[331], Before The Dark Knight, superhero films closely emulated their comic-book source material, and though the genre had seen significant successes such as Superman (1978), Batman (1989), X-Men (2000), and Spider-Man (2002), they were often considered disposable entertainment that did not garner much industry respect. Christian Bale | Nolans The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2010) The plot follows the vigilante Batman, police lieutenant James Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent, who form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City. The Blu-ray disc version additionally offers interactive elements describing the production of some scenes. In writing the screenplay, the Nolans were influenced by 1980s Batman comics and crime drama films, and sought to continue Batman Begins' heightened sense of realism. [f], With Christopher's help, his brother Jonathan spent six months developing the story into a draft screenplay. Ledger's appearance in the prologue was well-received and positively changed the discourse around his casting. The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2020. The dialogue Johnathan considered most important, "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain", came late in development. Anthony Ruivivar: The "Southland" star is the latest actor to voice Batman in the newest animated series, "Beware the Batman," which began airing on Cartoon [41] Influenced by films such as The Godfather (1972) and Heat (1995), and maintaining Batman Begins's tone, their finished script bore more resemblance to a crime drama than a traditional superhero film. His testimony enables Dent to apprehend the crime families. [100][101] During filming, Christopher added a set-piece of a SWAT van crashing through a concrete barricade. The Dark Knight was the first major motion picture to be filmed with high-resolution IMAX cameras. [ay] Roger Ebert said the Joker forces impossible ethical decisions on each character to test the limits of their morality. [189][190] It retained the number-one position in its third ($42.7million) and fourth ($26.1million) weekends, before falling to second place in its fifth, with a gross of $16.4million, behind the debuting Tropic Thunder ($25.8million). The Bat Bunker was based on 1960s Chicago building designs, and was integrated into existing concrete floor, and used the 200-foot (61m) long, 8ft (2.4m) tall ceiling to create a broad perspective. Dent defers his decision-making to his half-scarred, two-headed coin, killing the corrupt officers and the mafia involved in Rachel's death. [32][34][35] Discussions between Warner Bros. Pictures and Christopher began shortly after Batman Begins's theatrical release, and development began following the production of Christopher's The Prestige (2006). Goyer developed an outline for two sequels, but Christopher remained unsure how to continue the Batman Begins narrative while keeping it consistent and relevant, though he was interested in utilizing the Joker in Begins's grounded, realistic style. Batman chooses to become a symbol of criminality by taking the blame for Dent's crimes and preserving him as a symbol of good, maintaining the hope of Gotham's residents. [bc] Its financial, critical, and cultural successes legitimized the genre with film studios at a time when recent films, such as Daredevil, Hulk (both 2003), Fantastic Four (2005), and Superman Returns (2006) had failed to meet expectations. Industry professionals considered the campaign innovative and successful. The response was seen as the culmination of several years of criticism toward the Academy ignoring high-performing, broadly popular films. [222][235][239] Reviews generally agreed the Joker was the best-written character, and that Ledger commanded scenes from the entire cast to create one of the most mesmerizing cinematic villains. Roger Ebert said it, alongside Iron Man, had redefined the potential of superhero films by combining comic-book tropes with real world events. At the end of the day, I couldn't move. [2][27] The Dark Knight features several cameo appearances, including Cillian Murphy, who reprises his role as Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow from Batman Begins;[28][29] musical performer Matt Skiba;[30] as well as United States Senator and life-long Batman fan Patrick Leahy, who has appeared in or voiced characters in other Batman media. And the only morality in a cruel world is chance. [bm] The "pencil trick" scene, in which Joker makes a pencil disappear by slamming a mobster's head on it, is considered an iconic scene and among the film's most famous. [az] Boscaljon wrote the residents and criminals believe in a form of order and rules that must be obeyed; the Joker deliberately upends this belief because he has no rules or limitations. 8. [117][118], After returning to England in the middle of September, scenes were filmed for the ferry, hospital, and Gotham Prewitt building interiors. & Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Bat-Manga! Gotham's mafia bosses gather to discuss protecting their organizations from the Joker, the police, and Batman. WebPortrayed by Christian Bale, this version of Batman is arguably explored more in-depth compared to that of the previous film series by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher, as the WebThe Dark Knight Rises With their appearances in this movie, Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, and Gary Oldman have each appeared in three Batman movies. [310][318] Eckhart described Dent as someone who loves the law but feels constrained by it and his inability to do what he believes is right because the rules he must follow do not allow it. Ben Affleck. The Dark Knight was marketed with an innovative interactive viral campaign that initially focused on countering criticism of Ledger's casting by those who believed he was a poor choice to portray the Joker. It is often said that history repeats itself, and so it did when Ben Almost 10 years later, Hardy's [119] By mid-October, interior and exterior scenes of Rachel being held hostage surrounded by barrels of gasoline were filmed at Battersea Power Station. You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time. [v] Christopher said editing the film became "tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day [during editing] but the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish". The GCPD headquarters was rebuilt in the Farmiloe Building. [81][99] In July, three weeks were spent filming the truck chase scene, mainly on Wacker Drive, a multi-level street that had to be closed overnight. [38][43] Dent was written as The Dark Knight's central character, serving as the center of the battle between Batman, who believes Dent is the hero the city needs, and the Joker, who wants to prove even the most righteous people can be corrupted. [311] According to professor Martin Fradley, among others, Batman's "noble lie" and Gordon's support of it is a cynical endorsement of deception and totalitarianism. The very first live-action version of the Dark Knight came in the 1943 film serial and he was portrayed by Lewis Wilson. In their desperation, Dent and Batman are forced to question their own limitations. Christopher wanted several Rottweiler dogs in the scene but locating a dog-handler willing to simultaneously manage several dogs was difficult. Analysts said its success would be influenced by the lengthy running time that limited the number of screenings per day, and counter-programming from the romantic comedy Mamma Mia!which surveyed well with womenand the family comedy Space Chimps. [315][316] This is exemplified in the covert alliance formed between Batman, Dent, and Gordon, leading to Rachel's death and Dent's corruption. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the only film expected to easily earn over $300million. Unprejudiced. [IS] is the Joker. [220][310] Batman represents order to the Joker's chaos and is brought to his own limit but avoids completely compromising himself. Believing Dent is the hero the city needs and the truth of his corruption will harm Gotham, Batman takes the blame for his death and actions and persuades Gordon to conceal the truth. [311], The film has been analyzed as an analog for the war on terror, the militaristic campaign the U.S. launched following the September 11 attacks. He has lent his voice to the Dark Knight in [285], The Dark Knight was released on DVD and Blu-ray in December 2008. [89], Principal photography began on April 18, 2007, in Chicago on a $185million budget. [150] Prosthetics supervisor Conor O'Sullivan created Joker's scars, which he partly based on a scarred delivery man he met, and used his own technique to create and apply the supple, skin-like prosthesis. [375] In 2020, Empire magazine named it third-best, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). ", "Critics Pick The Best And Worst Films Of 2008", "Dark Knight Honoured in AFI Best-of-year List", "Critics' Choice Movie Awards Winners (Archive)", "The 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards", "British Academy Film Television Award (BAFTA)", British Academy of Film and Television Arts, "Exactly 1 Year After Death, Ledger's Legacy Grows", "Heath Ledger Wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar", "Would Heath Ledger Win If He Were Alive? His coin is scarred on one side, introducing the risk of chance, and he submits himself to it completely. [32] Although Batman Begins ends with a scene in which Batman is presented with a joker playing card, teasing the introduction of his archenemy, the Joker, Christopher Nolan did not intend to make a sequel and was unsure Batman Begins would be successful enough to warrant one. [289] The Dark Knight sold 3million copies across both formats on its launch day in the U.S., Canada, and the UK; Blu-ray discs comprised about 25%30% of the salesaround 600,000 units. [390][391] In 2020, Time Out named it the seventy-second-best action movie ever made. [202][207], The film had grossed $997 million worldwide by January 2009. The Joker represents an ideological deviancy; he does not seek personal gain and causes chaos for its own sake, setting a towering pile of cash ablaze to prove "everything burns". [261][262][263] Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him only the second performer to win an award posthumously (after Peter Finch in 1977), and The Dark Knight the first comic book adaptation to win an Academy acting award. [101][112] A scene of Batman surveying the city from a rooftop edge was filmed atop Willis Tower, Chicago's tallest building. [51], Christopher was aware Nicholson's popular portrayal of the Joker would invite comparisons to his version, and wanted an actor who could cope with the associated scrutiny. [310][318] Although the Joker wears disguising makeup, he is not hiding behind a mask and is the same person with or without makeup. [ap] Eckhart's performance was generally well received; reviewers praised his portrayal of Dent as charismatic, and the character's subsequent transformation into a sad, bitter "monster", although Variety considered his subplot the film's weakest. [67] During discussions on the portrayal of Dent's transformation into Two-Face, Eckhart and Christopher agreed to ignore Tommy Lee Jones's "colorful" portrayal in Batman Forever (1995), in which the character has pink hair and wears a split designer suit, in favor of a more realistic, slightly burnt, neutral-toned suit. I couldn't talk. [at] Genre films such as those based on comic books were also generally ignored by Academy voters. [n] Ledger spent a further four months creating a "Joker diary" containing images and elements he believed would resonate with his character, such as finding the disease AIDS humorous. This led people to a website where they could submit their e-mail addresses to reveal a pixel of a concealed Joker image; about 97,000 e-mail addresses and 20 hours were required to reveal the image in full, which was well-received. But you were wrong. Who played Batman in Batman (1943)? When Dent ineffectually attempts to torture Joker's henchman, Batman does not condemn the act, only being concerned about public perception if people discover the truth. [359][360] In 2012, Total Film named it the sixth-most-accomplished film of the preceding fifteen years, and a 2020 article by Empire named The Dark Knight as one of the films that defined the previous three decades. The Batman: Everyone Who Played The Dark Knight On The Big Screen, Ranked. Their efforts are derailed by the Joker, an an [l] Christopher was confident in the casting because discussions between himself and Ledger had demonstrated they shared similar ideas regarding the Joker's portrayal. