The Dark Knight - Nolan's best?

It's been 12 years since this one came out, and the Dark Knight is one of the very few films that stood the test of time. It's my favorite superhero movie of all time, even though other films came close, once you start rewatching the Dark Knight, you'll be forced to agree with the fact that it is undoubtedly the best superhero movie of all time.

For a change, I would like to highlight what I thought was responsible for this movie turning out to be the way it was and why it was the best Batman film of the Nolan trilogy. The answer is not Heath Ledger, even though a lot of people blindly say the Joker made everything better. To them, I say, 'Batman screentime'.

What's the point of making a Batman movie without any Batman? I understand that it takes time to establish a character, but both Batman begins and the Dark Knight rises kind of felt underwhelming because there was very little Batman in both of them. Having him show up in day time to set the final battle of the trilogy was one of the biggest mistakes of Nolan's career. The best moments of both the movies still turn out to be those which feature him with his full costume. So yes, the next time someone tries to make a movie about Batman, they need to make sure that the majority of the screentime goes to him running and gliding around with his Cape and cowl because that's what the fans actually want. I really hope that Matt Reeves delivers and I really hope he learns that by watching the Dark Knight.

All my complaints apart, let's talk about the Dark Knight. We got to see Bruce learn from his mistakes and perfect his bat-suit along with Mr. Fox, just like he was doing in Batman begins. His tumbler scenes were brilliant and that whole scene where he gets a batpod out of his tumbler was phenomenal. We saw him glide around Hong Kong in his kick-ass new suit, full Arkham style, and that interrogation scene with the Joker was probably the best scene in the movie.

It really annoys me when people talk only about Heath and the joker when they talk about the Dark Knight, ignoring so much of Batman and his adventures. I'm not at all saying that Heath was bad, he did manage to revolutionize the role of an antagonist, something which so many people are doing because of him. His dialogue, his acting, the laugh, it was nothing short of a masterpiece. It's really tragic that he wasn't around to collect his well deserved Oscar, once again, breaking new records, bringing the superhero movie genre into the limelight. So yes, Heath was amazing, one of the best jokers, I might have to make a separate article choosing the best joker, I still believe that the animated version of Joker voiced by Mark Hamill and Joaquin Phoenix's version were just as good as Heath Ledger's portrayal. It just goes to say how good of a character the Joker actually is and how great the people who got a chance to play him on the big screen were. For all those critics going around and saying superhero movies are for kids, this is a character who nabbed 2 Oscars.

There was never a dull moment in the Dark Knight, something was always happening, and it was a non-stop action rollercoaster with not a second for us to breathe. Credit goes to the genius camera work which made sure that we were always paying attention, with those glorious long shots and constantly moving camera. All this awesomeness, along with Hans Zimmer's magical score just blew our minds while watching this spectacular film. Every department that was involved gave it everything they had and the product of their hard work was nothing short of a triumph.

I was kind of shocked when they killed Rachel because I realized I was just halfway through the movie and it already felt like so much happened, every second I was just wondering what more could they do and every second, the movie just kept getting better and it wasn't even improvisation, this is what you get when you have a solid script and both Christopher and Johnathan deserve equal credit.

The ending of the movie gave me chills, and it still continues to amaze me, the way they finish it, with Batman making an ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the city, it's citizens, covering up a huge lie that would have made the people lose hope. He was truly a silent guardian, a watchful protector, and a Dark Knight. That would have been the perfect way to finish a franchise and Nolan kind of did something in this movie that even he wouldn't have been been able to beat. The Dark Knight rises couldn't even come close even though there was a lot of buzz about people calling it the movie of the decade, it was still not even close to its predecessor.

The Dark Knight, in many places, makes you believe that you're never going to see anything better on screen than this and that this is the best work of Christopher Nolan, something he has managed to do in two other movies, which is why I will never be able to pick my best Nolan movie of all time. Every time a Marvel fan comes and brags how good their movies are and how much DC is screwing up, this one movie is still strong enough for us to counter every single thing they come up with, and to be honest, there has been no better villain than the Joker. Even the DC haters would have to agree with that.

The Dark Knight is a masterpiece, and I will keep rewatching it for the Batman scenes, the gliding, all the Heath Ledger scenes, the cinematography, the camera work, and Hans Zimmer's brilliant background scores. If I'd have to pick my favorite scores from this, it would be "Agent of Chaos", "Like a dog chasing cars" and "Why so serious?" 

Verdict 

Fan in me: 10/10

Critic in me: 10/10