And so we move on to The Dark Knight. Today’s film is rather special not only for the Batman character in comic book films but dare I say, in films period. Batman Begins was a critical and financial success, praised as the cinematic revival that the Batman character needed. And at the very end of the film we were treated to a teaser of things to come, leading to people worldwide having some pretty high expectations for the inevitable sequel. Let us delay no longer, this is Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight!
Introduction & Pre-Production
Now, following the critical and financial success of 2005’s Batman Begins Warner Brothers was very much interested in developing a sequel. The film’s director and co-writer was initially unsure whether he wanted to be involved as he wasn’t confident about making a worthy follow up to Begins. Nolan at this point in his career had never developed a sequel to one of his films. He had established himself by creating critically acclaimed standalone films.
However, Nolan and Batman Begins’ co-writer David S. Goyer began giving an honest thought towards what a potential sequel might entail. So, despite the final shot of Batman Begins teasing a potential sequel featuring the Joker, no sequel had actually been immediately planned. When discussing the idea of a sequel Nolan and Goyer became intrigued by what they could do with the Joker in the more realistically based setting that Batman Begins introduced to us.
Negotiations with Warner Bros. concluded in 2006 shortly after the release of the previous film. And formal development of The Dark Knight began after the completion of Nolan’s 2006 film The Prestige. Goyer and Nolan returned to write the sequel with the addition of Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan would go on to become a driving creative force for long-running science fiction series in Person of Interest as well as Westworld. He also co-wrote Prestige with his brother Christopher and would return to co-write 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.
The Dark Knight was produced by Emma Thomas and Charles Roven. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard returned to compose the score, and the film once again had an ensemble cast of both new and returning actors. The likes of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman reprised their roles, whilst we had new faces in Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, as well as the late great Heath Ledger.
Synopsis & Writing
Years had passed, showing us a much different view of Gotham City. Crime is still prevalent but Batman, as the symbol of hope and fear, gives pause to those in organized crime just knowing he is out there. Not only is Gotham being protected from the shadows but also in the light as new District Attorney Harvey Dent is putting pressure on Gotham’s criminal underbelly. With these protectors vigilantly standing watch it should have marked a new era for Gotham city. Unfortunately, the entire city is thrown into chaos with the arrival of the Joker who threatens to not only return Gotham to its corrupt roots but drown the city in chaos as well.
Many DC comics fans likely had high expectations for this film solely due to the involvement of Batman’s most famous antagonist. Portraying the Joker in a more grounded setting promises something to behold. Nolan had gone on record about liking Burton’s 1989 film, but he did take issue with Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker, not finding him scary at all. Nolan and Goyer wanted to create an unnerving rendition of the character. When writing this film they specifically chose not to include an origin story for the Joker, as they wanted him to come across as a total unknown. He is unpredictable and unhinged with Heath Ledger using method acting to get into character and deliver the performance of his lifetime. To this day his portrayal remains the best version of the Joker ever put to live action.
It’s also impossible to talk about this movie without talking about Harvey Dent. Nolan and Goyer had contemplated including him in Batman Begins but ultimately decided against it as they felt they couldn’t do him justice on top of the narrative Begins was telling. This was the right move as Harvey’s transformation into Two-Face here puts any other big screen interpretations to shame. Harvey is as integral to this film as Batman and the Joker are, and his descent into madness is as equally captivating as it is heart wrenching.
The Dark Knight is written in a way that continues the themes of the previous film whilst introducing new ones. A key theme of these first two films is escalation. In Begins Bruce escalated his means of combatting crime in the face of overwhelming corruption by becoming Batman. The existence of Batman in turn causes the criminals of Gotham to escalate by turning to the Joker to get rid of him, which in turn sees an escalation in dealing with the Joker. It’s a seemingly never ending cycle.
