Movie Review: “The Dark Knight”

“The Dark Knight”

Release Date: July 18, 2008

Runtime: 152 mins

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale

              Heath Ledger

             Gary Oldman

            Aaron Eckhart 

At 1 p.m., Saturday, July 19, 2008, I fell in love with movies. That was the day and time I first saw “The Dark Knight.” I was barely 10 years old, yet I can vividly remember the general area in which I was sitting and my view of the screen. This was the first time I realized how all the aspects of filmmaking—writing, performances, editing, cinematography—can come together to create an experience, though I definitely could not have explained that at the time. 

I rewatched “The Dark Knight” yesterday to prepare for this review. It was my sixth or seventh time watching it, at the very least, but my first time in about six years. Going in, I prepared myself for disappointment; I did not think the movie could possibly live up to how I remembered it. I was wrong.

While I certainly did not have the same magical experience, there were several things I appreciated much more now that I am older. It felt like meeting up with an old friend. 

For those of you who have never seen it, “The Dark Knight” follows Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) as he works to rid Gotham City of its criminal underworld. Feeling the walls closing in on them, the mob employs the Joker (Heath Ledger) to use any means necessary to reveal Batman’s secret identity. 

What follows is a captivating, action-packed crime thriller and character-focused drama. Both of these elements work flawlessly. As a kid, I was more focused on the action, but still able to follow the bare-bones elements of the plot enough to understand what was going on. As an adult, I was able to fully appreciate the drama but still have a blast with the action.

This is a movie where a school bus crashes into a building, a rocket launcher is shot at an armored van, a semi-truck is flipped on its back and a hospital is blown up. All of these things were actually pulled off by director Christopher Nolan and his crew (the hospital in the film was actually a condemned candy factory, but still) and shot beautifully with specialized IMAX cameras. This is also a movie, however, which poses interesting philosophical questions about morality, human nature and justice. Not only are these questions asked, but as in many great stories, the characters stand for different values and the plot forces those values into conflict. Each of the characters is given reason to believe what they believe and an end goal they are seeking to achieve. 

The script helps with this character development, but the performances really sell it. Most obviously, Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning turn as the Joker gave us one of the most memorable characters in cinematic history. He is intimidating yet comedic, insane yet completely in control. 

Ledger does steal the spotlight, but this is not to say that the rest of the cast bring nothing to the table. Everyone does a great job. Particularly of note is Aaron Eckhart (no relation) in the role of District Attorney Harvey Dent. His character goes through the largest and, I would argue, important arc in the entire film; Eckhart manages to make the transition convincing. The CG aspect of Dent’s appearance in the film holds up astonishingly well when compared to other movies from around that time. Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman also bring excellent performances.

Strangely enough, Batman, the Dark Knight, is the least interesting character in the movie named after him. Christian Bale does his best and his Batman voice is not as distracting as some make it out to be, but the conflict with him is not exceptionally intriguing. I still care what happens to him, though, and he certainly does not take away from anything else. I am willing to forgive this, however, since the other two films in this trilogy focus more on his development. 

I could write much more about this movie. I have not even mentioned Hans Zimmer’s fantastic score or the brilliant cinematography, both of which contribute massively to the film’s epic feel. 

Clearly, I am rather biased, but I believe “The Dark Knight” is a phenomenal movie-going experience; it is a modern classic which I would implore everyone to see at least once. “Joker,” coming to theaters this weekend, has a gigantic shadow to set itself apart from. 

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