10 things that make Dark Knight the best Batman ever.

I saw Dark Knight last night. On an IMAX screen. If it's at all practical for you that's the way to see it It rocks. Hard. If you haven’t seen the movie yet I would urge you (a) to do so and (b) to bookmark this post and read it later, because it’s impossible for me to write this list without revealing certain plot points that you might prefer not to know about in advance. The list below the cut will outline my reasons for believing that The Dark Knight is not just the best Batman movie to date but is also is the best representation of The Batman in any medium.

1: The scale of the thing
The vertiginous aerial shots of Gotham and Hong Kong, the two Gotham ferries, the destruction of Gotham General Hospital: Some of these are undoubtedly created, or at least enhanced, using the magic of computers but in this movie Gotham comes across not like Anton Furst’s impressionistic, evocative but ultimately unrealistic sets for the 1989 Batman movie nor like Bill Finger’s original cartoonish vision of the parallel-universe Manhattan but as a real place where really bad things can and do happen.

2: The Alex Ross ‘scars’ moment
Most current comics enthusiasts acknowledge Alex Ross as a master of the medium, and his depiction of Batman as more or less the definitive take on the Caped Crusader’s look. When Christan Bale changes his shirt after another hard night of crimefighting there is a momentary, but definite hint of one of the most famous Ross images of the battlescarred syperhero. It’s a reminder that unlike, say, Superman this is a man who suffers real pain, and real harm, in his quest for justice. And it’s a nod to comic book nerds everywhere. Which is great.

3: The Michael Keaton gag
When Bruce discusses redesigning the cowl so that he can finally turn his head, we all know who he’s taking a poke at. And it ain’t Adam West. The costume is finally turning into something that someone might actually wear. And throughout the Bat’s 69-year history, that’s a first.

4: The Joker’s “origin”
The Joker is a nihilistic sociopathic force of nature, which is why the well-intentioned Red Hood origin story (so memorably reprised in Alan Moore’s Killing Joke book) or (heaven forfend) the ridiculous conflation of Jack Napier and Joe Chill in Tim Burton’s Eighties Batman, is not only unnecessary but an active disadvantage. The Joker in Dark Knight propounds a new origin every time he mentions his past. All of them, and none of them, are equally true. You’re left unsure of who he is and what he is. That’s his power.

5: The Gotham Knight DVD.
One of the problems with depicting Batman in a more ‘realistic’ setting is that many of his Rogues’ Gallery are kind of ridiculous. The problem is that these ridiculous adversaries help make Batman what he is. The Gotham Knight DVD, which fits ‘between’ Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in the Chris Nolan continuity circumvents the issue by putting the Batman of the Dark Knight up against larger-than-life adversaries like Killer Croc and Deadshot but, by dint of being animated, suspends disbelief from a slightly stronger wire than a live-action movie would permit. You haven’t seen Gotham Knight? You should.

6: The ‘Q’ moment with Lucius Fox
In an evident riff on the James Bond and Q chemistry, Fox shows Bruce how the flechettes in his gauntlets work. Apart from giving us a welcome chuckle, it’s a demonstration that everything on the new Batsuit has a function.

The 1939 Batman outfit has numerous decorative frills that serve no practical purpose, and don’t particularly help Batman look like a bat. Would a real masked avenger leap around the deadly night streets of Gotham looking so fruity unless there was a practical reason for it? Yes, he’s driven, even obsessesed, but he’s not a frivolous fellow.

7: Batgirl
There’s been a lot of talk about the possibility of Robin being introduced as a character in the next Batman movie. Rightly, a number of people have suggested that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to bring a brightly-coloured crimefighting orphan acrobat into the Nolanverse.

Batgirl’s origin though is as an unauthorised Batman copycat – a little like those inept costumed vigilantes we see early on in the film. It would be easy to bring Batgirl in next time around without ‘breaking’ Nolan’s more grounded take on the Bat legend. And who do we encounter when we first see Jim Gordon’s home? Young Babs Gordon. We never quite see her face though. I can’t help wondering whether that might be deliberate…

8: Batman the outlaw
Early on in the movie Batman is close to being accepted by Gotham. That’s not what he wants, and it’s not what we want. He wants to be unnecessary, we want him not to be the daylight walking officially deputised Special Constable of the Adam West years. He becomes an outlaw again at the end of the movie in a way that perpetuates his outsider status while demonstrating the selfless nature of true heroism. And that’s Batman.

