My top 30 films - No.5

5. The Dark Knight (2008) - "Why so serious?"

In 2005, Batman Begins was released and so began the launch of another superhero film series. However, this one was different, because it was directed by Christopher Nolan. He cares more about the story in a way that appeals to and interests audiences, even since he made Memento.

The Dark Knight is the second in the series and starts with a number of mob-owned banks being robbed by the Joker (Heath Ledger (A Knight's Tale and Brokeback Mountain)). Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman (Dracula, Leon and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)) and Batman (Christian Bale (American Psycho) decide to go after the mob themselves, along with the new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking)). However, the Joker unleashes anarchy and chaos in Gotham and will only stop if Batman turns himself in and reveals his identity. Batman therefore gets close to crossing the line between vigilante and hero.

As is the way with most second films in a trilogy/franchise, The Dark Knight is a far darker movie than Batman Begins, similar to The Empire Strikes Back or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It is all about ideas - how easy it is to turn someone from good to evil. The main way they do this is through the Harvey Dent character. As fans of the original DC comics will known Harvey Dent becomes known as Two Face. It also features several moral dilemmas presented by the Joker, causing people to make difficult decisions. For example, the scene on the two ships where one is full of innocent civilians and the other a group of criminals. Both ships are filled with explosives, but given the detonator to the other boat. The Joker is wanting there to be a massacre. Maybe there were a few too many moral dilemmas, but if you told the filmmakers this, they would say "No, it's necessary to the plot". It's like writing an essay and you have to try to meet your word court, but there are some aspects you just don't want to get rid of because of their importance to you.

As I'm sure you know, this film was released months after the unfortunate death of Heath Ledger. Even though his career was cut short, his performance as the Joker is one of the greatest performances of all time. Naturally, people wanted it to win Best Lead Actor at the Oscars. Ledger instead won Best Supporting Actor, which I believe was the right category for him. It was only the second time ever that someone had won a posthumous Oscar for acting (the other was Peter Finch for Network). He actually hid in a motel room for six weeks, delving into the Joker's psychology and developing the voice. The look is similar to that of Sid Vicious and many of his mannerisms and tone is reminiscent of Malcolm McDowell's character in A Clockwork Orange. His Joker performance is so different to that of Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's Batman.  Nicholson = clown. Ledger = psychopath.

Ledger's performance does overshadow Christian Bale's as Batman. It's another good performance from Bale, especially when you see the dark side of Batman in the interrogation scene. However, there were comments concerning his voice when he was playing Batman. Apparently the rough, gritty sound to it was a post-production idea by Christopher Nolan. It was a bit too similar to Christian Bale's voice in Terminator Salvation and that was the same, "whether he is ordering an attack or ordering some milk". I preferred the Batman voice from Batman Begins, because you can understand what he is saying. There is also another great performance by Gary Oldman, one of the best actors at the minute. His character is somewhat understated in the whole film, but he does appear in this film more than he does in Batman Begins, partly because his character has more responsibility in this film. Aaron Eckhart said he modelled his performance partly on Robert F. Kennedy and that shows, especially in the first half of the film. Nolan decided to go with Eckhart on the strength of his performance in Thank You For Smoking. As with Batamn Begins, it features Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, as well as a quick cameo appearance from Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow. There was also a change in the cast; in Batman Begins, Rachel Dawes was played by Katie Holmes, but in The Dark Knight she was instead played by Maggie Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko). Holmes decided to instead to appear in Mad Money.

When he made Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan did not have a second unit, so he oversaw every shot. It's the same in The Dark Knight. It was actually the first film ever to be partially shot in IMAX. The two most notable sequences are the bank robbery at the beginning and the car chase. This was challenging due to the size and weight of IMAX cameras compared to a standard one. As with most of Nolan's other films, the director of photography is Wally Pfister, who found problems with the skydiving sequence in Hong Kong. Environmentalists criticized the request to leave the skyscraper's lights on to enhance the cinematography. Therefore, the jump was created digitally. Another standout set piece is the Joker standing in front of a huge pile of money and just setting it on fire.

My goal was to get this review done before getting a chance to see The Dark Knight Rises. It is now out cinemas, so in some respects I have failed. I hope to see it in the next few days. It has definitely made headlines, especially with the news of the death of 12 people at a screening in Colorado on its release. It is unfortunate that we have to acknowledge the film in that respect. However, it is noble that Christian Bale went to see the survivors recently in the news. My original concern was that The Dark Knight Rises could be similar to The Godfather: Part III and the series follows that trend (the first film is good, second is better, but third is worse). On the other hand, I have heard mostly positive reviews of it. It is the last Christopher Nolan film that Wally Pfister is working on, before he goes off and becomes a director himself. I wish him all the best for the future.

The Dark Knight took $158,411,483 in its first weekend of release and held the box-office record for the largest opening weekend of all time. Two films since have beaten that - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and The Avengers. Overall the film took $1,001,921,825 worldwide (currently 12th highest-grossing film of all time). It was this kind of success which made Warner Bros. allow Christopher Nolan to make Inception. Even though this is a superhero film, it is not to be taken likely. The BBFC were right to give it a 12A certificate for "strong fantasy violence and sustained threat", so you wouldn't want to take your kids to see it. Unless you want them to become interested in great films at a early age...