The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero film directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan’s Batman film series and a sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role. The plot of the film focuses on Batman’s fight against a new villain, the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his relationships with police lieutenant James Gordon (Gary Oldman), district attorney Harvey Dent aka Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) and his old friend and love interest assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). For his conception of the film, Nolan was inspired by the Joker’s first two appearances in the comics and Batman: The Long Halloween. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. He used an IMAX camera to film some sequences, including the Joker’s first appearance in the film.
On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died of a prescription drug overdose, leading to intense press attention and memorial tributes from lots of fans as well as more people showing interest to the film. Warner Bros. had created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screen shots of Ledger as the Joker, but after Ledger’s death, the studio refocused its promotional campaign.[2][3] The film was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom. Prior to its box office debut in North America, record numbers of advance tickets were sold for The Dark Knight. It was greeted with positive reviews upon release,[4] and became the second movie ever to earn more than $500 million at the North American box office, setting numerous other records in the process.
Based on 257 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, The Dark Knight has an overall approval rating of 95 percent, with a weighted average score of 8.5/10.[130] Among Rotten Tomatoes’ Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,[131] the film holds an overall approval rating of 90 percent.[132] By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 82 from the 39 reviews it collected.[4]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times describes The Dark Knight as a “haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy.” He praises the performances, direction, and writing, and says the film “redefine[s] the possibilities of the comic-book movie”. Ebert states that the “key performance” is by Heath Ledger, and ponders whether he will become the first posthumous Academy Award winner since Peter Finch in 1976.[133] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone writes that the film is deeper than its predecessor, with a “deft” script that refuses to scrutinize the Joker with popular psychology, instead pulling the viewer in with an examination of Bruce Wayne’s psyche,[134] while David Denby of The New Yorker holds that the story is not coherent enough to properly flesh out the disparities. He says the film’s mood is one
of “constant climax”, and that it feels rushed and far too long. Denby criticizes scenes which he argues are meaningless or are cut short just as they become interesting.[135] Todd Gilchrist of IGN remarks that, unlike most “mythology“-centred films, The Dark Knight covers everything concerning the logical or conceptual challenges such films present, giving the viewer everything they expect, but in ways which catch the viewer off-guard.[136] David Ansen in Newsweek says the film is “impressive” in discussing the moral dilemma at its heart: the question about whether a hero has to abandon his code in order to defeat the villain.[137]
Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News compares the film’s sober depiction of characters that are “ticking time bombs” to those in Clint Eastwood‘s Unforgiven (1992). He says that Bale, Gyllenhaal, Oldman, and Eckhart combine to add a maturity that was not present in Batman Begins.[138] Travers has praise for all the cast, saying each brings his or her “‘A’ game” to the film. He says Bale is “electrifying”, evoking Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II, and that Eckhart’s portrayal of Harvey Dent is “scarily moving”. Travers reserves the most acclaim for Ledger, saying the actor moves the Joker away from Jack Nicholson‘s interpretation into darker territory. He expresses his support for any potential campaign to have Ledger nominated for an Academy Award,[134] a call echoed by filmmaker Kevin Smith,[139] and Emanuel Levy, among others. Levy writes that Ledger “throws himself completely” into the role,[140] and Todd Gilchrist calls Ledger’s performance “transcendent”. Gilchrist also shows admiration for Oldman’s depiction of virtue, self-doubt and authority, and says Gyllenhaal adds depth and vigor to her role.[136] David Denby remarks that the central conflict is workable, but that “only half the team can act it”, saying that Bale’s “placid” Bruce Wayne and “dogged but uninteresting” Batman is constantly upstaged by Ledger’s “sinister and frightening” performance, which he says is the film’s one element of success. Denby concludes that Ledger is “mesmerising” in every scene.[135]
Travers says that the filmmakers move the film away from comic book cinema and closer to being a genuine work of art, citing Nolan’s direction and the “gritty reality” of Wally Pfister‘s cinematography as helping to create a universe that has something “raw and elemental” at work within it. In particular, he cites Nolan’s action choreography in the IMAX-tailored heist sequence as rivaling that of Heat (1995).[134] Orr from The New Republic also praised the sparing use of CGI, such as in the chase scenes.[141] Gilchrist praises the film’s blending of comic book theatrics into realistic surroundings, and says that the film is the first comic book adaptation to qualify as a superior artistic achievement in its own right. Gilchrist says that Nolan examines the grand themes in “beautifully human” terms, and that the director reaches further than the first film with both his storytelling and camerawork, sustaining the “haunting” atmosphere, momentum and tension throughout the entire runtime.[136] Emanuel Levy proclaims that the film represents Nolan’s “most accomplished and mature” work, and the most technically impressive and resonant of all the Batman films. He calls the action sequences some of the most impressive seen in an American film for years, and talks of the Hong Kong-set portion of the film as being particularly visually impressive.[140] While Denby has praise for Pfister’s cinematography, he does not rate the film as a remarkable piece of craftmanship. He puts forward that while a lot
