A masterpiece for everyone to enjoy

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2018)

I first saw the Dark knight when I was very young. At the time I loved the movie in all conceivable aspects: the drama, action, suspense and story telling. The movie was amazing for me when first viewing it at a young age. As I grew up I stated to have a passion for prolific filmmaking, and began to study and appreciate what these writers, producers, and directors were able to portray on screen. It also created a new light for me, to be able to glimpse at what I once saw as a 'good movie'. As we grow older and more intelligent, we can easily distinguish the bad from the good, in this case with movies. I recently rewatched a-lot of old childhood classic movies, and a-lot of them did not hold the test of time. They either felt formulaic and stale or boring 2 hour long fight scenes with giant robots fighting each-other. Don't misinterpret though - they were good at the time, just not in any way now. These movies would often sacrifice good storytelling, writing and dialogue just for the sake of money. most often it was the blockbusters in particular that suffered from this. They all had one goal in common - to sell toys. Transformers, Spider-Man 3, and even Jurassic World all endure the same treatment. But you're probably wondering, whats the point of all this. Well when rewatching some of my favourite movies I rewatched The Dark Knight trilogy - and to my surprise the movies are even better than I initially inferred. especially the trilogies idolised and praised second instalment.
This movie picks up 1 year following the events of Batman Begins. One thing I have to contextualise is the opening prospect. The score adds an intense dramatic vibe to the scene. We get to know what kind of person The Joker is in the eyes of the Gotham criminals, as he manipulates and persuades them into committing his crimes. We hear all about him before we actually meet him - and when we do, it creates a climactic reveal for the scene. The character of The Joker is one of the most elaborate and well thought out villains in movie history. We don't ever get to know his backstory, but thats part of what makes him work so well. We don't need to know everything about his character, but just the parts that matter to every great villain: how they challenge the hero. The Joker challenges Batman in every aspect of his endeavour. He knows his philosophical morals are that he cannot kill, regardless the situation. The Joker challenges Batman's one rule by constantly putting people in harms way, with only one way that the Joker stops, which is if Batman kills.
He breaks Batman to the point where he has to make an incredible decision to define his character and what he is willing to risk to save Gotham. It is quoted in the book Story by Robert McKee, where he states that '"True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character's essential nature." This idea plays out quintessentially in this movies narrative. The Joker pressures Batman into making the tough decisions we know he has to make, and from that we get to learn Batman's true character. It works in perfect unison to the idea at play, and thats the reason this movie works so well. With an outstanding cast with the involvement of Heath Ledger as The Joker, and others like Christian Bale as Batman and Morgan Freeman as Luscious Fox, the movie had a-lot of great actors to work with. Im not going to go into detail about every aspect of the film, because truthfully as much as I could I don't need to. This movie encapsulates everything an audience could possibly want from a Batman movie. It takes on an idea that a-lot of movies in the genre cannot comprehend yet, and that is the hero ad villain complex. The hero and villain are the two main points of focus in any superhero film, and yet this one does it so elegantly and profoundly that its no wonder this movie is held in such high glory. I chose to specifically focus on this idea for my review because I believe it is the most important and consequential part of the film. It not only relates to real life, where everyday people are forced with decisions to make and consequences to those decisions are outlined. Sometimes those decisions will lead to conflict, and sometimes resolve, but either way we grow from those decisions and become better people from it. Obviously in this situation in The Dark Knight it is far more extreme, but that doesn't stop the meaning form being passed down to the audience. This is what The Dark knight means to me, and being able to relive it with a new perspective on life as being grown up now is a chance no one should miss - with any movie.