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and the second installment in The Dark Knight Trilogy. [339][340][341] U.S. President Barack Obama used Joker to explain the growth of Islamic State (IS) military group, saying " the gang leaders of Gotham are meeting they were thugs, but there was a kind of order the Joker comes in and lights the whole city on fire. [35][41] Jonathan found the "poignant" ending the script's most interesting aspect; it had always depicted Batman fleeing from police but was changed from him leaping across rooftops to escaping on the Batpod, his motorcycle-like vehicle. Actor Michael Keaton played the caped crusader [ax] A novelization written by Dennis O'Neil was released in 2008. [34], The first scene filmed was the bank heist, which was shot in the Old Chicago Main Post Office over five days. [311][314] Klavan's interpretation was criticized by some publications that considered The Dark Knight anti-war, proposing society must not abandon the rule of law to combat lawlessness or risk creating the conditions for escalation. They are able to be grounded or fantastic, able to be prestigious or pure blockbuster entertainment, to be dark and gritty or light, to be character-driven or action-packed, or any variation in-between. With the help of Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox, Batman finds Lau in Hong Kong and returns him to the custody of Gotham police. [bi] It is also considered among the best films of the 2000s,[bj] and in a 2010 poll of thirty-seven critics by Metacritic regarding the decade's top films, The Dark Knight received the eighth most mentions, appearing on 7 lists. The destruction of Wayne Manor in Batman Begins provided an opportunity to move Wayne to a modern, sparse penthouse, reflecting his loneliness. Warner Bros. By Damion Damaske / Feb. 10, 2023 9:40 am EST. [97] Pfister described it as a week of patience and learning because of the four-day wait for the IMAX footage to be processed. Christopher described Rachel as the emotional connection between Wayne and Dent, ultimately serving as a further personal loss to fuel Wayne's character. The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan. [35][77] Chicagoan authorities had been supportive during filming of Batman Begins, allowing the production to shut stretches of roads, freeways, and bridges. [34][152][153], Composers James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, who had also worked on Batman Begins, scored The Dark Knight because Christopher believed it was important to bridge the musical-narrative gap between the films. Rachel is killed in the explosion, while Dent's face is severely burned on one side. Like Huntress, Damian Wayne has a complicated history in the comics, dating back to 1987's Batman: Son of the Demon (Mike W. Barr, Jerry Bingham, and John [128], Editing was underway in January 2008 when Ledger, aged 28, died from an accidental overdose of a prescription drug. Talented in pickpocketing, she often help her friend in her operations as "the Cat". [bl] In 2017, The Hollywood Reporter named Ledger's Joker the second-best cinematic superhero performance ever, behind Hugh Jackman as Wolverine,[398] and Collider listed him as the greatest villain of the 21st century. Gyllenhaal collaborated with Christopher on the character's depiction because she wanted Rachel to be important and meaningful in her relatively minor role. [175][176][184], The Dark Knight broke more records, including for the highest-grossing opening week ($238.6million), and for three-, four-, five-, six-, seven-, eight-, nine-, and ten-day cumulative grosses, including the highest-grossing non-holiday Monday ($24.5million) and non-opening Tuesday ($20.9million, as well as the second-highest-grossing non-opening Wednesday ($18.4million), behind Transformers ($29.1million). [74], In October 2006, location scouting for Gotham City took place in the UK in Liverpool, Glasgow, London, and parts of Yorkshire, and in several cities in the U.S.[75][76] Christopher chose Chicago because he liked the area and believed it offered interesting architectural features without being as recognizable as locations in better-known cities such as New York City. [34][151] John Caglione Jr designed Joker's "organic" makeup to look as though it had been worn for days; this idea was partly based on more of Bacon's works. [p] Musician Dwight Yoakam turned down a role as the bank manager or a corrupt police officer because he was recording his album Dwight Sings Buck (2007). To avoid damaging the power station, a listed building, a false wall was built in front of it and lined with explosives. Bale likened the Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and the second installment in The Dark Knight Trilogy. The 160-foot (49m) tall hangar was unsuitable for suspending the bunker roof, and an encompassing gantry was built to hold it and the lighting. Kevin Conroy is an American actor and voice actor who has become synonymous with the character of Batman. [ba] In 2020, the United States Library of Congress selected The Dark Knight to be preserved in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Scouts spent over a month searching for suitable vessels but were unsuccessful, so construction coordinator Joe Ondrejko and his team built ferry facades atop barges. [r] Warner Bros. was reluctant to endorse the use of the technology because the cameras were large and unwieldy, and purchasing and processing the film stock cost up to four times as much as typical 35mm film. [91], The Dark Knight received critical acclaim. "[342] Joker's appearance became a popular Halloween costume and also influenced the 2009 Barack Obama "Joker" poster. [81][98], Filming took place in the lobby of One Illinois Center, which served as Wayne's penthouse apartment; bookcases were built to hide the elevators. Wayne Enterprises accountant Coleman Reese deduces Batman's identity and attempts to expose it, but the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital unless Reese is killed. Pennyworth burns an undelivered message to Wayne from Rachel, who said she chose Dent, and Fox destroys the invasive surveillance network that helped Batman find the Joker.