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The Dark Knight (2008)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Time Out rating

Average user rating

189 reviews

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 2008-07-22 12:40:41

Time Out London Issue 1979, July 24 - 30, 2008

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User reviews of this film

Cookie said...

Posted on Aug 30 2008 20:29 What an Amazing film, A great way to spend a few hours on a rainy day and a bargin for what i would consider a masterpiece. You can really tell they hav put much time and effort into the film and the ending whilst still being impressive leaves the door wide open for another sequal. A must see.

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Ben said...

Posted on Aug 30 2008 20:28 i thought it was a good film. But i thought that when Bale did his batman wannabe disguise it sounded like he had just smoked 120 fags in an hour

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Alex said...

Posted on Aug 30 2008 15:24 it woz AMAZING i would have paid money just to see the joker but everythig and everyone in it was brilliant not to violent 12 is a good certificate best movie i have watched

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Beki said...

Posted on Aug 29 2008 18:06 It depends entirely what you're into to detirmine if you'll like this film or not. Me, I was surprised.
I've never been a fan of batman, and was unhappily dragged to the cinema to watch this last week. I sat down with very low hopes, but I actually really enjoyed it. After the first scene, I was hooked, and I hold my hands up to being a huge fan of The Joker now. I think Heath pulled off the character brilliantly and deserves every acclaim he's getting for the role.
The film was long, maybe abit too long, but worth it nevertheless. I've been recommending the film to other friends ever since I saw it, and I hate to sound a nerd but I'd even go to watch it again. Worth the money. :)

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MovieFox said...

Posted on Aug 29 2008 14:34 Classic

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MovieBuff said...

Posted on Aug 27 2008 16:19 What i find with people reviewing films are that some don't just give their opinion on a film and leave it up to you wether you want to see it, they try and force their opinions on other people to make up their mind for them, if you want to know how good or bad this film is then, just go see it, in my opinion it lives up to the hype, great acting not just from Ledger but also i feel Bale deserves praise, i hear a lot of people saying he was boring and dull but anyone who knows anything about batman knows he isn't the life of the party and can be well quite boring, but he portrays batman perfectly, the story line was good and was always running swiftly and there are a few memorable scenes that will stick in your head the next day, some say it drags on which i can understand, but if you see this film i think most people will be happy they paid to get in, so check it out

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Andy Barnes said...

Posted on Aug 27 2008 10:54 Excellent Batman film. Less comic book than the older films and very dark with more violence (maybe too dark and violent for a 12A).
Heath Ledger was brilliant as Joker, totally different to Jack Nicholson but it still works. Christian Bale was quite wooden as Batman, but that's the only way for a Batman character to be. It also contracts well with Joker putting more emphasis on him, as he is really the main character and major draw in this film.

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izharn said...

Posted on Aug 26 2008 14:30 this movie is awesome
a big hit

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Simon Williams said...

Posted on Aug 26 2008 11:30 This film is da best. Everyone i went with loved it. I recomend it to anyone who hasnt seen it!

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Mel said...

Posted on Aug 25 2008 22:49 Overrated, overhyped, too violent.

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Louise said...

Posted on Aug 25 2008 13:51 this film was brilliant, Heath Ledger was a great joker, all those who didnt enjoy there must be something wrong with you!!!!!

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Tony said...

Posted on Aug 25 2008 11:02 The acting is highly overrated, far too long and a genuine disappointment. I so wanted it to be good, but it drags, the actors were cringe worthy at times and although he joker was good, he wasn't great like everyone makes out...it's about time peple watched real actors before making strange judgements about 2nd rate ones in these types of blockbusters...some mentione an oscar?! Someone needs to actually watch some more flms I feel!

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Tim said...

Posted on Aug 24 2008 13:05 Looked forward to seeing the film.
Nothing but violence upon more violence.
Sickened by the whole affair.

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Will Bingley said...