9: The White Eyes
The Batman of the comics has almost always had blank white eyes. For one thing, they’re easy to draw and for another if you allow regular eyeholes there’s always a suggestion of the outfit having been worn as a sort of joke. Take a look at The Flash if you don’t know what I mean. The white eyes give the comic book Batman an inscrutable menace.

Ever since the Burton years though, moviemakers have opted for a combination of eyeholes and Dusty Springfield make up in a sort of approximation of the Alex Ross ‘integrated eyelids and mask’ concept. It sort of works, but it makes no sense. Are there loads of Wet-wipes in the utility belt? At last, in Dark Knight, we get white-eyed Batman. And, crucially, for a good reason.

10: Heath Ledger
At his most terrifying when at bay in a police cell. The Joker of the Dark Knight is the first Joker we’ve seen that isn’t kind of funny. When he belabours Batman with an iron bar he evokes a physical menace that Jack Nicholson’s  camp clown or Cesar Romero’s  moustachioed buffoon never could. This is the Joker that offed Jason Todd.

When, at the end of the movie, he suggests that he and the Batman will be clashing again and again over the years it’s more than a fan-friendly evocation of The Killing Joke, it’s a deadly promise. And, because of Ledger’s premature death it’s a promise that’s destined to be unfulfilled. It’s hard to imagine any actor ever daring to play the Joker again after this unsurpassable unrepeatable performance, and when you realise that it’s like a dagger to the heart. Which is just what The Joker would have wanted.

Comments

[Movie_Man]

So, by all reasonable accounts, this movie sucks, stars a gay Batman who can't act, has no plot, and is 3 hours too long. Holy Box-Office Disaster, Batman!! 8O

[Bryan]

I don't know if that comment is serious, but he has it completely wrong.

[David Campbell]

You speak the truth, my friend. The white eyes thing in particular had me squealing with glee. Well, not literally squealing - that would have been rude to the other people in the theater - but I was squealing on the inside.

[ian payne]

Adam West rules OK !!!!

[David]

Lets not get carried away here, yes this is the best batman movie, but so was Tim Burton's at the time, and Jack Nicholson's performance was also the best joker etc.... FOR THE TIME, dont dismiss though other versions, its insulting to everyone involved in them who made them tv/movies that are still shown and liked. those fitted their time perfectly as does this one, and yes heath was great but look we respected the performances of Cesar and Jack, what this suggests to me is that as a character the Joker really brings out the best in actors.

i sound old dont i,lol

[reggie]

I do think that Robin will appear in the third film... but I think we have already met him in the first.

Remember the boy in the slums to whom Batman gives his gadget? Later he wanders lost during the slums riot (his parents presumably dead) but is rescued by Rachel Dawes and Batman, and arguably hears Batman reveal his identity to Rachel.

I have a feeling we will find him, by the third film, in a new Gotham Orphanage, no doubt financed by Bruce Wayne.

And as far as little Barbara Gordon's face covered in Dark Knight -- I think you were right to be suspicious -- I bet they didn't want to limit their future casting choices by showing her face.

[Matt the hat]

Tim Burtons Batman was laughable, it had everything to do with Tim Burton and nothing to do with Batman at all. It's amazing to me that people think it is good.

[ChrisT]

May well be the best as in closest to the source material, but as David said, some of the earlier films had plenty going for them.

Kim Morgan on MSN has an interesting run through of the various prior versions...

http://moviesfilter.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!82ABAB9A2E2856FD!5313.entry

Just wondering if Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhahl's character) is really dead since we saw the explosion BEHIND her but not really any shot of her death. Probably just wishful thinking, as half of the" Soprano's" audience kept hoping Adriana was not dead since we never saw the bullets hit her.....But Batman is comic-book stuff, so the producers could get away with it.

