Early this week was the date that The Dark Knight was released in cinemas and that film pretty much changed everything about comic book films as well as action films in terms of substance and what they could have in them. I loved the film so much after the first cinema viewing that I went back two more times and now have lost count on the number of times I have actually watched the film. I still personally believe it should have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars the following year. Heath Ledger was rightly awarded the Best Actor in a Supporting Role but this really should have been the film to break that Best Picture stigma.
Christopher Nolan really did take the whole comic book movie genre to a totally different level with his trilogy. Starting and setting the pace with Batman Begins and then moving into this unreal place with The Dark Knight and then finishing it off with The Dark Knight Rises. All of which are brilliant films on their own, so as a trilogy I actually think they are pretty close to being perfect, he set the bar high and I don't think we have or will ever really see anything like this.
Why So Serious?
Now this is certainly a quote from the film that has lived on in so many ways. I actually use it randomly with family and friends. It was such a good thing so many of my friends were obsessed with this film as well. I actually remember the third time I went to the cinema to see the film it was nobodies first trip. We were all consumed by it and no matter how many times you see it on the big screen the noise of the Batman hitting the window will still make you jump out of your skin. I will admit that I am slightly disappointed UK cinemas didn't try to show the film again to mark this the 10th anniversary as I certainly would have gone straight for an IMAX screening!
Some men just want to watch the world burn . . .
This gives Michael Caine a chance as Alfred to offer some much-needed wisdom to Bruce Wayne in his quest to figure out what The Joker actually wants and then realise that the problem is he doesn't seem to have an easy motivate for the killing, burning and torturing of different people. He want's everyone to live in a world where they do what they want and don't care about the consequences. Whilst watching this film I always think yes this is my favourite scene and then the next scene starts and I think the same thing again. It is a very strong film from start to finish and I can honestly say I enjoy every single second of it. I'm not really sure how but it seems to get better each and every time I watch it as well. I think I have already watched it about five times this year and I am sure I will manage to squeeze in a few more viewings.
Bruce Wayne is willing to give up Batman . . .
When Bruce thought Rachel would choose him over Harvey Dent and that Gotham was now going to be safe, he really was getting ready to leave the Dark Knight behind him and all of that was for love. That was to be his biggest fault and something The Joker very quickly worked out. Putting him in a moral dilemma something he did for fun and this was to be Bruce's breaking point and seeing him take Batman to a very different place to what we had previously seen.
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain . . .
Something that Harvey Dent tells us very early on is what starts to happen to him, after really becoming two face instead of just the nickname he was given this forces him into the dark place and runs that line of becoming the villain when Rachel was not saved instead of him. Jim Gordon must deal with this change in character in a very tough to watch scene involving his family. I thought it was incredible character development to see how far someone can be pushed and will go when everything they had worked for and the person they were ready to spend the rest of their lives with was brutally taken away from then. Again something The Joker wanted, he wanted to create anarchy and horrible decisions to really see how far people would go. Dent having his coin and flipping it to help with those decisions was certainly on that brutal and villain type edge.
You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible, aren't you, huh? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.