Best of the Decade #10: The Dark Knight (2008)
Some people are going to love this choice, and others are going to hate it, while a smug few will simply roll their eyes and call it predictable, but as far as I’m concerned, The Dark Knight is a necessary inclusion on any Best of Decade list. Jay already talked about the ubiquity of comic book movies over the past ten years in his Spider-Man 2 write-up, and yet this is so much more than just another blockbuster superhero flick. The performances, the writing and the direction all treat the material like a top notch crime drama that is both deep and gripping. It just so happens that the two main characters also dress up like a bat and a clown.
The death of Heath Ledger certainly played a role in making this movie appear larger than life, and created a compelling real-life narrative outside of the film that the public latched onto for better or worse. Regardless, no media hype machine could taint the brilliance behind Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker, which is darkly comedic, intense, and creepy as hell. This is countered by the believable performances from people like Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gary Oldman, who play human characters that quietly sell the movie and give it weight.
It’s been fun to watch Christian Bale’s career explode over the past ten years, the flash point for which was Mary Harron’s adaptation of American Psycho back in 2000. He’s a great Batman, even with his comically raspy tough guy voice. Then there’s director Christopher Nolan, who demanded attention from the very start of the decade with the mind-bending backwards thriller Memento, and has since gone on to become one of the biggest A-list directors in Hollywood. He is one of a handful of filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson who have managed to survive the transition from the low budget indie world to Hollywood with their vision and dignity intact. He continues to find clever new ways to tell stories, and with The Dark Knight he also pushed technology forward by shooting portions of the movie in IMAX, creating a theatrical experience that had never before been seen for a major feature film.
On top of all this, the themes at work in this movie are irrefutably relevant and topical. It may sound lame to call Batman a metaphor for George W. Bush, but at the heart of The Dark Knight is a struggle to maintain law and order against an irrational foe. What peacekeeping methods are acceptable and what are we willing to sacrifice for our freedom? Obviously, if you want to see it as simply a kick-ass action movie, it works on that level too. Either way, The Dark Knight has been permanently etched into the history books as a milestone from this past decade in cinema.
Check out previous entries from our Top 20 Films of the ’00s.
Comments (41)
Sean, this is a perfect summary of this movie. Thanks so much for writing and posting this!
Posted by Less Lee Moore on December 16th, 2009LOTR and Dark Knight out of the running for TOP 5, very interesting.
Posted by rus in chicago on December 16th, 2009i’m 100% sure about slumdog being in the top 5!
as for this, i’m not surprised. great movie indeed!
Posted by Napalm on December 16th, 2009I have a bad feeling The Wrestler is number 1…perfect storm of Jay’s critical love and Greg’s emotional love!
Posted by rus in chicago on December 16th, 2009does this mean Momento doesn’t make the list?
Posted by Mike on December 16th, 2009No comment on all of the above!
Posted by Sean on December 16th, 2009I for one can’t believe this one is not in the top five. but as long as it’s on the list, that’s all that matters
Posted by Rick on December 16th, 2009Why do I feel like I am playing poker and I do not know what cards you are holding in your hand? But I agree with where this card has landed.
Posted by BigHungry on December 16th, 2009i think its pretty certain that memento will be in the top 5.
Posted by Teo on December 16th, 2009i hope so
Posted by Mike on December 16th, 2009thas my favorite scene in the movie
Posted by KYriakos on December 16th, 2009I hate to be the downer, but I think “Dark Knight” is overrated. I mean, much like Batman Begins, I liked it but didn’t love it; the last 20 minutes did nothing for me including the poorly-edited action sequence on the boat. Harvey Dent should’ve been saved for a sequel… felt too tacked on. Again, I enjoyed it but not enough to make my list.
Posted by Jim the Movie Freak on December 16th, 2009Personally I would put this 3 out of the 5 films Chris Nolan put out this decade in my top 10.
Momento
Insomina
The Dark Knight
He’s the best new talent to emerge in hollywood.
Posted by the man on December 16th, 2009This is probably the most overrated movie of the decade:
1.Two-Face, WASTED(As well as The Scarecrow)
2.The whole ferry boat scene was completely ridiculous
3.The movie was too long, and should have ended after The Joker blew up the hospital.
4.The scene where Wayne gets fingerprints off of a shattered bullet was just weak.
Great movie, but highly overrated.
Posted by Matt Keith on December 16th, 2009If anything, The Dark Knight is underrated regardless of the good reviews it garnered. Look beyond the fact that it is a blockbuster superhero movie and you find a true piece of film that stands up with the best of them. It’s on my all-time top 10 list.
Posted by Your Mom on December 16th, 2009Great inclusion. No list is complete without it. Definitely one of the defining movies of the decade. Excited to see where Memento ranks.