[Sonny]

There was always the insane menace unspoken in the Joker's doings from the very beginning in the comics of old. The FACT that Heath captures this in his performance is a credit to his intelligence. To do something irregardless of the consequences to yourself or others is what the Joker is all about. A true opposite of the Batman. This Batman is because of Heath's performance the epitome of what the Batman is and should be.

[theguy99]

Hyperbole. People (especially 'Fanboys') throw it around quite a bit nowadays. How many times have I heard "This is the best thing ever!" in the last year or so. Last month it was Iron Man. This month it's Bats. Next month it'll be Weasel Woman. Blah, blah, blah...

It's kind of worrying that people have such short memories and attention spans.

What should be said is "This is the Batman ever right now!". Because perhaps twenty years from now the general consensus will be the Nolan's hyper realistic version sucks. Who knows.

And not that I'm into juvenile fanboy arguments..BUT... Ledger!Joker may have killed Jason Todd, but Hamill!Joker did something much, much worse to Tim Drake.

Watch Batman Beyond:Return of the Joker (Director's Cut), and then tell me with a straight face that Ledger's version is the best film version ever...

Heh!Liar!

[Smithy_Man]

All of us can agree that this is the best Batman to date. It so wonderfully continues from Batman Begins and easily could lead into another movie. But as for Robin or Batgirl being introduced... I highly doubt that. Christopher Nolan's style doesn't feel like he would have kids running around in such a powerful, serious story.

[Samuel Luckhurst]

The Dark Knight was a tour de force, the Batman v Joker set-up was a clash of the titans, two extraordinary actors giving definitive performances of pop icons, supported by a noirish direction and spot on acting from the rest of the cast.
Robin will not appear in the third film. It's a certainty. Nolan doesn't like the idea, Bale doesn't and fanboys like yours truly don't either. It will be a few years and a new director and star until Robin is reintroduced after Chris O'Donnel's young-dumb-and-full-of-come character assassination in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

[Si Ly]

The Dark Knight is fantastic because somehow it exceeded expectations. Remember the build up to The Matrix Sequels and the Spiderman3. But it is exactly this that makes me think Nolan won't do another one. There maybe talks on the web but I've heard nothing from the man himself. He threw the kitchen sink at this and I don't believe there are any villains that would interest him especially after the death of the brilliant Harvey Dent. Only the Riddler comes to mind and superhero films are only as strong as their villains. Just watch Hancock for proof.

[Sir Simon Derek Chesterhampton]

Well, I like him because he is the first GAY Batman, and I don't care if America doesn't get it or have it to get or see the movie or whatever. This time America plays by OUR rules. Rule, Britannia.

[reallyoldman]

The IMAX added a lot of value to the cityscapes and the flying scenes.

I have always loved the Dark Knight books, and I enjoyed the fantastic performances.

But the moral of the story seemed to be: You don't have to understand why terrorists are bad. To protect yourself, you just have to tap everyone's phones and lie to the public.

It seemed a little blatant to me in the context of world events. I though Hollywood was supposed to be liberal.

[Billy Hopkinson]

Christian Bale recently stated that he would NOT appear in any Batman film alongside a Robin character. I hope that if a third film is made (and according to Michael Caine and Christopher Nolan that is in some doubt) he sticks to his guns.

[Corey]

Another thing that makes this movie the best is the fact that we see the Scarecrow in the beginning. Batman is always in constant battle with his notorious villians.
Through this unfortunately left the end of this movie extreamly depressing because again we dont see him kill hte Joker, making it possible for him to come back again.
It is this fact that annoyed me when they killed Dent. Two-Face was constantly after Batman for what he did to his life.

[C-Y-M]

I would like to take this moment to laugh at the idiotic first comment made by MOVIE_MAN...TDK is number 1 in the Box Office still...Its also getting alot of great reviews...And it could sink Titanic domestically if it keeps it momentum...You obviously arent into Movies at all if you completely hate this and say retarded remarks like "Christian Bale cant act". I'd respect your opinion if you actually had an arguement but you dont...Go watch Mamma Mia and Mummy, Numbnuts

[Worm Warts]

1939 Batman? With Joker in a Red Hood Costume from an origin story that he was given a lot later in the Comics?
But a nicely done fake nevertheless...