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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

Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Jul 18 2009 13:04 One word-Excellent but its time for Bale to go

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Jul 18 2009 13:03 One word-Excellent, but its time for a new Batman actor

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Ian said...

Posted on Jun 25 2009 09:11 Great film - I loved it

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Wolfyy said...

Posted on May 29 2009 13:57 The film is quite good. The characters are good & yes the joker is amazing
but the plot is slightly confusing. Even though the characters are great I still felt bored because some of the time i didnt get what was going on & it wasnt that exciting.

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Kieran said...

Posted on Mar 04 2009 21:25 Best film ever,
should have won more oscars, shame it didn't but i still think its the best film

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Pippa said...

Posted on Feb 26 2009 20:05 Bravo, Heath, a much deserved Oscar (not beaten by Hoffman this time). Still playing at BFI and Odeon IMAX in London for us to relish.

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elgimpo said...

Posted on Feb 26 2009 19:22 i dont buy dvds but watched this once and bought it next week, films are for enjoying superb. why so seroius

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JohnD said...

Posted on Feb 03 2009 10:12 A very dull, humourless movie. Pretentious, ominous and laughably preposterous. There is a complete disjuncture between the comic book hero and the apparently hard boiled realistic action surrounding him. Michael Cain is truly awful and Batman talks like a camp Darth Vader. Drivel.

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Pippa said...

Posted on Jan 13 2009 07:07 Having seen it (for the 7th time) now on DVD, I'm delighted Heath Ledger's performance was honoured by the Golden Globes. Bring on the Oscars (and on 30 Jan the film returns to BFI IMAX).

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Edward Comc said...

Posted on Jan 04 2009 21:12 Charred bodies in Iraq??!?....you need to stop going to see Batman and instead see a good shrink...AND FAST!!!!

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HarleyQuinn said...

Posted on Dec 24 2008 12:36 I don't think this was over-hyped. I never liked batman, but now I'm a fan because of this film. I thought the acting was great from the whole cast, but especially Heath Ledger, who is extremely scary and so immersed in the character you forget that he's an actor on screen. I took away a star because the logic of the film didn't seem to work (blaming batman for everything, why?) but really, I think this is a great film, and when you see it in imax it has even more impact. I'd say definately see it, because it has some real drama, and the millions of fans can't all be wrong, right? ;) PS to caitlin dixon - I happen to dislike mamma mia, but most/all of my friends love it and still love the dark knight aswell, so that speaks for itself don't you think?

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Andy S said...

Posted on Nov 13 2008 17:58 A little over-hyped to be honest. Ok, Ledger is good, but lots of actors could ham it up and pull off a loony Joker character, really. Bale looks bored and serious (again), and it completely lacked any kind of 'fun' you'd normally find in a superhero movie, to the point of pretention. People say its the new 'Heat'. It really isn't. Its a Batman film and far, far to self aware and self-righteous. It was ok. I won't be buying the dvd.

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lewis said...

Posted on Oct 29 2008 18:07 this film was amazing u should go and watch it
It has action all the wAY though.

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Beki said...

Posted on Oct 16 2008 20:57 I'm sorry if you thought I was complaining about you having an opinion in general. Of course you have every right to an opinion, I wasn't undermining that. All I wondered was why people were posting opinions such as "it sounds rubbish" when these comments are meant to provide people with an insight as to what they thought of the film after watching it. That's why it's called a user review, and you can't review a film you haven't seen, that's all I meant.
I suppose I was abit out of line with the whole 'comparing' TDK to HSM, but I personally have a pet hate towards HSM, so I couldn't help myself ;)

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caitlin said...

Posted on Oct 16 2008 14:34 Hannah I totally agree wif u!! Also I am going to stop posting on this page because everytime I post one all I get is people moaning at me sayon 'The dark knight is fab u have no right' bla bla bla I think thate every persson has the right to their own opinion and afetr reading the comments on this page I may well rent the DVD 2 c wot all the fuss is about. Then I will be able to state my opinion cleraly

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