The Dark Knight (2008): Favourite Films Series

The Dark Knight (2008): Favourite Films Series

Spoilers ahead.

Every generation will have their own Batman. Adam West, Michael Keaton, Kevin Conroy, Ben Affleck. But for me, no matter who is putting on the cape and cowl, I’ll always think of Christian Bale, and the second entry in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of Batman films. There have been plenty of great superhero movies in the past couple decades, but for me, The Dark Knight is, hands down the best superhero movie ever made, because it transcends being simply a superhero movie and is something even greater. 

Back in the summer of 2008, I wasn’t a Batman fan. I straight-up didn’t even like Batman. He was just this mopey guy dressed all in black running around at night using silly gadgets to take out bad guys, and if that wasn’t the image I had in my mind, it was that of Adam West’s campy Batman teamed with Robin hitting villains with exaggerated Biffs! and Thuds! thrown in. 

The first trailer for The Dark Knight indicated to me they were trying some new weird take on the caped crusader and his most-famous arch nemesis, The Joker. I thought it looked dumb and absolutely no fun. It wasn’t even called Batman! At that point in my life I was all about Marvel. Having just seen Iron Man a couple months earlier, I thought DC heroes were inferior. 

But then when my best friend and I decided to go to the movies and the only thing playing was The Dark Knight, we thought we might as well go see it, to see what all the fuss was about, because word on the street was extremely positive. So with the mindset that I didn’t like Batman and DC was inferior to Marvel and this was a brand-new standalone attempt to remake Batman, I sat down in a packed theater in the middle of a sweltering July day, and watched The Dark Knight. Needless to say, it floored me. 

Sometimes it can feel like certain movies are only enjoyable upon re-watching because they trigger sentimental, nostalgic feelings that make you unable to detect flaws or see it in any other light. I’ve seen this movie dozens upon dozens of times, and every time, I find something new to appreciate about it. I’ve picked this movie over and scrutinized it—just as many, many others have—and I still find it’s damn near flawless. But just for fun, here’s a shortlist of things I don’t like about it.

There’s a shot of Batman on the bat pod where he drives up a wall, flips around, and lands facing the other way. It’s only half a second, but is very clearly cgi, and kind of sticks out. There’s lots of foreshadowing that’s really obvious, especially when you re-watch it, but again, a minor point, one that doesn’t compromise the enjoyment of the foreshadowed events. Is Christian Bale’s gravelly Batman voice a bit silly? Yes, but it’s too much fun to imitate to be called a flaw. Finally, after Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face and half his mouth is pretty much gone, his speech doesn’t change, which I think it would if half your lips and cheek were removed. Also his one eye has no eyelid and there’s not a single shot of him squirting Vizine in it, would it not be totally dried out and irritating him? Must be in a deleted scene. But in all seriousness, this is again a very minor point, and not the most unrealistic thing in the movie. Batman turns everyone’s cell phone into a tracking thing to map the whole city? In a largely realistic and grounded movie, these things are slightly hard to believe, but they still work in the context of the movie. 

The list of things I love about this movie is too long to cover in its entirety, so I’ll just hit on the main ones. To begin with, the opening bank heist scene is an absolutely incredible way to kick things off. Right from the get-go, there’s tension, action, betrayal, surprise, intrigue, and it establishes this is a crime thriller, not just a Batman movie (it’s also feels like a horror movie sometimes too, probably another reason I love it). We get a sample of Heath Ledger’s Joker and some info on him, then get to Batman and a great action scene with him chasing down copycats and Scarecrow. Of course the first time I saw this, I didn’t know the guy wearing a burlap mask was supposed to be Scarecrow, because I hadn’t yet seen Batman Begins and didn’t realize The Dark Knight was a sequel. But that’s yet another testament to the strength of this movie, it works as a superior sequel, but also stands enough on its own that you don’t even need to have seen Batman Begins to get it (for the most part). 

The action is sometimes criticized, not just in this movie but the whole trilogy, as being somewhat cumbersome and uncoordinated. I have to disagree. First off, there actually isn’t that much hand-to-hand fighting to begin with, but when there is, it isn’t some blurry shaky cam crap, it’s easy to follow and feels real. You can feel every punch Batman lands, and every hit he takes. Something else I didn’t fully pick up on until much later was how much stronger this version of the Joker was than past incarnations. Ledger’s Joker is swift, tough, (as demonstrated when he slams that guy’s head on the pencil) and puts up a good physical fight against Batman, especially considering he doesn’t have any of the gadgets or armour Batman has. 

I understand the argument that Joker steals the movie, and while he’s most likely the one you’ll be thinking about after the credits roll, he’s still just a piece of this incredibly well-assembled puzzle. Batman himself has more than a few awesome moments, and the supporting cast is completely solid. 

Another thing that contributes to Joker really standing out is his theme music, which is exciting, scary, and, like the theme for Jaws, simple but memorable. I often hear more mature movie fans complain that movie franchises don’t bring back the old music queues, whether it be for Batman or Superman or Godzilla, but in this case, I think hearing Danny Elfman’s score from 1989’s Batman would just sound out of place. Hans Zimmer’s score perfectly fits with the look and tone of the Dark Knight trilogy, and in none of the movies is it more effective than here. 

Speaking of 1989’s Batman, not to knock on that movie (which I think is great in its own right) or compare it too closely to The Dark Knight, but that Batman/Joker story was pretty simple and straight-forward, though it still worked. But the story in The Dark Knight is significantly more layered. It’s just complex enough to require viewers to pay close attention, but not so complicated that you’ll get lost (like some of Nolan’s other movies). It weaves storylines together seamlessly, and I love how at the heart of the movie is the organic and believable conflict between Joker and Batman. 

But perhaps the thing I love the most about The Dark Knight, and the thing that makes it continually awesome every time I re-watch it, is the more I learn about the history of the character and the more I watch his other cinematic adventures, whether it be the realm of comics or animation or the new DC cinematic universe, the more elements I realize they nailed in what I truly think is the best Batman movie yet made. As I said in my intro, every generation will have their own Batman, but in terms of storytelling and filmmaking, The Dark Knight really is the best Batman movie ever.