The Dark Knight 2008
Hoping to relinquish the cape and cowl for good, Batman (Christian Bale) puts his faith in new crusading District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) but his plans are put on hold when painted faced terrorist plainly know as The Joker (Heath Ledger) starts to wreak havoc. Initially aligning himself with the Gotham underworld offering them a chance to rid the city of Batman, he becomes to realise that he's much more amused having Batman around and also forcing The Dark Knight to question all he believes in.
After ending 2005's Batman Begins with a little teaser of what was to come (although initially according to Nolan not planning a sequel) . With Nolan openly admitting he screened Bladerunner to his cast and crew of Begins and exclaimed this is the film he wanted to make. This time round as his blueprint Nolan would reference Michael Mann's 1995 sweeping crime epic Heat, while Nolan's sequel falls short of Mann's masterpiece, it moves the genre into areas never contemplated by other directors. However impressive it's predecessor had seemed in 2005 the comic booksy like storyline seemed somewhat awkward with Nolan's style, This is not to say that TDK is not fantastical and far fetched it's just grounded in a more real world, Nolan opting to use Chicago as his backdrop for Gotham. No more is Mann's influence more recognisable than in the ambitiously staged bank heist that opens the film and also in one of the most memorable moments in recent cinema history introduces the films villain The Joker (Ledger), heightened that more with being entirely shot in IMAX, at least a half hour is lensed in the format and trusty regular cinematography Wally Pfister excels himself creating a truly tense and utterly thrilling opening to the film that visually the rest of the picture would strive to match.
Having shown his abilities for casting , once again Nolan shows no dropping of the ball with his new additions to this world, Eckhart's charismatic DA more than convinces and also show's subtle touches as the film develops of his darker side that make his transformation near the end of the film that more believable. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes, while Holmes was fine, Gyllenhall has more dramatic experience to carry the role and developments to the character during the films duration, in all fairness both actresses are dealing with a Nolan weakness, an obvious ability to write strong female roles. Though it is The Joker that this film will rightly be remembered for, having only had Caesar Romero from the camp 60's version and Jack Nicholson's reading from Tim Burton's 1989 film as visual references. When Nolan cast Australian Heath Ledger in the role of arguably the caped crusader most infamous adversary questions were asked, why cast someone with no previous history of this type of role, the actor from A Knight's Tale, Brokeback Mountain? Nolan though obviously saw something in Ledger's audition that convinced him he'd found his man. I guess it's understandable we are talking about one of the most famous villains of all time, though some were likely to trust Nolan's choice I'm not sure anyone was prepared for the transformation that Ledger underwent to give us his Joker. Nolan remarked the film storyline is not about The Joker it's Dent's arc but to quote him, "He's like the shark in Jaws," Nolan explains. "The Joker cuts through the film, he's incredibly important, but he's not a guy with a backstory. He's a wild card."
Very rarely has a screen villain been so spectacularly memorable, while Nicholson's take always seemed to me like Jack in make up just extension of himself, even taking this into account Ledger simply leaves Jack's Joker looking ridiculously dated and redundant. Perfectly suited to Nolan's sprawling crime epic, Ledger from the moment he appears dominates the screen, the now famous disappearing pencil trick has not diminished on subsequent viewings, the huge gulf between his agent of chaos and the gangsters in suits, no real goal to his escapades just literally as Michael Caine's Alfred puts it "some men just want to watch the world burn" The unfortunate accidental death of Ledger at the beginning of 2008 a matter months before the release of the film leaves a tragic side note although it undoubtedly significantly contributed to the incredible box office the film reaped on release, grossing over a billion dollars globally, the obvious curiosity at his final completed performance and word of mouth leading towards it's financial haul. Ledger then went on posthumously to win the Academy award for best supporting actor at the 2009 Oscars, it's questionable whether Ledger would have been awarded had he lived although personally I'd like to think he would have, just because this a commercial Hollywood product why should his efforts be any less than someone in a smaller more Oscar friendly film?