Posted by Glass on December 16th, 2009Insomnia is Nolan’s weakest imo!
Posted by Napalm on December 16th, 2009Not only is this a top 10 of the decade, but I think it is the BEST script of the decade. A great piece of cinema from one of the best directors going in Hollywood currently. It’s so cool too to think that, for those who have seen Nolan’s first film “The Following” (great movie), he always wanted to direct a Batman flick. There is a scene in “The Following” where one of the characters has a Batman logo poster in their room. Good stuff.
Posted by Bryan on December 16th, 2009Whoops, not “The Following”… just “Following”.
Posted by Bryan on December 16th, 2009Following is very good, need to revisit that. He is so f*cking creative and innovative as a storyteller.
Following is up there with Tape, The Cube and Blair Witch as awesome, outside the box, independent story ideas of this era.
Memento is a total mindf*ck, such a great idea and an incredible execution of a storytelling idea. Really put a lot a directors to shame with that one.
Then you have Dark Knight. I really think Nolan held his hand on Batman Begins so he could do whatever the f*ck he wanted on D.K. The script is near perfect and discounting it based on the “cell phone sonar network thingy” is b.s. That would be like killing Fight Club over that ending WTF – throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Posted by rus in chicago on December 16th, 2009Thanks Sean for the great summary. Thanks to the academy ….err….Film Junk crew….for including this masterpiece in the Top 10.
Posted by Sly on December 16th, 2009I didn’t realize Following is free on the web these days:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6618880831029867065#
Posted by rus in chicago on December 16th, 2009After watching TDK again I agree that the film worked much better as a character piece, with really good performances all around. It’s hard to argue with anyone in the cast. Also, the themes represented are really cool and topical. Especially the trio of ‘good guys’ each representing a different approach to crime fighting, and how the Joker tried to eliminate/kill/corrupt each of them. I liked the ending where Batman understands how important it was to maintain Dent’s image by setting himself up as the fall guy. It was a risky and unusual gambit to end a superhero movie and will only work if the next film pays it off. I thought the film was weakest in the procedural stuff. I still have no clue how the whole bullet/fingerprint thing worked. The movie moves so fast that you don’t stop to think about how they were able to get all the explosives rigged up in all the places that they did. Of course it’s an action movie and it’s supposed to be far-fetched but for a movie that has more of a ‘realistic’ feel to it, you’d think that the Nolans would have created more ‘realistic’ set pieces. Oh well, I can overlook those things because the rest of the movie was so strong. I think its place on this list is just about right.
Posted by Maopheus on December 16th, 2009Since this movie is already ranked at #10 I am doubting that Iron Man is on the list as well because I doubt it would be ranked higher than TDK. Having said that, I think that IM and TDK will always be linked because they came out in the same year and kind of made ‘08 the year of the superhero, along with the Incredible Hulk as well and the whole excitement that was drummed up with the announcements for more Marvel movies. There are of course similarities between the two movies, both featuring industrialists who inherited their companies and fortunes from their parents as children. They are both womanizing bachelors although Tony Stark really is one and Bruce Wayne pretends to be one to put the scent off that he is Batman. The differences are that Stark has his change of heart as an adult whereas Wayne developed his desire for vigilante justice as a child. Stark designs and builds his suit on his own, whereas Wayne appropriates his company’s products. This is one aspect of the Nolan movies that I find is weak. It makes Wayne/Batman too much like James Bond in that he is merely a user of his equipment as opposed to the creator. In the comic books, Wayne is pretty brilliant in his own right and designs and builds almost all of his own stuff. Also this scenario in the Nolan movies makes it very hard to understand why no one thinks that Batman is Bruce Wayne. Who else would have the money, the means and the motive to be Batman? But either way, I will always put these two movies together as probably the two best adaptations of non-super-powered superheroes.
Posted by Maopheus on December 16th, 2009I love Insomnia, a taut atmospheric thriller with a top notch cast
Posted by AlexG on December 16th, 2009I loved this movie, but the I too think the last half hour kept it from being a true masterpiece. Does anyone really think Harvey Dent is gone for good however? Its a little lower on my list but really when picking 20 movies out of thousands a few spots are splitting hairs. Great pick.
On a side note, I think a plot for the next movie riffing off of “M” with Mr. Zsasz going around horrifically murdering families and The Penguin turning the Gotham underground out to find him because Batman is taking it out on him would be pretty cool.
Posted by Justice on December 16th, 2009I think building everything yourself is incredibly unrealistic. I liked the little bit of business in TDK were they include how they mask the supply chain for some of the components and use drug smugglers as transportation, very cool to cover these things quickly and efficiently.
As a designer, the design process in both films is boner inducing.