happens in the film, it is often difficult to follow due to the close, dark photography and editing. Denby says the film is too grim and is seemingly “jammed together”.[135]
Dean Richards of WGN-TV calls the film not only the year’s best film, “but one of the best films in years.” Richards further compliments the film, noting how Chicago has never been used more effectively as a canvas for a story and stating, “It’s not just a stunning super hero movie; it’s a stunning film, period”.[142] Todd Gilchrist describes the film as “dark, complex and disturbing”, and the most ambitious film of its type. He concludes that it breaks the boundaries set by any previous comic book adaptation—and even those of good filmmaking—in its weighty, thoughtful examination of the implications of heroism.[136] Emanuel Levy and Peter Travers conclude that the film is “haunting and visionary”,[134][140] while Levy goes on to say that The Dark Knight is “nothing short of brilliant”.[140] David Denby surmises that the heavy-handed score and “thunderous” violence only serve to coarsen the property from Tim Burton‘s vision of the franchise into a “hyperviolent summer action spectacle”, and that the film embraces the themes of terror that it purports to scrutinize.[135] Larry Carroll at MTV.com says that the chase sequences, suggestions of The Godfather, and “beautiful” cinematography combine to make the film feel “Oscar-worthy”,[143] and David Ansen questions whether the viewer will come away from the film more exhausted than invigorated. He says that while The Dark Knight’s ambition to be more than disposable entertainment is admirable, he wishes it could be more fun.[137]
NPR film critic David Edelstein has been less enthusiastic toward the film, saying it “plays as if it were written by Oxford philosophy majors trying to tone up American pop.” Edelstein also criticized the decision to set Gotham City in the real world, but then undercut its own realism with action scenes that he called “spectacularly incoherent”. Said Edelstein, “I defy you to make spatial sense of a truck/Bat-tank/police car chase, or the climax with Batman, the Joker, hostages, SWAT teams, fake Batmen and Morgan Freeman on some kind of sonar monitoring gizmo”.[144] Additionally, in his appraisal of Ledger’s Joker, Edelstein both praises Ledger’s attempts and laments his realization as he summarizes “My heart went out to him. He’s working so very hard to fill the void, to be doing something every second. It’s rave and rage and purge acting…Ledger revs it higher and higher…He bugs his eyes…He tries on different voices…I couldn’t take my eyes off him, but in truth, I found the performance painful to watch. Scarier than what the Joker does to anyone onscreen is what Ledger must have been doing to himself — trying to find the center of a character without a dream of one”.[145] The New Republic‘s Christopher Orr also considers Ledger’s performance powerful but disturbing, calling it “the film’s most remarkable special effect” and adding that “to call it compelling would be a criminal understatement,” but opining that “Even without Ledger’s death, this would be a deeply discomfiting performance; as it is, it’s hard not to view it as sign or symptom of the subsequent tragedy.”[146]
The violence and “jolts of brutality”[144] of the movie have received some criticism, related to the MPAA giving the movie a PG-13 rating, a decision that Christopher Orr considered “shameful acquiescence”,[141] and which has also been questioned by others for a movie that “celebrates violence” instead of laws and justice.[147] The British Board of Film Classification has defended its stance on rating the film a 12A certificate in the UK.[148] CinemaScore reports that audiences have graded the film “a solid A” with demographics skewed slightly male and older.[149]
Mystery writer Andrew Klavan, writing in The Wall Street Journal, compared the extreme measures that Batman takes to fight crime with those U.S. President George W. Bush has used in the War on Terror. Klavan claims that, “at some level” The Dark Knight is “a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war.” Klavan supports this reading of the film by comparing Batman — like Bush, Klavan argues — “sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.”[150] Klavan’s article has received a great deal of criticism on the Internet and in mainstream media outlets, such as in The New Republic‘s “The Plank.”[151] Reviewing the film in the Sunday Times, Cosmo Landesman reached the opposite conclusion to Klavan, arguing that “offers up a lot of moralistic waffle about how we must hug a terrorist – okay, I exaggerate. At its heart, however, is a long and tedious discussion about how individuals and society must never abandon the rule of law in struggling against the forces of lawlessness. In fighting monsters, we must be careful not to become monsters – that sort of thing. The film champions the antiwar coalition’s claim that, in having a war on terror, you create the conditions for more terror. We are shown that innocent people died because of Batman – and he falls for it”.[152]
The Dark Knight was ranked the 15th greatest film in history on Empire‘s 2008 list of the “500 Greatest Movies of All Time”, based upon the votes of 10,000 readers, 150 film directors, and 50 key film critics.[153]
مدونة مدعوك 