#12. The Dark Knight (2008)
(director: Christopher Nolan; starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhall, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman)
At long last, a box-office success that managed to thrill both casual movie-goers and fans of the franchise along with many seasoned cineastes alike. I was beginning to think there was a complete inverse correlation between the quality of a film and its domestic gross; thankfully Christopher Nolan was able to prove me wrong, at least just that one time. Viscerally, this film is top-notch. The centerpiece “vehicle showdown” in particular is a stunning example of filmmaking craft, completely devoid of any throbbing action music but the sound design creating its own completely diegetic, climatic soundtrack. By the time the semi-truck flipped, I’m sure everyone in the theater’s jaw was agape. Anything more said about the late Heath Ledger’s final complete role as the Joker would be mostly superfluous, but regardless I would feel remiss if I did not at least mention it as one of the decade’s top performances by a screen actor. What really made the Dark Knight stand above the rest of the comic book films were the strong parallels with modern political dilemmas and the post-9/11 social climate. Within days of its release people were commenting on how Batman appeared to represent a Barack Obama figure (not willing to sacrifice his ideals even in the face of pitiless terrorism) and as a George W. Bush figure (undertaking a politically unpopular war against an evil opponent because he knows it’s the morally right thing to do), the Joker’s desire to prove that structured, modern society can be reduced to anarchy if given the right push reflective of our own fears given the turmoil seen surrounding the Iraq war and allegations of government condoned torture. The fact that it could bring light to all of these quandaries while never turning into a ‘big issues’ movie makes it’s Oscar snub even more ridiculous, but while the other nominees are likely to be forgotten in a few years (actually they may have already) the Dark Knight can likely expect enduring popularity for decades to come.
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