Count me as one of those people who thought, "Heath Ledger as Batman? The guy that made 10 Things I Hate About You? The guy that made A Knight's Tale? Noooooooooo! DC....what the fuck are you doing???? No freaking way!!!!" Boy....am I ever glad that I was so fucking wrong! Ledger killed it! Without a doubt Ledger IS The Joker! I can no longer think of the Joker without thing of Heath Ledger!
@This Is What Awesome Looks Like How can you even compare them? You only saw Joaquin's Joker for like 20 minutes. Joker is about his descent into that prolific character
The ending does make sense. When Dent had Gordon's family at the place where Rachel died, the police had a border already set up. By this time, Joker was in custody. Had they blamed Joker, everyone would have known they were lying. That would lead to an investigation into the other deaths. Joker was busy all day with the hospital and taking hostages so it wouldn't have been believable to blame them on him. Batman wouldn't want to falsely pin crimes on even someone like the Joker, and after the events of The Dark Knight, he can no longer allow himself to be affiliated with Gotham Police without risking more deaths. By "rebranding" himself, he not only severs all ties to authority, he also becomes the villain. Of course this changes by the end of The Dark Knight Rises. They kept their morals intact without hindering the prosecution of the mob. Most of the alleged plot holes in this and TDKR are actually explainable.
I disagree, they could have just blamed it on any of the hundreds of random henchman running around. There was so much shit going on, nobody would have questioned it. Batman taking the blame makes no sense.
@@justinamenta7241 Truthfully, Batman is not the kind of character to pin murders on other people; he will accept responsibility for things he doesn't deserve but he won't pin it on someone else
@@JaceDeanLove which would lead to large amounts of investigation which could possibly reveal the truth- I'm not saying it's perfect writing (there's probably other avenues that could've been explored) but at the same time, I think there's enough internal logic that in the immediate circumstance they did the best with what they could in thinking quickly.
To this day is The Dark Knight (2008) still my favorite Comicbook Movie, my favorite Christopher Nolan Movie and one of my favorite Movies of all time.
Christian Bale and Heath Ledger were money in this movie, had such great chemistry as characters and both individually are amazing actors RIP Heath, your name lives on ❤
Not only that, but they need to understand that just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean you can't adore it. In my mind, no film is perfect, and that's okay. My favorite movies of all time have small things here and there that could be slightly better. Does that ruin the experience? Not even close! There is no such thing as a perfect film, there are only films that we as individuals consider to be perfect.
@@alltheinnocence Exactly. I love this movie, but I am aware that it isn't perfect and that it has it's flaws. I wish people would understand that not everyone thinks the same as them and that we could just like and dislike certain movies and not be judged so harshly.
When The Joker came to the fundraiser, he was looking for Harvey Dent. That was the reason for him being there. During the interrogation scene later on, he says to Bruce Wayne he thought Harvey Dent was Batman, when he jumped out the window to save Rachel. So, if he came to find Harvey Dent, and he thought Harvey Dent was Batman, then he had no further reason for being there. He came to find Harvey, and he thought Harvey jumped out the window, so why stick arround, if his motivation was no longer there?
Damn man, excellent points bro because that always bothered me that it was a plot hole that Joker just left the fundraiser. So now that you brought up those points it makes a hell of a lot more sense.
Are you sure? I always took that as the joker being sarcastic, and he was just toying with the Batman by saying that he really thought he was Dent considering he’d jump out of a building for her, but not actually believing it. I never took it as him actually believing Dent was Batman.
@@Views-ui2xh I think he did. I mean, Dent loved Rachel, he was a man with a lot of power and resources in Gotham, so why wouldn't the Joker believe it was him. Besides, the Joker said he only thought that for a moment, not that he thought that for like the whole movie or smth
I absolutely love your honesty and “no bullshit” attitude man. It really makes you stand out as a movie reviewer and I admire it so much! Great review! I also agree on it being overrated. I’m hitting up Tenet in theaters next week!!