In a way it does seem a bit unfortunate that Ledger will be the everlasting impression that most people will take not only from The Dark Knight but from the franchise full stop, as the film is littered with some outstanding performances, just nowhere as colourful but just as essential to the telling the story. Gary Oldman returns as this time Lieutenant Gordon and his rewarded with far more fleshed out character , now well and truly Batman's ally and conduit to Gotham P.D, not shackled with the clunky dialogue his character had a tendency to be in the first film, here getting to flex his dramatic talent as well as being involved in the thick of the action, Oldman equipping himself admirably and truly stamping his personality on the role. Both Wayne's surrogate father's return first Caine's Alfred delivering warmth and humour once again and Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox equipping Bruce with more wonderful toys using is rye sense of humour to lighten the mood.
Bale having had Begins to himself with a roster of supporting roles and no one to steal the spotlight, it's not that he's any less effective than he was first time round but he tends to get upstaged by Ledger's literal force of nature, which is a shame as Bale enters even more into the dark psyche of Bruce Wayne, wanting to give up his dual nature and live happily but being compromised by his duty to Gotham. Once again juggles three roles and is simply magnificent, Joker may well be the colour and thrill but it;'s Bale's soulful reading that drives the film along. It's not all doom and gloom he shares some amusing moments with both Alfred and Lucius during the film dispelling the comments that it's miserable film by some of it's detractors. Those wanting a more comic book style may well prefer it's predecessor but Nolan's decision to give us something completely different than what went before is admirable and clearly marks it out as one of the most impressive sequels of all time. Both Nolan, David. S. Goyer and Nolan's brother Jonathan (Jonah) providing a deeper more ambitious script, it's not free of clunkers but it's better than anything in this genre had any right to be, an emotional heightening rarely seen in blockbuster film making, he makes you care about the characters and feel the pain.
Nolan once again doesn't hide is appreciation for Bond, most notably in the in the Hong Kong segment when Wayne travels there to track down a dodgy industrialist aligned with Gotham's underworld evading capture, outside of Gordon's and Dent's jurisdiction but obviously not Batman's. The sequence see's Batman utilising a device used by the C.I.A in the 60's according to Fox called sky hook, this is straight out of Thunderball, also witness the knife shoot out from The Jokers shoe in another moment, clearly a homage to From Russia With Love's Rosa Klebb. As well as the incredible open sequence we also get a thrilling highway chase, where we see Batman's new mode of transportation making it's debut and culminating in an ambitious sequence showing a huge goods truck literally flipped upside down. Bond SFX guru Chris Corbould here again upping his game from his impressive show pieces from Begins. Nolan and DP Pfister also deliver some striking scenes witness the joker hanging out the police car after escaping capture, minus any score just a slow ambient hum, nothing like anything seen in a blockbuster before, also the sequence with Ledger's Joker dressed as a nurse walking away from Gotham general, imbued with a dark humour, a truly memorable moment visually enhanced in one Heath's stand out moments of the film. Like previously in 2005 film Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are on scoring duties again, both wisely opting to enrich the material by evolving their previous score, rather than provide a memorable and more melodic accompaniment.
If the film has any problems the last segment and the Joker's final epic scheme which truly test the population of Gotham might not ring true or it also has led to some to cry the film is making a political statement, after this we also get Batman's final moments with his nemesis made possible with a rather far fetched piece of technology. Many going in with expectations of Dent's transformation being a set up with the final chapter of the trilogy are likely to be frustrated, this is not Nolan's intention he first and foremost is telling Bruce Wayne's story and the rest is their to enrich this not overwhelm it, he uses this as more of a tragic consequence of the Joker's actions and the fact nothing can be the same after this No this is not the greatest film of all time like some ridiculous claims were bandied around at it's release and Spielberg's Jaws and Raider's of the Lost Ark remain the watermarks of the blockbusters full stop but this is without doubt one the best big budget film in the last two decades. It leaves Nolan with a daunting task of completing his trilogy, in fact as far as blockbuster film making is concerned anyone attempting such a large scale production the bar has been set considerably.
