- Pronouns
- he/him
I remember when this movie came out, and it felt like such an event. Batman Begins had been surprisingly good, but The Dark Knight promised to be the realization of what its predecessor set up, Batman in his prime, against his most iconic villain, in a massive, high budget movie. It felt more ambitious than other Super Hero films of its time, both in terms of its action set pieces, and its character storylines. It took risks, the characters felt well realized rather than emobodied tropes, and things felt like they had consequence.
I know all Hollywood films are constructed experiences designed to turn a profit. Maybe it's just decades worth of exhaustion with Super Hero films following the explosive success of the MCU, but I still feel this movie has a unique feeling to it that hasn't quite been replicated since, even in its own sequel. I'm not sure if it's my favorite super hero movie ever made, but it's really hard for me to say it's not the best super hero movie ever made. Maybe it's because, despite being the middle chapter of a trilogy, it works as a stand along film quite well. Maybe it's that it feels less formulaic when it comes to its storytelling. Maybe there's the mystique of it being Heath Ledger's final role. But something about this movie just feels special to me.
What do you think, Famiboards? Did you watch this film when it released, or sometime later, and what did you think of it? How well does it hold up in the post MCU world?