A nitpick negative I got for this film is the scene where he’s wearing the Batman suit & he disguises his voice even when he’s talking to Lucious Fox even tho Lucious knows his identity 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Actually rewatched this movie just today😂😂 and I ended up standing up and clapping at the ending, even though instead of being in a theatre with a crowd I was in my living room by myself but I love this film😂😂 that's what I'm trying to say! 724/10
The Dark Knight is a great movie but Heath Ledger's performance put it into one of the greatest movies of all time. Not sure how true it is but I heard if Ledger never passed away Nolan would of had The Joker return in the Dark Knight Rises which I think would have made that a better movie. And then I wonder if Ledger would of also had his own standalone Joker movie but we will never know. RIP Heath Ledger
I know some people who say the Heath Ledger only won the Oscar only because he died. That always pissed me off because his performance in genuinely one of the best ever
This movie is not about the action, its full of philosophical layers, where upon reviewing, something new stands out, its a reflection of our world. That is why it is a masterpiece. Its not dependent of fight choreography, or cgi. Minimal cgi in the majority of scenes. The convenience plot 'errors are in EVERY film. I dismiss those as long as the characters are true to themselves. A film is fiction, its a stage on the screen, i let those nitpicking errors go. I couldnt have made it better myself, nor would i know any other director that could.
Cody talking about Alfred being Bruce's accomplice reminds me of the scene where Bruce was going to reveal that he was Batman to stop Joker from killing people and Alfred says "I suppose they're gonna lock me up as well as your accomplice" so Bruce jokes "Accomplice? I'm gonna tell them the whole thing was your idea."
I heard Heath's joker was going to return in dark knight rises and the story was going to follow his court proceedings and the reality to his chaos, that his actions had consequences. He wasnt going to be a main character but a background character when batman had to deal with a new threat.
I love the ending cause the joker actually won. They had to kill Harvey so they had to lie and sacrifice Batman and make him the bad guy. Such good storytelling
One of my favorite scenes is the final exchange between joker and Batman where joker continues talking and Batman visibly sighs like “f*ck dude, shut up”. Most realistic reaction to a villain ever.
This is my all time favorite movie! The acting is fantastic, and not just Heath Ledger, but everyone! Christian Bale, Aron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine are fantastic too. Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance is very underrated. It's got very deep and rich themes about chaos. It's very thrilling and intense! The film just overall groundbreaking! I've lost count of how many times I've watched this film. I can quote this ENTIRE film. An absolute masterpeice, I give it a 10/10 and an A+!
I remember being so excited when I heard Ledger being cast as joker and a photo was leaked of a silhouette of joker behind glass and I got excited. Going to the theater and watching this movie is probably one of the best experiences I ever had
Apparently in the original script for the sequel to this involved the joker standing trial for his crimes and Harvey Dent surviving the fall and continuing to terrorise Gotham
You’re right Cody there has been some awesome comic book movies both before and after Dark Knight but I’ve gotta say in my opinion Dark Knight is still the best comic book movie.
This was the first comic book movie I really loved (besides the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy lol), it came out around my 13th birthday and I saw it in the theater. I was just amazed and immersed for the entire 2.5 hours, I’d never seen anything like it back then in 2008. It will always be one of my favorite movies of all time, and definitely one of my favorite comic book movies of all time. And quite frankly, I could write an entire essay about how great Heath Ledger was. Anyways, this wasn’t just a movie for me, it was a cinematic experience.
The film that holds my most attendance record. Saw this film 10 times in theaters. Saw it Midnight with my friends in Joker and Batman cosplay. The other days with family and friends. Love this film. Not my number one favorite Batman film but still a very enjoyable film.
I truly truly love this movie, this is probably the best feeling character played ever, I don't think we'll ever get to see a joker like Heath Ledger. He was funny, witty, Scary, Crazy, spontaneous, I mean he was everything good and bad that a villain could be and has never been. I got really sad when I heard he passed away
Probably gonna see Tenet monday too. Its a double feature at the nearest drive in with unhinged as the second movie. Quite a night. And by the way, I have never heard anyone hating on the dark knight, didnt even think it was possible ! Thx again for the review!
