The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan and received critical acclaim, winning several awards including Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker. The film follows Batman, Gordon, and Dent as they try to stop the Joker from wreaking havoc in Gotham City. While reviews were overwhelmingly positive, some viewers debated whether it should be classified as an action or thriller film. The document provides details about the plot, characters, critical reception, and analysis of the opening scene of the film.

1. Directed by Christopher Nolan

2. 2009 Oscars :
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Richard King
2009 Golden Globes USA:
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
Heath Ledger
2009 BAFTA:
Best Supporting Actor : Heath Ledger
2009 AFI Awards USA:
Movie of the Year: Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven and Emma
Thomas
2009 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards:
Top Box Office Films: Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

3. Heath Ledger – The Joker
Christian Bale – Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Michael Paine – Alfred J. Pennyworth
Gary Oldman – James Gordon
Aaron Eckhart –Two Face (Harvey Dent)
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Rachel

4. The Empire:
The Empire gave an overall positive view and have it 5
stars. They described it as ‘Ledger’s performance is
monumental, but The Dark Knight lives up to it. Nolan
cements his position as Hollywood’s premier purveyor of
blockbuster smarts – and the Batbike is kinda cool, too.’
IMDB:
IMDB users rated it 9/10 stars. However the users
written reviews vary. Straightblaster thought that the
‘Film surpasses the hype’ however Valkirya4 thought it
was ‘very weak, unfortunately’
Overall the film had extremely positive views, most of
which were down the director – Christopher Nolan

5. The Dark Knight rises has created uproar amongst the film
community. Some people would group it as action where as
others feel it is a thriller.
It contains aspects of both so therefore could be considered
as either. My personal opinion is that it is a thriller. It contains
a complex plot, plot twists and confusing characters. The
prime example of this is Batman him self; he is a mixture of
good and bad, this leaves the audience unsure of whether to
support him or not. Crime is also a key theme which again is
seen to be common in the thriller genre.

6. Set a Year after Batman Begins. Batman sets out with
Lieutenant James Gordon and new district attorney Harvey
Dent to round up the remaining criminals in Gotham City
They are challenged by the new ‘sadistic criminal
mastermind’ known as the Joker
Batman's conflict against the Joker becomes personal,
forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and improve
his technology to stop him.
A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and
Rachel Dawes.

7. The opening consists of a bank robbery conducted by the Joker
However the six people involved in this robbery start killing each
other in order to make their shares bigger – this is showing them as
being ruthless and just caring about the money
This is also a plot twist as we do not expect the antagonists to go
against each other – plot twists are typical of the thriller genre as they
leave the audience confused as it creates various questions and
opinions.
Batman is an extremely complex character as he is neither good or
bad – this is a thriller convention as it leaves the audience confused as
to whether we should support him or not

8. The opening begins with very suspenseful dramatic music with a
strong base tone. This makes the audience feel on edge as it creates
an emphasis on what may happen next
The robbers were shouting orders at the bank staff – this made them
seem extremely intimidating and therefore made the audience
sympathize and feel worried for everyone involved.
These orders were also followed by screams of the victims – this
makes the audience feel uneasy as it is clear they are in danger and
likely to die. It also establishes a strong sense of who is good and who
is bad.
The sonically exaggerated gun shots indicate crime and murder – this
is typical of the thriller genre and indicates that the rest of the film
will center around this sort of crime.

9. Mid-shot of bank door – Shows it was extremely
high security but was managed to be broken
into. Therefore these people must be extremely
powerful and shows the audience they are the
antagonists
Close up of grenade in victims hand – Shows
they are in a lot of danger and can also do
nothing to stop/help the situation.
Low angle of bank manager – shows he is
inferior and has been defeated by the
antagonists

10. The antagonists were wearing sad mas faces – This
hides their identities and creates mystery for the
audience. The faces are also slightly creepy which
confuses the audience and shows they are
antagonists.
The joker also wears clown make-up - This also is
very freaky and a stereotypical fear of many
people. Therefore a lot of people will be affected
and scared by it.
A school bus has been used for the jokers mode of
transport – this is usually associated with children
and therefore innocence. The audience will also
feel concerned for the children and wonder where
they went or what has happened to them

11. Throughout the opening the editing is extremely slow paced – this is
typical of the thriller genre as it allows the audience to see everything that
is going on and also creates suspense
Cross cutting was used during the opening – this allowed us to see every
aspect of the robbery and understand everyone's role. It also shows how
each pair eventually killed off the other until only the joker was left. This
indicated the the audience that he was in control and had managed to
manipulate the robbery and execute it to his and no one else's desires.
However overall I thought the editing of this opening was poor, there were
no outstanding moments such as slow motion to draw me in.