Posted on Aug 22 2008 00:33 The new Batman movie “The Dark Knight” hit the world’s cinemas with the meteoric blast of hype that has become typical of summer blockbusters. What is truly astonishing though is that this huge movie lives up to it. Its delicate balancing act of morality tale, rip roaring action flick and genuine thought provoker, unravels with such extraordinary pace and precision that even the most cynical viewer will be battered into submission. More confident than “Batman Begins”, darker and freed from that film’s slightly cloying philosophising, it gives its characters the time and space to speak for themselves. And they do, even as they clash in an ever-escalating whirlwind of virtuoso set pieces.
The story, as with all Batman movies, is driven by Bruce Wayne’s struggles with his conscience and his dissatisfaction with his schizophrenic existence. Bale is again magnetic in the lead, underplaying Batman’s moral crises particularly deftly and again bringing a real depth to both his Bruce Wayne and his Batman characters. But, you get the impression he isn’t cast as the real star of the show. According to Christopher Nolan, what makes a hero good is born of internal conflict, what makes the bad guys bad is their lack of it. So in juxtaposition, as the good guys labour on valiantly, it is the various villains, with their skewed certainty, who offer us the film’s real escapism and who lend it its blockbuster watchability.
And this leads us to Heath Ledger. There is quite simply no superlative that could do justice to the excellence of his performance. With some subtle nods to the old TV series and some not so subtle ones to Nickolson’s 1990 version, he has gotten hold of this much loved character and dragged him down into a very, very dark place. A snarling psychopath of bewildering charm, deep vulnerability and devilish humour, he is a mesmerising and unsettling presence that stays with you long after the credits have rolled and the lights have come back up. His mercurial shifts in character, underpinned by rampantly sadistic episodes provide a perfectly balanced counterpoint to Christian Bale’s dark crusader and light up this film; giving it all of its dark soul. Right from its opening sequence, as The Joker toys with his minions in a deadly game of cat and mouse, we know that we are in for something special. He flits across the screen, impossible to pin down, one moment a fevered masochist shrinking into the shadows, the next a feral beast searing the screen. “I choose Chaos” he utters as mission statement, “It works for me” and he’s right.
Of course Ledger and Bale are not the only stars, the supporting cast put in some very good performances too. Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are all reassuringly great. Aaron Eckhart is solid as Dent, albeit slightly less convincing as Two-Face. And, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a huge improvement on Katie Holmes as Bruce Wayne’s childhood sweetheart. Stuck in the heart of a love triangle between Wayne and Dent she manages to hold the viewer’s sympathy while generating good chemistry with both men. Notably, she also shines alongside Ledger, her damsel in distress routine played with a great modern twist.
Nolan has pulled off a massive coup with this movie. He has plucked a universe that is extraordinarily real, straight from the pages of a comic book. A feat no other director in the genre has got close to. No doubt he is helped by the great cinematography of Wally Phister whose epic compositions, conjured from a very modest palate, definitely add to its realism. And by the script, co-written by Nolan and his brother, which bearing many similarities to his earlier films and painstaking efforts to show both sides of the coin, is not your average Hollywood fodder. In particular a tendency towards jumbled chronologies helps The Dark Knight maintain its frenetic pace throughout its entire two and a half hour duration. And, allows for the ragged ending that (of course) sets us up for a well deserved sequel.
I can only advise that you must see this film. Whether you are a fan of the superhero genre or not you will love it. In all there is only one negative that can be taken from The Dark Knight, Ledger’s tragic and untimely death. At the age of 28 he clearly had a lot more to offer and I for one will be happy if he gets the Oscar nod he deserves. But this is extraneous. If you haven’t seen this film already, then get to your nearest cinema, right now. If you have seen it, then go see it again, because take it from me (even if ain’t a professional), it only gets better.

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charlotte ware said...

Posted on Aug 20 2008 22:07 I found this film an absolute insult top me and other comic book fans batman was more like badman and killed the drEAMS OF MY CHILDHOOD OF COMICBOOK STARDOM!!!!!

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