The Dark Knight (2008) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Everyone knew how the 2000s was the most experimental we would ever see the superhero genre as studios were trying to figure out what would stick. With hits like Paramount’s Iron Man and Sony’s Spider-Man to misses like WB’s Catwoman and 20th Century’s Elektra, it was easy to see how much of a risk it would be to retell the iconic superhero Batman. However, Christopher Nolan gained our trust when directing Batman Begins and from there, he set the bar for the genre with his most incredible film to date, The Dark Knight.

PLOT

The sequel picks up a year after billionaire Bruce Wayne became the infamous vigilante to protect Gotham City from dangerous criminals. He continues the fight against the mob but is aligned with Lieutenant James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, the latter of which is dating his childhood crush Rachel Dawes. With the mob’s new head Salvatore Maroni (Eric Roberts) knowing that Dent and the caped crusader have been formidable obstacles, he and other bosses put their trust towards Chinese banker Mr. Lau (Chin Han) to relocate their money to Hong Kong,  which prevents the police from stealing it. They do get an offer to kill Batman from a face painted bank robber known as The Joker, who requests half of their fortune to do it, which they don’t give an answer. With Gordon & Dent knowing that Lau is an accomplice, Batman goes to Hong Kong personally to bring him back to Gotham City. He pulls it off thanks to being equipped of a more adjustable/maneuverable suit and narrows tha banker down using sonar tech in a phone thanks to Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox. Back in Gotham, Lau agrees to surrender his clients in return for being watched on county watch. With him being a rat as predicted, as fellow mob boss the Chechen (Ritchie Coster) hires Joker to take down Batman. He gets the public’s attention by broadcasting a message: He demands Batman to reveal his identity and turn himself over to the police. He promises to kill people everyday he chooses not to and starts with an impersonator who admired him. He continues that same day when plotting the death of Judge Surrillo (Nyria Rodriguez Terracina) via having her die in a car explosion and poison Commissioner Loeb (Colin McFarlane) with his favorite alcohol he would blindly drink. He would try to go after Harvey personally at a fundraiser hosted at Bruce’s penthouse, but the vigilante would protect the guests, including the DA and Rachel. After this encounter, Bruce is unsure what Joker’s motive is, but his butler Alfred Pennyworth suggests that maybe he is one who relishes destruction and nothing more. With another day passing, Joker would kill two more people, Patrick Harvey & Richard Dent, as a substitute for the DA. When Batman & Gordon investigate the crime scene, they see that Joker left a trail, revealing his next target to be Mayor Anthony Garcia (Nestor Carbonell). He almost succeeds in killing him during Loeb’s funeral, alongside former Arkham inmates, but Gordon intervenes and gets shot from behind, apparently sacrificing his life for the mayor’s. Wanting to take action, Dent would abduct one of Joker’s goons, Thomas Schiff (David Dastmalchian), threatening to kill him if he doesn’t give any information on the clown. Batman stops him from killing when sharing he knows nothing. He then tells him to hold a press conference as soon as possible so he can turn himself over, not wanting any more casualties to occur. However the day of the event, Harvey chooses to take the blame, preventing Bruce from doing what he had to. When Rachel expresses disappointment over this to Alfred, she gives him a letter to Bruce and request to give it to him whenever he believes the time is right. When she visits Harvey before being transferred, he admits that he did it to lure out Joker, knowing he’ll come for him. That does happen but thanks to the real Batman and Gordon who faked his death, disguising himself as a SWAT officer, he is able to be apprehended. Despite being personally promoted as commissioner by the mayor, the celebration does not begin when it’s discovered that Harvey never came home after Joker’s apprehension. When he confronts the clown himself, he doesn’t say where he is held captive yet, but implies he is trapped in a room rigged to explode. When Batman gets involved in the interrogation, he ends up admitting Rachel is in the same predicament as Dent and gives them the separate addresses they're at. Little does everyone know that he swapped addresses, knowing the vigilante would focus on rescuing Rachel. Just when he gets Harvey out, the explosives go off and half of the DA’s face gets