eckhart knocks both D.A. Harvey, and Two-Face Harvey out of the park, as well as everything in between.
Gary Oldman is arguably the best actor in the whole film, and his potentially career best performance is often overshadowed by a certain someone I’ll talk about in a bit. But Oldman takes Jim Gordon to a whole other level in this film and provides the most emotionally diverse character, as well as the only true voice of reason. Every single scene he has is thrilling, particularly the scene where he returns to his family after faking his death which never fails to get me just a little bit choked up.
Maggie Gyllenhaall had a tough job picking up the pieces of Rachel that had been left behind by the character’s former actress Katie Holmes. Holmes chose not to reprise her role in the sequel, and so Gyllenhaall does what she can to make the character hers. Unfortunately, it does feel like it clashes with Holmes’ portrayal. Honestly, I sometimes feel like they’re two entirely different people. I prefer Gyllenhaall’s performance in the role, but it's definitely a little jarring when you come off the back of Begins to such a drastically different take on the character.
The elephant in the room when it comes to acting performances in The Dark Knight is of course that of Heath Ledger’s Joker. Approximately six months before The Dark Knight premiered Ledger died of a drug overdose, and as a young Hollywood heartthrob his unexpected passing hit the world hard. Of course, with his upcoming role as Batman’s most famous nemesis, the hype surrounding The Dark Knight in the lead up to release was astronomical. Ledger didn’t disappoint either with a performance that’s disturbingly terrifying. A criticism that’s often levelled against the film is that Ledger’s performance wouldn’t have been considered as strong had he not died, and whilst I don’t think that’s true, I do feel like Gary Oldman may have shared that spotlight with Ledger for the best performances in the film had Ledger’s tragic passing not loomed over the film.
But Ledger is without a doubt captivating in this film. Every single line he delivers is unnerving, and his presence can be felt even when he isn’t on screen thanks to just how threatening he makes the character. It truly is a shame that the character doesn’t get a proper ending as Ledger had expressed his interest in reprising the role for the planned third film, but rightfully Nolan chose not to recast The Joker and so his story ends here in The Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight was the first Hollywood production to be shot using IMAX 70mm film. Previously used almost exclusively on documentaries, only twenty-six minutes of the film are shot with in IMAX. This is a stark contrast to today where almost every major blockbuster is shot in IMAX (though usually opting for digital as opposed to 70mm film). IMAX has also become the most popular premium format for audiences, and it all started here with Nolan showing what the larger-than-life picture can lend to Hollywood productions when utilised correctly (as opposed to films being converted to the format in post-production as had been the case with every previous Hollywood production that had appeared in IMAX theatres).
Cinematographer Wally Pfister set the standard for what could be done with the format, but he didn’t let these IMAX sequences fall flat when displayed at the film’s normal aspect ratio. The rest of the film is also expertly shot, with scenes like Joker’s interrogation being among my personal favourite scenes of all time because of how the camera, lighting, and makeup all just blend together so well.
Hans Zimmer returns to compose the soundtrack for The Dark Knight and it is without a doubt one of the greatest film scores in history, and the title theme is the cream of the crop. For this review I re-watched the film in 4K with Dolby Atmos enhancements for the sound and it’s truly an experience you have to hear to believe. I honestly didn’t think this score could possibly get any better, but it did. I have no words to describe it, you just need to hear it.
The Dark Knight is a gamechanger in every sense of the word. In every single facet of its design The Dark Knight excels and then some. It is widely considered the best adaptation of Batman to the big screen to date for a good reason, it’s not only brutally faithful to the comic books, but it does it without ever feeling like a comic book film. It set a new standard, one which films today struggle to match, and it forever changed the action genre, in particular the superhero sub-genre. I have nothing but unwavering praise for The Dark Knight, the only other films which can claim that prestigious accolade are The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
If you have not seen The Dark Knight, then you should make the time to change that. If you have, then it’s probably about time you watched it again.
Cinematographer Wally Pfister set the standard for what could be done with the format, but he didn’t let these IMAX sequences fall flat when displayed at the film’s normal aspect ratio. The rest of the film is also expertly shot, with scenes like Joker’s interrogation being among my personal favourite scenes of all time because of how the camera, lighting, and makeup all just blend together so well.
Hans Zimmer returns to compose the soundtrack for The Dark Knight and it is without a doubt one of the greatest film scores in history, and the title theme is the cream of the crop. For this review I re-watched the film in 4K with Dolby Atmos enhancements for the sound and it’s truly an experience you have to hear to believe. I honestly didn’t think this score could possibly get any better, but it did. I have no words to describe it, you just need to hear it.
The Dark Knight is a gamechanger in every sense of the word. In every single facet of its design The Dark Knight excels and then some. It is widely considered the best adaptation of Batman to the big screen to date for a good reason, it’s not only brutally faithful to the comic books, but it does it without ever feeling like a comic book film. It set a new standard, one which films today struggle to match, and it forever changed the action genre, in particular the superhero sub-genre. I have nothing but unwavering praise for The Dark Knight, the only other films which can claim that prestigious accolade are The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
If you have not seen The Dark Knight, then you should make the time to change that. If you have, then it’s probably about time you watched it again.