The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight was a defining moment in Christopher Nolan’s career. What I admire in Nolan is that he seems to find the perfect balance between thrilling blockbuster and a rich and full story, The Dark Knight is one of the best examples of this. The overall direction and writing of this film makes Batman, who, before these movies was still the campy 60s Batman to a lot of the public, the dark and gritty character we’re so used to today. Batman, as a character, is absolutely timeless, and Nolan recognizes this, making the topics in his movies timeless as well. We have all felt chaos in our lives, and the Joker is a great representation of that, which, compared to Christian Bale’s Batman symbolic as a man focused on justice, is an excellent contrast. While Christian Bale is fine as Batman, I did prefer his performance in Batman Begins. The performance that really makes this movie work is obviously Heath Ledger as the Joker. The way he manages to capture that character in such a menacing way is admirable. It’s a shame that he won’t be able to play the Joker again, because the simply way that he spoke is immediately recognizable. My biggest complaint would be the look of the film. I understand what Nolan was going for, but aesthetically, a lot of this film was extremely dark. It would have been nice to see Batman against a grey sky at some point. I also found that the two-face story line was extremely rushed, and should have been fleshed out in its own movie, as the character is great. I just feel like it was an underused plot-line, the character should have been set up as two face near the end. That way, the Joker would still have an effect on the story, and the story would have been more fluid. I know a few people who prefer Batman Begins, saying that the story is a lot less forgettable, yet, while parts of this story are forgettable, the characters are much more fleshed out and the story is much more compelling. This movie marked a significant change in