severely burned. Gordon gets to Rachel’s location but fails to save her in time. During this time, Joker would break out of imprisonment and take Lau with him. As Harvey recovers in the hospital, Alfred would read Rachel’s letter that she was going to accept Dent’s marriage proposal. He almost considers to give it to Bruce but due to still believing the timing wasn’t right, he later decides to burn the letter. When Harvey wakes up from his injuries, his heartbreak over losing Rachel would drive him into madness, accepting the nickname ‘Two Face’. Maroni does tip off Gordon that Joker and Chechen will have a meeting at the Docks. There, the clown kills Lau by burning him above his pile of money, along with taking charge of Chechen’s forces and having him killed as well. Before Gordon could lead a raid, they see the news that Bruce’s lawyer Coleman Reese (Joshua Harto) intending to reveal his vigilante persona to the public. That is stopped thanks to a phone call by Joker who threatens to blow up a hospital if the lawyer is not killed within an hour. During that time period, hospitals empty as fast as possible to avoid any casualties. Gordon struggles to protect Reese as a personal escort. One cop almost shoots the lawyer, but Bruce knowing that he would be in danger, would save him from another madman trying to run him over. In gratitude, he keeps his secret safe. At the same time, Joker would sneak into Gotham General where Harvey is, he encourages him to take revenge on those wronged him. He frees him from restraints before blowing up the empty hospital. With Two Face on the loose, he kills Officer Michael Wuertz (Rom Dean) for sending him to his doom. He kills Maroni for planting the explosives that scarred him and killed Rachel. Letting fate decide from the flip of his coin, heads to live and tails to die, he then targets Officer Anna Ramirez (Monique Gabriela Curnen) who escorted Rachel to her fate. He has her call Gordon’s family to go to where Rachel died, tricking them to hold them hostage. He would then knock her unconscious with her fate getting to last longer off of heads. As Two Face embarks on his quest for revenge, Joker plots to take over Gotham, declaring for people to leave if they refuse to obey him. With the bridges and roadways wired to explode, Gordon has the city evacuate in ferries: One for the civilians and one for the inmates at Blackgate. By nightfall, Joker has already planted explosives on both ferries, announcing to them that they have the detonator to opposite boats, threatening to explode both by if neither decide to make a sacrifice. Batman is able to track him down thanks to expanding Fox's sonar technology into an advanced surveillance system. Fox would help him virtually to find him, but would later destroy it after finding it too invasive. When the vigilante finds the building he is at, he deduces that the villain dressed his henchmen as doctors and the hostages as clowns to confuse Gordon's SWAT team. When the latter deduces the situation, they save the rest while the caped crusader fights the enemy. They fight long enough to see that neither ferry decided to kill each other. The ferry with civilians refused to do it after voting to go for it, whereas one prisoner (credited as Tattooed Prisoner, played by Tom Lister Jr.) threw the detonator out the window, not allowing anyone to make a choice. Joker almost sets off his own detonator to destroy them both, but Batman stops him when throwing him over the building. Refusing to kill him, he catches him with his grapple gun and hangs him upside down. Before getting arrested by the SWAT, he confesses of his success in corrupting Harvey. Gordon goes to where Rachel died when Harvey called him that he is holding his family hostage. Blaming his negligence for losing the woman he loved, he plans to punish him by holding his young son at gunpoint, preparing to let his fate be decided from another coin toss. Batman gets there and pleads alongside Jim to not kill the boy, but Two Face would retaliate and shoot him in the stomach, when his fate is decided at tails. When he tries it on himself, he gets heads. Just when he tosses the coin for Gordon's son, the vigilante tackles him over the side of the building. Harvey would fall to his death, but Batman would catch the boy and return him to his family before he lose his grip and fall as well, injuring his legs. Not wanting the city to lose hope upon discovery of Harvey's corruption, Batman chooses to take the blame of his actions and convinces Jim to conceal the truth. The film would end with the former White Knight being mourned as a hero, whereas the dark knight must retreat due to police beginning their manhunt, until he is needed to protect Gotham once more.