* * * * *
Hoping to relinquish the cape and cowl for good, Batman (Christian Bale) puts his faith in new crusading District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) but his plans are put on hold when painted faced terrorist plainly know as The Joker (Heath Ledger) starts to wreak havoc. Initially aligning himself with the Gotham underworld offering them a chance to rid the city of Batman, he becomes to realise that he's much more amused having Batman around and also forcing The Dark Knight to question all he believes in.
After ending 2005's Batman Begins with a little teaser of what was to come (although initially according to Nolan not planning a sequel) . With Nolan openly admitting he screened Bladerunner to his cast and crew of Begins and exclaimed this is the film he wanted to make. This time round as his blueprint Nolan would reference Michael Mann's 1995 sweeping crime epic Heat, while Nolan's sequel falls short of Mann's masterpiece, it moves the genre into areas never contemplated by other directors. However impressive it's predecessor had seemed in 2005 the comic booksy like storyline seemed somewhat awkward with Nolan's style, This is not to say that TDK is not fantastical and far fetched it's just grounded in a more real world, Nolan opting to use Chicago as his backdrop for Gotham. No more is Mann's influence more recognisable than in the ambitiously staged bank heist that opens the film and also in one of the most memorable moments in recent cinema history introduces the films villain The Joker (Ledger), heightened that more with being entirely shot in IMAX, at least a half hour is lensed in the format and trusty regular cinematography Wally Pfister excels himself creating a truly tense and utterly thrilling opening to the film that visually the rest of the picture would strive to match.
Having shown his abilities for casting , once again Nolan shows no dropping of the ball with his new additions to this world, Eckhart's charismatic DA more than convinces and also show's subtle touches as the film develops of his darker side that make his transformation near the end of the film that more believable. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes, while Holmes was fine, Gyllenhall has more dramatic experience to carry the role and developments to the character during the films duration, in all fairness both actresses are dealing with a Nolan weakness, an obvious ability to write strong female roles. Though it is The Joker that this film will rightly be remembered for, having only had Caesar Romero from the camp 60's version and Jack Nicholson's reading from Tim Burton's 1989 film as visual references. When Nolan cast Australian Heath Ledger in the role of arguably the caped crusader most infamous adversary questions were asked, why cast someone with no previous history of this type of role, the actor from A Knight's Tale, Brokeback Mountain? Nolan though obviously saw something in Ledger's audition that convinced him he'd found his man. I guess it's understandable we are talking about one of the most famous villains of all time, though some were likely to trust Nolan's choice I'm not sure anyone was prepared for the transformation that Ledger underwent to give us his Joker. Nolan remarked the film storyline is not about The Joker it's Dent's arc but to quote him, "He's like the shark in Jaws," Nolan explains. "The Joker cuts through the film, he's incredibly important, but he's not a guy with a backstory. He's a wild card."
Very rarely has a screen villain been so spectacularly memorable, while Nicholson's take always seemed to me like Jack in make up just extension of himself, even taking this into account Ledger simply leaves Jack's Joker looking ridiculously dated and redundant. Perfectly suited to Nolan's sprawling crime epic, Ledger from the moment he appears dominates the screen, the now famous disappearing pencil trick has not diminished on subsequent viewings, the huge gulf between his agent of chaos and the gangsters in suits, no real goal to his escapades just literally as Michael Caine's Alfred puts it "some men just want to watch the world burn" The unfortunate accidental death of Ledger at the beginning of 2008 a matter months before the release of the film leaves a tragic side note although it undoubtedly significantly contributed to the incredible box office the film reaped on release, grossing over a billion dollars globally, the obvious curiosity at his final completed performance and word of mouth leading towards it's financial haul. Ledger then went on posthumously to win the Academy award for best supporting actor at the 2009 Oscars, it's questionable whether Ledger would have been awarded had he lived although personally I'd like to think he would have, just because this a commercial Hollywood product why should his efforts be any less than someone in a smaller more Oscar friendly film?
