A Dark Knight Returns: To The Screen
Scott Morris
Issue date: 8/6/08 Section: Entertainment
The sixth film in Warner Brothers prized Batman franchise just hit movie theaters on July 18th. Without question it was the most anticipated film release of 2008. It has a returning cast from Batman Begins of superstars such as Christian Bale and Michael Cain, as well as what was rumored as the late Heath Ledger's greatest performance. Fans were so eager to see the film that the majority of the theaters in the country were sold out all opening weekend with advanced ticket purchases. All this hype was headed to one outcome: a box office opening weekend record of $158 Million.
What makes this film so appealing? What makes it so watchable? Christopher Nolan. He's the independent director behind Memento that had shocked the world in 2005 with Batman Begins, finally portraying Batman on film the way he always was: a dark and realistic character. With the excitement that film brought back to comics it was inevitable for a sequel or even a trilogy. This was not the case for the British born Nolan. He went off to create a smaller film called the Prestige, a low budget period film about two rivaling magicians with some big name actors. He had no intension of making another Batman film, he believed that sequels that are made for the sake of making money aren't work making. He was interested in making a stand alone film that wasn't bound by another. With much convincing he began work on The Dark Knight. His draw was the development of two of the most coveted characters in the batman universe: Harvey Dent and The Joker. Immediately fans were anxious to see who Nolan would cast, there were rumors about both characters circulating the net for a while until Nolan released the names of the stars. And the criticism began. When fans found out Heath Ledger was going to play the Joker they almost didn't want to see the film. They didn't trust Nolan, something they learned very quickly not to do. Ledger locked himself into a hotel room for six weeks in order to create the character that he described as most similar to Alex Delarge from A Clockwork Orange. Nolan stated that they wanted to capture a Joker from his first comic book appearance in the issue Batman #1. He was very strong about the character being an absolute, that he would just exist and do things and that there would be no back story, no reasoning behind the madness. With Harvey Dent they cast Aaron Echkart and looked at the graphic novel, The Long Halloween for the arch on him. That story focuses heavily on the three man crime fighting team of Lieutenant James Gordon, played by Gary Oldman in the film, Harvey Dent and Batman. In the graphic novel by Jeph Joeb and Tim Sale they're out to catch a serial killer named Holiday, in the film it's The Joker. Another parallel from the book to the film is trying to take down the mob as well. It is more than safe to say that The Dark Knight is the most faithful Batman film to the original source material.
What makes this film so appealing? What makes it so watchable? Christopher Nolan. He's the independent director behind Memento that had shocked the world in 2005 with Batman Begins, finally portraying Batman on film the way he always was: a dark and realistic character. With the excitement that film brought back to comics it was inevitable for a sequel or even a trilogy. This was not the case for the British born Nolan. He went off to create a smaller film called the Prestige, a low budget period film about two rivaling magicians with some big name actors. He had no intension of making another Batman film, he believed that sequels that are made for the sake of making money aren't work making. He was interested in making a stand alone film that wasn't bound by another. With much convincing he began work on The Dark Knight. His draw was the development of two of the most coveted characters in the batman universe: Harvey Dent and The Joker. Immediately fans were anxious to see who Nolan would cast, there were rumors about both characters circulating the net for a while until Nolan released the names of the stars. And the criticism began. When fans found out Heath Ledger was going to play the Joker they almost didn't want to see the film. They didn't trust Nolan, something they learned very quickly not to do. Ledger locked himself into a hotel room for six weeks in order to create the character that he described as most similar to Alex Delarge from A Clockwork Orange. Nolan stated that they wanted to capture a Joker from his first comic book appearance in the issue Batman #1. He was very strong about the character being an absolute, that he would just exist and do things and that there would be no back story, no reasoning behind the madness. With Harvey Dent they cast Aaron Echkart and looked at the graphic novel, The Long Halloween for the arch on him. That story focuses heavily on the three man crime fighting team of Lieutenant James Gordon, played by Gary Oldman in the film, Harvey Dent and Batman. In the graphic novel by Jeph Joeb and Tim Sale they're out to catch a serial killer named Holiday, in the film it's The Joker. Another parallel from the book to the film is trying to take down the mob as well. It is more than safe to say that The Dark Knight is the most faithful Batman film to the original source material.
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