THOUGHTS

I have been seeing this movie since it first came to theaters in 2008 and the little kid inside me maintains the same opinion after hundreds of viewings, as the trolley kid said best in The Incredibles, "That was totally wicked!". Nolan blew the world away with the most high octane experience I've ever felt for a superhero movie. Due to his use of IMAX cameras, the first of many, the editing and cinematography go hand in hand to make every moment memorable to witness. Whether it's the bank heist, the car chase, the hospital explosion, The Tumbler turning into the Batpod or Batman gliding over Hong Kong, they're all so surreal to see. And this is what going to the movies is all about, being highly impressed with things you never thought you would see. Every time I look back, I think the reason this one has been able to stand the test of time has to be its realistic and most creative approach on how it would look if superheroes and villains existed in our lifetime. And with that perspective, we get a better understanding of when our best and worst traits can have a strong emergence when a crisis occurs. When that happens, we need to overcome evil no matter how difficult it looks because there is no telling if you can survive its wrath. In his second outing in the trilogy, Christian Bale is able to keep us being inspired by his interpretation of the caped crusader. We respect him because he remains devoted in doing good and even when feeling emotionally crippled, upon losing Rachel, he is able to have enough of a will to keep going. Even after loss, he is able to maintain the illusion that he is far off the suspect list; He keeps his playboy character intact when saving Gordon and Reese. He is the embodiment of good because he still does his best in putting others before himself. Knowing what a heroic man he is, it makes sense that there would be a foe that would be so memorably wicked. Enter the late Heath Ledger who took the world by storm in his phenomenal performance as the Joker, resulting in him sweeping awards season posthumously. The actor is unrecognizable from the makeup, making the performance all the more memorable. He remains to be the definitive version of this iconic villain because he is naturally rotten to the core. His goal is simple yet bigger than people are able to imagine. The fact that his past is mysterious can make you believe he embodies evil the way Batman embodies good. The fact that we don't know him makes him so unpredictable. The way he is ahead of everyone without revealing his plans, even though he claims to not have any, makes him scarier. If that wasn't scary enough, his intelligence would do the trick since he was able to lie to Batman so convincingly. Due to how mentally broken he is, he believes everyone can fall like him. The rivalry between him and the dark knight is so interesting not just for being polar opposites, but for how they need each other in a way. Without Batman, Joker has no one to stop him. Without Joker, Batman has no reason to protect. Looking back at the interrogation scene, the best acted scene of the whole film, the clown is right that he completes him because there were would be no use of each other once one or the other are gone. It's very triumphant when none of the boats kill each other because it proves him wrong that not everyone is easy to be so ugly in and out. Even though the Joker gets put behind bars, his impact will never be forgotten for being as close as he was to succeeding in unleashing anarchy. He may not have broken Batman, but he was still smart enough to break a man that had no right to be broken so bad. Aaron Eckhart gives the best performance of his career as Harvey Dent. Like Gordon, it was easy to like this guy because of the integrity he put in cleaning the streets and he was able to do it without wearing a mask. He put himself at risk for a long time and it was worth it because it only led to more deserving respect in return. Sadly, tragedy came his way to become Two Face. Like his coin, he flips so fast it is unsettling to witness a good man lose his will. He got hit with such a loss that he wanted everyone to feel the same pain he did. Seeing him throw his determination with that goal made him scary for the remainder of the story. He is acting as a person we don't recognize, without even thinking about the scars on his face that came to life via impressive visual effects. The most significant quote he ever said during his tenure as a good willed man was "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain". It sticks with you because it describes how you can't let your intentions get the best of you and avoid becoming what you don't like. That is what happens to him, thus proving Joker right that good people can crumble. Batman had to take the blame for Harvey's actions because the city needed to maintain the hope he created. Without it, the city would not overcome Joker's impact. We still admire him at the end when he has to run away because even though new odds are against him, we're glad to know a day would come to be needed and overcome them. Gary Oldman still has us enjoying his presence as Gordon because like Batman, his devotion doesn't break him either. His family was at risk and he was able to do his best in controlling the situation before the dark knight came to his aid. He is definitely in a tight spot throughout because not everyone agrees with him, yet he acts steadfast and wise with every decision he makes to prove his devotion to the city. He knows Batman will return because even he understands that evil can return in many forms. Seeing him be hopeful for the best makes us feel the same, thus making us appreciate things come full circle in The Dark Knight Rises. I still appreciate Michael Caine as Alfred because his wisdom feels at his strongest here throughout the whole trilogy. He remains a great mentor to Bruce for teaching him that the right choice is all that matters. It was definitely a debatable moment when burning the letter because it is never a good thing to keep secrets from those you love. However, it felt like an appropriate one at the time because he didn't want Bruce to lose his motivation. If he knew that Rachel was gonna move on, it would've not made him determined enough to stop Joker because he would've lost the one thing he was living for. Although Rises eventually brings this back, it was still a sacrifice worth making on Alfred's end. Morgan Freeman still has us invested in Fox because you definitely feel that he is a valued ally. He proves so not just for the gadgets, but also for the