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Bookmark this pageThe Dark Knight (2008)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Movie review
From Time Out London
Christopher Nolan follows the sombre origin myth of ‘Batman Begins’ with a less introspective, more frenetic sequel. Once again there are lots of ideas on the boil, this time mostly to do with community action and leadership, but an endless flow of bullets, bombs and bat business drowns out most debate. Right from the off, Nolan sidesteps the analyst’s couch and plunges us straight into battle.He starts with a disorienting bank robbery and from there barely allows us to breathe – or think, even – over the next two and a half hours as we swing from the US to Hong Kong and back to the streets of Gotham. Here, the crime rate is soaring, it’s always night, and any daylight leaves you squinting. It’s always downtown too; the city is inescapable, a confusing mix of the pedestrian and the paranoid.
For this sequel, there’s a whole lot of story going on, which reduced to basics involves the wildly unpredictable Joker (Heath Ledger) wreaking havoc on Gotham. This perverse clown’s keyword is chaos – crime without sense – and there’s more than a nod to the post-9/11 order. ‘Some men just want to watch the world burn,’ chips in one onlooker. Later, when a good guy turns bad and half his face is burnt to reveal bone and sinew, it’s hard not to recall those images of charred bodies in Iraq.
Ledger makes a great, freaky Joker, with dirty, lank hair, a voice that soars and dives, and a tongue that slithers and salivates. Two scenes stick in the mind: him walking away from a doomed hospital in a nurse’s dress right before an explosion, and later hanging out of the window of a speeding car, tasting the air like a reptile, with the soundtrack falling silent in tribute, freezing this psychotic, iconic villain in time and allowing for a moment of sadness amid the noise. If he wins an Oscar, who’d begrudge him that tribute?
Meanwhile, Christian Bale’s stately if unmemorable Bruce Wayne/Batman reassumes relationships with Michael Caine’s affable man-servant Alfred, Morgan Freeman’s man-sage Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman’s modest cop, Lieutenant Gordon (whose quietness is drowned out by the film’s bombastics). New to the scene are District Attorney Harvey Dent (a slick Aaron Eckhart), who Wayne wants to promote as a human alternative to his vigilantism (an interesting sideline on the need for humility and choice when picking a leader), and Maggie Gyllenhaal as a replacement for Katie Holmes’s Rachel Dawes, but she barely gets a look-in.
It’s all very monumental, and the film’s more self-conscious moments, of which there are many, would provoke a giggle if you weren’t distracted by yet another explosion, chase or ratcheting up of a score that shrieks importance.
The challenge that Nolan has set himself is to make a comic book film that’s serious, entertaining and popular. It’s a tall order, but an admirable one. ‘The Dark Knight’ is a film that’s fantastic on the action front, seeds its acrobatics in its own reality, and always feels relevant even when its ideas are drowned out by clatter. That said, every once in a while, you’d like to be able to lean into the screen and tickle somebody’s ribs.
Author: Dave Calhoun
Time Out London Issue 1979, July 24 - 30, 2008
User reviews of this film
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- Hannah said...
- Posted on Oct 16 2008 14:30 Beki, I never said that I had no right to comment on the movie, I said other people would think that. And I don't care if u think that I was wrong to compare High School Musical and The Dark Knight cos it is my opinion and I didn't actually compare them I just said there were goog films coming out this year LIKE High School Musical 3 i did not say that it was any better than HSM3 because 1-I haven't seen it, 2-Other people like The Dark Knight and 3-I am allowed to have my own opinion. Also I do comment on the Mamma Mia page and I only went on this one to see what other people were saying about it so I don't see why u should complain about me.
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- Beki said...
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Posted on Oct 14 2008 22:20
Why state you have no right to comment and then do so anyway? Fair enough, Mamma Mia IS a great film, I loved it. But I also loved The Dark Knight. Go post on the Mamma Mia page because it doesn't sound like you've come to the right place.
And oh dear god, how can anybody possibly even begin to compare The Dark Knight to High School Musical?!... - Report as inappropriate
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- Hannah said...
- Posted on Oct 13 2008 13:49 Caitlin I agree with u about Mamma Mia and even though I haven't seen it people are getting too excited about it. I don't care if people think i have no right to complain when I havent seen the movie but i don't care. There are a lot of better films out now like Mamma Mia and a lot of good ones to be out soon like High School Musical 3.
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- caitlin said...
- Posted on Oct 13 2008 13:47 I think that saying mamma mia is achick flick is wrong if you visit the mamma mia! message board you will see that a lot of men love it and if the dark knight is supposedly for 'everyone' how come mamma mia! has made LOADS more money in the UK I don't think that just men saw it!!! I suppose I don't have a right to comment on a film I haven't seen but I am just stating my opinon
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- Thomas Noctor said...
- Posted on Oct 10 2008 11:25 To Caitlin U cant comment on a film u havnt seen. Mamma Mia is a chick flick The Dark Knight is for everyone!!!!!!!! Film of the decade
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- sorry said...
- Posted on Oct 09 2008 17:04 This is caitlin oops I seem 2 have repeated myself soz about that
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- sorry said...
- Posted on Oct 09 2008 17:04 This is caitlin oops I seem 2 have repeated myself soz about that
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- Caitlin said...
- Posted on Oct 09 2008 16:37 Mamma Mia is better than the dark knight I have seen mamma mia 3 times. It is the film ov the summer
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- Caitlin said...
- Posted on Oct 09 2008 16:35 I disagree mamma mia is da best film ov the summer. i have seen mamma mia 3 times and haven't seen the dark knight but it sounds rubbish.Anyone else wif me????????/
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- Thomas Noctor said...
- Posted on Oct 07 2008 19:23 Puts all these rubbish Mamma Mia crap in the shade! Seen it 4 times what more do I need to say it was actually under hyped! Best film EVER
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- caitlin dixon said...
- Posted on Oct 07 2008 16:27 This movie is well overhyped. I haven't seen it but it is supposed to be really violent for a 12A certificate. I suppose people will think I have no right to think that I should judge a movie I haven't even seen. I suppose to some people it was the best film they have seen in a long time.But I just don't see what is so appealing about sitting in the cinema watching some guy in a black cape saving a city. I would much rather go and watch a good feel good movie like mamma mia!!! But Is uppose everyone has different tastes......
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- David White said...
- Posted on Oct 01 2008 00:18 Quite entertaining on its own level, but not as snappy as "Batman Begins" and ultimately defeated by its own inordinate length. Couldn't see what all the fuss was about, really.
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- mohommed said...
- Posted on Sep 30 2008 17:45 i think that movie was fantastic and ther film should have been called the joker
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- Charli said...
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Posted on Sep 28 2008 01:11
Absolutely bloody brilliant. I was shocked and amazed by Heath Ledger's performance and anyone who does not well and truly love this movie is a total and utter,,,,,,,
Oscar for heath!
The Joker's cruelty shocked me all through the film and it was interesting to watch batman for the first time as not just a guy in a costume but someone with a responsibility and having to make choices. A high flying ride of octane and thrill. ************************************** - Report as inappropriate
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- footballer13 said...
- Posted on Sep 17 2008 20:01 Outstanding performance by Heath Ledger as the joker Maybe a bit to violent for 12a and a bit long but amazing. I went to see the ovie thinking it was going to be another one of thse superhero movies but I was completely hooked on. The only thing that disappointed me was Batmans voice. But athor than that, BRILLIIANT
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Cast & crew
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Eric Roberts, Cillian Murphy, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Jai White, William Fichtner full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure, Drama
Rated: 12A
Duration: 152 mins
UK Release: Jul 25 2008
US Release: Jul 18 2008
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