A key aspect of the film’s emotional journey for Batman is his hopes of finding someone who can take up the mantle of Gotham’s defender as he has no desire to do this forever. At first glance, Harvey seems to be a physical representation of that hope, yet that hope falls into darkness alongside Harvey thanks to the Joker. That loss of hope parlays into the main themes of the film and sets up where Bruce’s arc starts in the sequel to this film, The Dark Knight Rises. This film was written more as a character study and less as a comic book film. And that is partly why this film is highly regarded not only by DC fans, but by general moviegoers as well. The writing of this film appeals to more than just comic fan; its writing is strong enough to stand on its own merits.
Presentation & Score
Much like the previous film, The Dark Knight is filled with strong performances. The one that probably surprised the audience most was Ledger as the Joker. There was public backlash after announcing Ledger would play the crown prince of crime, but Nolan and the casting directors had the utmost confidence in Ledger’s ability to portray the character. Ledger spent over a month in seclusion researching the history of the character and an additional four months getting into character. Ledger’s performance is one-of-a-kind and has yet to be topped in live action interpretations of the character.
When it came to casting Harvey Dent, Eckhart was not Nolan’s first choice. Among actors considered for the role were Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo, before they ultimately found Eckhart to be the most natural in his portrayal of the character. Eckhart and Nolan discussed that it would be best to completely ignore Tommy Lee Jones’ take on Two-Face in favor of something more grounded. Harvey is meant to convey a heroic presence, a good man pushed too far. Eckhart’s performance took inspiration from Robert F. Kennedy who also fought crime with a sense of idealism.
Similar compliments extend to the rest of the cast, who deliver their performances with the nuance and depth one wouldn’t expect in a comic book film. The Dark Knight also gave us many lines that have gone on to become iconic, not only for Batman lore but also for internet culture overall. The score was once again helmed by Howard and Zimmer who delivered phenomenal work. The main theme of the film has become an integral part of the film’s identity. The pair composed an entirely new score for The Dark Knight, taking care to create different motifs and themes for Batman, Harvey, and the Joker with each theme taking a different approach in composition. Zimmer actually considered altering the musical theme for the Joker following Ledger’s death, but ultimately the sound team decided to leave it as is in honor Ledger’s performance.
Filming for The Dark Knight took place on location primarily in Chicago, England, and Hong Kong. The opening scene of the film involving the bank heist was actually filmed in the Old Chicago Main Post Office. True to Nolan’s preferences, the film primarily makes use of practical effects. There is a scene in the climax in which two ferries sail out of Gotham Bay, which was filmed at lake Michigan. Production scouts spent over a month looking for vessels that fit what Nolan and his team were looking for. Not finding any, they instead had ferry facades built atop navel barges. The scene itself was filmed in a single day and made use of 800 extras.
Another really cool detail is that there is a new bat suit being used in this film. However, the first scene in The Dark Knight to feature Batman has him in his suit from Batman Begins. Narratively, the suit gets damaged in this scene, which then provides an explanation for why Bruce upgraded his suit. This isn’t an essential detail, but it is such a nice attention to detail that it helped my immersion into the film.
The Dark Knight saw release in July of 2008, and was developed on a production budget of $185 million. The film ended up grossing $1.06 billion during its theatrical run, to say nothing of what the film made off of its home video releases. It was the highest grossing film of 2008 worldwide, as well as the first comic book movie to gross over $1 billion as well as the fourth highest grossing film of the era, falling only behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Titanic. The film also received glowing critical praise citing it as one of Batman’s best films and often hailed as one of the best comic book movies ever made.
Conclusion
In many ways The Dark Knight was a cinematic benchmark not only for Batman films but also comic book films, period. After the likes of Batman & Robin and many other subpar films, comic book movies were largely seen as a joke and not true cinematic art. Batman Begins received praise for dispelling those claims. But films such as The Dark Knight and Iron Man proved that comic book movies could say something of substance and became largely responsible for the resurgence of comic book films in public perception. The Dark Knight is an exceptional film and I recommend it to fans of the Batman mythos, but also to anyone who enjoys a character driven, psychological thrill ride!
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