loyalty he expresses towards Bruce. He easily saved him by giving a reality check towards Reese in hilarious fashion. He was rightfully against using sonar to stop Joker, but like Alfred, he knew a sacrifice had to be made for the greater good. With him knowing that, it became a relief that even he remained close during Rises. Last but not least, I strongly believe that Maggie Gyllenhaal was a suitable replacement in the role of Rachel. She arguably outdoes Katie Holmes' original take for having a stronger approach for being an outspoken character. She may put herself at risk when encountering Joker, but knew someone had to stand up if not the Batman. Her death remains a heartbreaking moment to this day because you know how much she meant to both Bruce and Harvey. The feeling where you know you're gonna lose someone and can't stop it is very twisted and that is what makes it harder to watch every time. And seeing the stumble both men feel are arguably relatable one has to try keeping it together whereas the other gives up. Looking back, it's another great reminder that you cannot be consumed by grief, otherwise it'll be easy for evil to devour you. My love for this movie will never disappear nor lessen, but after thousands of time watching it, there have been many things that have confused me to this day. I love the opening bank heist like many do, but I’m so thrown off on how there is no bigger investigation on Joker’s getaway bus when a bunch of buses saw it come from the bank. They probably would’ve captured him soon had they looked into that. Batman does get a dope entrance with the Tumbler breaking into a parking garage, but where exactly is it busting from? That level looked high so did he program it to lunge from a lower lot? I’d believe it but I’d love to see it too. Also, how did Batman know where Harvey was with Schiff or even get the intel on him? I know he’s supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, but it’s crazy we don’t see how he figure that out. I then wonder why would he leave Lau outside the entrance of the police station? He could’ve left him next to the signal and called Gordon that he got him. I say this because any goon from the mob could’ve spotted him and put him under their protection. I respect Bruce for be willing to turn himself in, so why exactly doesn’t he stop Harvey from lying? If he really wants to him to be the sole hero of Gotham, he would’ve intervened. And why didn’t he text Fox to meet him at R&D? It was honestly pointless for him to trigger a security breach. And I’m with a lot of people when I say his way to be stealth remains cool, but if he’s so good at it, he could’ve stopped Harvey without the need to talk him down. If he couldn’t do that, there should’ve been an explanation before things wrapped up. It definitely is a clever buildup when Joker leaves a card in the case folder for the judge to see, but why the hell would she dismiss it? Joker’s extremely relevant of a criminal due to his robberies and she should’ve taken that seriously as in tell someone like Gordon about it. I was even scared shitless when his first Batman victim gets hanged above the mayor’s office, but how did he sneak in? He’s got recognizable scars so even without the paint, someone had to have notice a scarred guy taking a body to the roof. Its just as confusing as him being able to sneak into the hospital with the paint on. And why exactly did he leave after he made Batman save Rachel? He could’ve kept looking for Harvey and the fact that he didn’t is ridiculous. If Gotham has failed at doing anything in between this and Batman Begins, it’s not adding metal detectors. A woman killed Joe Chill in the latter and in here, a witness pulls a gun on Harvey. The mob gets one for themselves and it’s ridiculous. That leads to me asking how the hell is mob calm when Joker intrudes even when kills a guy with a pencil. Lau may be protecting the rest of the money, but he still stole from them. Of course this is supposed to build up that he’s ahead of them with the explosives on him, but they couldn’t guarantee he’d do something like that. You can say it’s smart for Gordon’s family to not know he faked his death to protect him, but it’s still messed up of a scenario. The whole car chase is the best scene of the movie and Batman proves again how badass he is when he flips the truck, but I gotta be honest that Joker should’ve died from that. For crying out loud, Harvey does it when he has Maroni killed. He had no seat belt and it’s insane there was no confirmed injury that stopped him from shooting it up once he gets out of the truck. It was a good thing for Gordon to announce those cops closest to him where he thinks Harvey will be, but he should’ve announced it on the radio before he started the car. Rachel could’ve been saved if Gordon had spread the word differently. I’m not saying it’s his fault but he could’ve thought differently. Also, why would the force have another cop in the interrogation room with Joker? They could’ve just monitored him from the other side and mute him. So if anything, those who stayed at the station are at fault. I then wonder why exactly was Rachel picked up anyway? She seems to rely on a taxi due to the train being destroyed, so why Gordon allow anyone to take her home personally? He knows that many officers are corrupt so he should’ve not let this happen. Considering how much his wife and kids love him, it’s not like they wouldn’t keep it a secret. And if he really wanted them to be safe, they could’ve taken to a safe house until Joker was dealt with. Instead, this was the beginning of their trauma that unfolds by the end where you can’t blame Barbara for leaving him in Rises. I’ve said before I don’t like continuity errors, so you bet I was disappointed when I caught a few. The guy opening the vault ducks but the other robber still aims at him like he didn’t. The Tumbler appears to land upside down until it’s next shot shows it to not be. And when Joker is interrogated by Batman, he moves his arms in between takes and it’s irritating. The same thing would happen with Batman’s wrist projectiles, making it hard for me to believe he was able to move it in between takes. It only makes me more upset that we don’t even see the new set of scars he gave Joker. Hell, even Wayne Tower is redesigned and its so obvious. Ignore these, and you’ll still appreciate this movie for what it is. In conclusion, The Dark Knight is not only the best of its genre, but one of the best movies ever made for being the most grounded of its kind. Whatever kind of moviegoer you are, this movie must be seen.