In a way it does seem a bit unfortunate that Ledger will be the everlasting impression that most people will take not only from The Dark Knight but from the franchise full stop, as the film is littered with some outstanding performances, just nowhere as colourful but just as essential to the telling the story. Gary Oldman returns as this time Lieutenant Gordon and his rewarded with far more fleshed out character , now well and truly Batman's ally and conduit to Gotham P.D, not shackled with the clunky dialogue his character had a tendency to be in the first film, here getting to flex his dramatic talent as well as being involved in the thick of the action, Oldman equipping himself admirably and truly stamping his personality on the role. Both Wayne's surrogate father's return first Caine's Alfred delivering warmth and humour once again and Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox equipping Bruce with more wonderful toys using is rye sense of humour to lighten the mood.
Bale having had Begins to himself with a roster of supporting roles and no one to steal the spotlight, it's not that he's any less effective than he was first time round but he tends to get upstaged by Ledger's literal force of nature, which is a shame as Bale enters even more into the dark psyche of Bruce Wayne, wanting to give up his dual nature and live happily but being compromised by his duty to Gotham. Once again juggles three roles and is simply magnificent, Joker may well be the colour and thrill but it;'s Bale's soulful reading that drives the film along. It's not all doom and gloom he shares some amusing moments with both Alfred and Lucius during the film dispelling the comments that it's miserable film by some of it's detractors. Those wanting a more comic book style may well prefer it's predecessor but Nolan's decision to give us something completely different than what went before is admirable and clearly marks it out as one of the most impressive sequels of all time. Both Nolan, David. S. Goyer and Nolan's brother Jonathan (Jonah) providing a deeper more ambitious script, it's not free of clunkers but it's better than anything in this genre had any right to be, an emotional heightening rarely seen in blockbuster film making, he makes you care about the characters and feel the pain.
Nolan once again doesn't hide is appreciation for Bond, most notably in the in the Hong Kong segment when Wayne travels there to track down a dodgy industrialist aligned with Gotham's underworld evading capture, outside of Gordon's and Dent's jurisdiction but obviously not Batman's. The sequence see's Batman utilising a device used by the C.I.A in the 60's according to Fox called sky hook, this is straight out of Thunderball, also witness the knife shoot out from The Jokers shoe in another moment, clearly a homage to From Russia With Love's Rosa Klebb. As well as the incredible open sequence we also get a thrilling highway chase, where we see Batman's new mode of transportation making it's debut and culminating in an ambitious sequence showing a huge goods truck literally flipped upside down. Bond SFX guru Chris Corbould here again upping his game from his impressive show pieces from Begins. Nolan and DP Pfister also deliver some striking scenes witness the joker hanging out the police car after escaping capture, minus any score just a slow ambient hum, nothing like anything seen in a blockbuster before, also the sequence with Ledger's Joker dressed as a nurse walking away from Gotham general, imbued with a dark humour, a truly memorable moment visually enhanced in one Heath's stand out moments of the film. Like previously in 2005 film Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are on scoring duties again, both wisely opting to enrich the material by evolving their previous score, rather than provide a memorable and more melodic accompaniment.
If the film has any problems the last segment and the Joker's final epic scheme which truly test the population of Gotham might not ring true or it also has led to some to cry the film is making a political statement, after this we also get Batman's final moments with his nemesis made possible with a rather far fetched piece of technology. Many going in with expectations of Dent's transformation being a set up with the final chapter of the trilogy are likely to be frustrated, this is not Nolan's intention he first and foremost is telling Bruce Wayne's story and the rest is their to enrich this not overwhelm it, he uses this as more of a tragic consequence of the Joker's actions and the fact nothing can be the same after this No this is not the greatest film of all time like some ridiculous claims were bandied around at it's release and Spielberg's Jaws and Raider's of the Lost Ark remain the watermarks of the blockbusters full stop but this is without doubt one the best big budget film in the last two decades. It leaves Nolan with a daunting task of completing his trilogy, in fact as far as blockbuster film making is concerned anyone attempting such a large scale production the bar has been set considerably.
* * * * *
