The Dark Knight (2008)

[Spartan Girl]

I know we have a thread for Batman movies, but with the discussions about the upcoming Joker movie lately, I thought I'd start a separate thread for The Dark Knight, where we have marvel over Heath's Joker and why he was so great, discuss why this is arguably the best Batman movie to date, bitch about Rachel, talk about the ending, etc. Who's with me?

[Tenshinhan]

It's definitely the best Batman film to date.  That's because it's so well made between the Nolans' script and Chris's directing.  Only Christopher Nolan could have crafted a film like this.  Additionally, just like with the first film, they prove that they have a considerable amount of understanding and respect for the source material.

Heath turned in a great performance as the Joker, much of which was due to his strengths as an actor, but also because the writing and directing was good enough to allow him that opportunity.

It's not a perfect film, no, but it's still a great achievement in blockbuster filmmaking with a lasting impact on movies.

[Sharpie66]

I finally saw this not too long ago, and...damn. That was a really gooooood film! Heath Ledger definitely deserved the Oscar, and as a Chicagoland native, I loved seeing Chicago as Gotham.

[Perfect Xero]

The Dark Knight is the best batman film (and one of the best superhero films period) because it, ultimately, has the guts to make the most important moment of the film Tiny Lister and some other guy (whose characters don't even have names IIRC) refusing to blow each other up to save their own lives.

[Spartan Girl]

6 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

The Dark Knight is the best batman film (and one of the best superhero films period) because it, ultimately, has the guts to make the most important moment of the film Tiny Lister and some other guy (whose characters don't even have names IIRC) refusing to blow each other up to save their own lives.

I loved that moment too. It's scenes like that that give me hope for the human race.

To this day though, I still don't think it was necessary for Batman to take the blame for Harvey's crimes. I mean when the truth came out 10 years later, the city didn't "break" like Joker thought it would. I mean, aside from Bane's takeover, everything eventually worked out fine. People still had Batman to believe in once they knew what a true hero he was.

[Spartan Girl]

Another thing I don't get is Alfred burning Rachel's letter. I mean, I get why he did it, but like the coverup of Two-Face, it did more harm than actual good. It didn't exactly make Bruce feel better to believe that Rachel would have waited for him: he spent the next ten years pining over something he never even had. Which really us stupid.

 Had he read the letter, knowing she picked Harvey over him would have hurt, yeah, but it would have forced him to reexamine their "relationship" -- and I use that term loosely -- and question why she would go on about "when Gotham no longer needs Batman, blah blah blah" one minute, then suddenly be all "don't make me your only hope for another life" the next. He'd still be sad because she was his friend (again I use the term loosely), but he'd realize that they were just different people and it was never going to happen and move on with his life. I'm guessing.

[rmontro]

I've always thought The Dark Knight Rises was a better film than this one.  The main thing this one has going for it is Ledger's performance.  But I thought the ending was cringey.

[SimoneS]

I think that the Christian Bale ones were the best Batman movies. I couldn't pick one over the others. I think that they all had strengths. The Dark Knight has so many great moments. Alfred telling Bruce that "some men just want to see the world burn" has stuck with me. It captures Bruce Wayne's darkness perfectly. I love the scene where he fleeing from the cops at the end.