By Jack Connor
★★★★★
I LOVE The Dark Knight. It is simply the best movie of all time. From the epic opening bank heist, to the great story writing, and even the wonderful performances performed by the actors. It is the BEST movie of all time. To begin, I’m going to talk about my favorite scene. The opening scene is epic, (just like the rest of the movie), the post-credit scene in Batman Begins already set it up who the villain would be, the opening scene doesn’t tell you who the person who orchestrated the bank heist, but true fans already know who it is, and at the end of the scene when the joker reveals himself, only makes it, oh so satisfying. All in all, I would give the movie 10\10 just on the opening scene alone, that’s how you make a good movie folks. Don’t think I am going scene by scene, nope, I am talking about my favorite parts, so what is my review.
I love the acting in this movie, while Heath Ledger did have THE BEST performance, I think Aaron Eckhart had the harder role to fulfill. For one, he practically played two characters, now I know some actors have done it before, but he did it justice. First off, he goes from being a character that is all for the law, but after Joker captures poor old Harvey and Rachel (both Harvey and Bruce’s love interest) Batman interrogates Joker, and gives the addresses of them both, so he goes for Rachel (or maybe Harvey)but little does he know that Joker switch the addresses (or maybe he did know) so he ended up saving Harvey, but Harvey still got half of himself burnt. Now at this point, Harvey has a change of heart, and becomes two-face. This is when he switches sides, and becomes evil.
Now at this point you must be thinking, what more can this man say, WELL I STILL HAVE MORE Joker. Yep. I’m talking about the villain of the story. To be honest, I kind of have to. In my opinion, he is the best part of the movie, always being one step ahead of the Batman, unpredictable. He is one of if, not the best villain of all time. With an amazing performance by Heath Ledger under his belt, that and one of the coolest character motifs of all time, he and his movie make it into most people’s top 10 villains of all time, or top ten superhero movie villains, top ten films of all time even, and I have to say I agree with them. When I first watched the film in 2010, 2 years after it came out, and remember, I was watching this film because I heard a new Batman movie was going to come out, and I was a huge fan of Batman.
After I watched the film, I was like, THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER, and yes I actually yelled that out. And since I talked about the villain (barely) it would make sense to talk about the main protagonist (no not commissioner Gordon) BATMAN. Christian Bale’s Batman is by far the best adaptation of Batman ever to be on any screen. I took this poll thing a while back for which Batman was the best, and Christian Bale’s Batman won, OH YEAH. While Affleck’s Batman may win the death battle, Christian Bale won in the box office, plus he’s way smarter, plus everybody loved The Dark Knight, and when Batman vs. Superman came out, EVERYONE WAS MAD, even Rotten Tomatoes, who I usually disagree with (even though I would have given it lower) I agreed with low and measly 27%, which is considered rotten, COMPARE THAT TO A VERY STRONG 94%, OH YEAH, it got what it deserved.
Back to Batman. According to almost everybody, (yeah, I’m talking to you James) Batman is #1, and this film helps prove that. Batman vs. Superman was trash. When imagining Batman and his on screen appearances, most people turn to The Dark Knight’s interpretation of the Batman which further proves that it is the greatest Batman appearance. At the end of the day, whether you like it or no, you have to admit, The Dark Knight is one of, if not the greatest movie of all time. Be good people.
The Dark Knight. A sensational film made by the Christopher Nolan who used his full vision of a true batman movie and the dark mood of the Dc comics to life. The movie starts of with a gripping and enticing bank robbery and the introduction of the late Heath Ledgers Joker was a sensational and again gripping performance and it will be remembered forever. I heavily enjoyed this movie and have gone on to watch this film countless times over the ten years since its release. the character of Two-Face a.k.a Harvey Dent was beautifully plaid by Aaron Eckhart. His take on the emotionally and physically scarred white knight was memorable and no other actor could reinvent this performance. I am sorry to say that Maggie Gylenhaal (spelt wrong?) fell flat and was a very plain performance as she delivered most of her lines in a cringe manner and I was disappointed. Finally, the stand out moment in this film for me was the popular and now famous scene in the jail when batman himself interrogates the joker in a gripping and tense scene that i will remember.
Liked this review? Leave a comment for longer and more in depth reviews as I am giving a taster of my critique on movies.
Thanks for your time,
Stephen 🙂
Rating: 4/5
Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” gives the Batman comic books a whole new meaning. Yes, the obvious is still the same. The Joker is the villain, and Batman is the hero. But this movie does more than the regular comic books. The Batman is not portrayed as always good. In this movie, he becomes the face of destruction. Therefore, they start calling him a vigilante. They blame him for the death of many police officers and more. The Joker in this movie creates chaos, he commits unnecessary crimes to test the moralities of the citizens. Heath Ledger is the actor who plays the Joker. It is without a doubt that this man gave this role his all, it is said that he became so involved in this role that it ultimately killed him. The plot of the movie is the Joker trying to expose Batman to the city of Gotham. He targets Dent, Gordon, and most of Gotham along the way.
The Joker in this film looks the most rugged as well as internally and externally damaged. In this film, he is looking for revenge for what his father did to him as a child. That is what we are led to believe because he tells the story of how he got his cuts in different ways but each one includes his father. One scene in the movie shows when he gives the passengers in two ferries the power to detonate a bomb on the other boat. One is filled with police officers and delinquents, while the one had passengers trying to escape him and his attacks. Neither of the two groups of people have the heart to destroy one another, this causes the Joker to question his morals and he comes to the conclusion that not everyone has the same mind as him, even in such terrible conditions. This movie has life lessons all over it, it is hard to miss them. Nolan did an exquisite job picking Ledger to portray the Joker’s character. He killed it, from the way he looks to the way he constantly licks his lips and the deep sound of his voice. Harvey Dent starts off as an innocent looking congressman who later turns bitter and wants to destroy the Batman.
He has a famous line in the movie and that is, “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” And that is exactly what happens to him. James Gordon is the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. He has used the Batman to catch criminals in the past, that is how he personally knows him.
The action in this movie is incredible, almost every scene leaves you at the edge of your seat. The combination of strong actors and hard action makes this movie extraordinary. You feel as if you were a part of this film, your heart strings are definitely pulled. You almost feel sympathy for characters you should not. In one scene batman uses his bike and some rope to flip over the semi-truck the Joker was driving. That scene was riveting.
At the end of the movie, Gordon smashes the batsignal he built because he comes to the conclusion that its better if Batman was doing his job without anyone knowing rather than him being poorly celebrated for this actions. That is how he gets his nickname of “The Dark Knight.” Since the Batman is not praised by the citizens of Gotham it is difficult for them to see what he has accomplished. Gordon on the other hand does see his true potential.
Great points! I have to say, from a thematic perspective, The Dark Knight is the best film out of the trilogy – The Dark Knight Rises benefits from having possibly higher stakes, whereas Batman Begins is more about establishing Batman’s character, skills and life. Nolan’s casting, direction and script was amazing on the face of it, and the thematic elements of The Dark Knight make it such a special movie. Heath Ledger, may he rest in peace, was a gold-plated casting choice for the Joker, and the performances of Bale, Caine, Freeman, Gyllenhaal, Oldman and Eckhart were also splendid choices.