Posted by rus in chicago on December 16th, 2009***He is one of a handful of filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson who have managed to survive the transition from the low budget indie world to Hollywood with their vision and dignity intact.***
I think that’s a bith stretch. Memento and Following are his only low budget movies, he then moved into Insomnia with no problems, and then Batman. It wasn’t exactly any transition for this man. He never was any indie-director like Raimi and Jackson as he got his breakthrough very quickly.
Posted by La Menthe on December 16th, 2009I’m sorry if this correction annoys you Sean. I’m a true Nolan fan, and have for once found a way to make an argument with him as the topic/subject. And I’m (geeking out) proud of it.
”On top of all this, the themes at work in this movie are irrefutably relevant and topical. It may sound lame to call Batman a metaphor for George W. Bush, but at the heart of The Dark Knight is a struggle to maintain law and order against an irrational foe.”
Except the fact that the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq (which he had no reason to invade) was the creation of Terrorism. It did not happen before. Taliban (once supported by the US goverment and the so called free meida in the 80’s) was not as popular as after the invasion, and Iraqs terrorism was never there before the US invaded the country.
Posted by hhh on December 16th, 2009We also have to keep in mind that the US invaded those country, not to fight terrorism, but for their own strategic and military goals. For power. What’s even worse is that they say they want to protect us, the terrorism the US made when invading the countries, have only killed civilians in the Middle East. There have been some events here in Europe, but they are only 3-4, and the casulties are 100 less than the ones in the Middle East.
La Menthe: I see your point, but I think Hollywood is just getting quicker at picking up these indie filmmakers and attaching them to big projects. It’s certainly become a trend of sorts throughout the decade.
hhh: I think The Dark Knight is more about fighting terrorism on home soil… The Patriot Act and all of that stuff. Not so much about the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Posted by Sean on December 16th, 2009Hell yes!!!
I just wish it were higher on the list, at least top five! I mean this film was a game changer after all.
Posted by Marc on December 16th, 2009“Insomnia is Nolan’s weakest imo!
Posted by Napalm”
Blasphemy! That was his best film IMO…
Posted by The Man on December 16th, 2009This was a good movie, but Nolan is no visionary genius. He writes well in my opinion, but his movies look and feel too ordinary for me to praise him on the level you guys are.
Had he gone a little further with The Joker – and especially Two-Face who begs for a treatment like Max Shreck in Nosferatu, I mean how horrific can a human being get visually? – I would have gone nuts for this film. But everything is done in a workmanlike fashion, which is supposedly to make it seem more real, but to me just felt like missed opportunities for visual gravity and cinematic poignancy.
Still though, good script, good movie.
Posted by Henrik on December 16th, 2009Oh, and considering the people voting on this, I don’t think there can be any doubt that The Wrestler is no. 1, but why spoil it rus? A lot of people probably were wondering what it would be. Smells like wanting to show off.
Posted by Henrik on December 16th, 2009in my opinion Chris Nolan is getting better n better in every film.
Insomnia is better than memento but i like memento more for some reason
Batman is better than insomnia
prestige is way better than batman
The Dark night is better than Prestige but i like prestige more of all chris nolan films.
A true movie fan can only agree with me.
Posted by KYriakos on December 16th, 2009I am showing off Henrik, looks like I beat you to the punch.
Posted by rus in chicago on December 17th, 2009You americans always have to compete, even at the expense of having fun.
Posted by Henrik on December 17th, 2009you are so sure I’m right – more evidence you adore me..thank you
Posted by rus in chicago on December 17th, 2009Liking this first time browser glad i did haha, I like summery of The Dark knight its pretty much on the button other than the Batman/Bush comparison, I don’t agree with that. However thats what makes it sooooo good, people leave with a different message.
Posted by Scorchio on December 17th, 2009F@#k you miss one day on this forum and it all blows up! Great comments all. Most have already said what I wanted to say so allow me to be redundant.
At the Risk of being (again) a sycophant let me give you some well deserved credit Sean on your well written post…really well executed and tied up at the end…masterful. I guess that is why I come here.
of course this movie has to be on the list…and basically everyone is right. It is the most overrated…and it is the best all at the same time, that is the dichotomy that we will have to live with.
Posted by xego on December 17th, 2009This is easily THE most ambitious mainstream film of the decade. Nolan took huge risks that may have alienated his audience but it all paid off.
I really don’t like most comic book films since they’re usually one-dimensional and cookie-cutter, but Nolan’s Batman films really changed the landscape. Finally a director who added some serious subtext to a comic book film!
I really like how this film is left so open to interpretation. It doesn’t insult our intelligence, it engages it. It doesn’t spell things out for us plainly. I wish more mainstream films were like that.
Nolan just keeps getting better, I’m excited to see what he does next. This movie is easily in my top 5 of the decade.
Posted by 1-7 on December 19th, 2009Leave a Reply