I honestly believe that, had Heath Ledger survived, he would've been "The Next Big Thing". He was a rising star as was(loved "Ned Kelly"(this was a remake, Heath playing the title role in this version, Mick Jagger playing the same in the original) and "10 Things I Hate About You"), but his take on The Joker had him OWNING this movie, imo, and would've cast him into the stratosphere.
Does any movie need the line of dialogue “have a nice trip, see you next fall?” Also when you save Rachael from falling off of a building while crushing the roof of a car, why not scoop up the Joker when he comes out of the front door of said building?
27:32 If you look at the gun, joker holds onto the hammer of the gun; just in case if Harvey tries to shoot him it won't fire. A real subtle detail, but it shows joker was always a guy with a plan.
Greatest comic book film....ever. I have 3 of my tattoos because of this movie alone. It definitely made my top 10 films in life...ever. (I want your shirt) Being a Joker fan Heaths performance drove me to tears. Phenomenal
The very first scene where Gordon speaks to Harvey, Harvey brings up how much he’s investigated officers in Gordon’s unit. He mentions how there are people who he knows are guilty that Gordon still trusts. Joker reminds Harvey of this. That’s why he lets Joker go. Whether Joker was involved or not Maroni had moles in Gordon’s unit that likely would have done something like this down the line anyway. That’s why I think he lets Joker go and focuses his hate on Gordon.
Dude. Cody. I. Totally agree with everything you said big fan of you brother nothing but love and positivity. Watching and hearing your points I couldn't help but bang my head as a yes. Love you brother.
While we’ve differed on a few of Nolan’s movies, we’re quite close here: I think it’s pretty good, but wouldn’t go much further than that. (Admittedly I was much more impressed when I first saw it in theaters, but when I went back later with different groups of friends certain things began to bother me more.) His movies have gotten very exposition-heavy by this point, but still work better than they really should - probably because of how good his casts are. I can say the same thing about his next movie. He also has his characters verbally underline certain themes more than is really necessary (Caine talking about the Joker, Freeman’s worries about surveillance, and a good chunk of Eckhart’s scenes), though things never become quite as obvious or clunky as in, say, a James Cameron movie. Agreed on the ending too, though I’d extend it to the last 20-30 minutes; it suddenly shifts gears into a slower, more self-important kind of movie where the themes are underlined even more heavily than before. That Dent becomes a villain and then dies so quickly is also a bit weird; Nolan needed to work on this character’s arc a bit more, and either give it more screentime or save it for the next film. As for the action sequences, Nolan seemed to be getting more comfortable with those this time around, though they’re still not quite top-tier (some rather odd shooting/editing choices, but maybe you can chalk that up to the comic-book-panel aesthetic; I’ve heard that used as a defense, as well as the tendency in other scenes to cut between characters rather than show two at a time). Already know how much you love Inception, but am curious as to your views on his remaining movies. Looking forward to seeing Tenet, and to getting back in a damn theater!
This film has endured very well for me over the years. I'll admit it didnt exactly blow me away when I first saw it (preferred Batman Begins) but its grown on me as the years go by and now its at a constant battle with BB. Love the film. I have some issues but its a movie I will regularly watch.
I enjoy the Norlan trilogy but the reason why I dont rewatching it often is the fighting and the way Bruce never really used his detective skills to help him. Great review. I agree with you. Cant wait for the new batman movie.
Dark Knight is underrated. There is no question about whether it is the best comicbook movie of all time, it doesn't even have a close competitor (Watchmen, Days of Future Past, Winter Soldier and Infinity War would be the chasing pack but they are all a distance behind). The only question is whether this is the greatest film of all time. And the answer to that question is yes!
Freaking love this movie man. The reason I have heath's joker tattooed on my leg. I'm really excited to see The Batman, have a feeling mat Reeves and Pattinson will surprise alot of us. Great review Cody✌😁🤘
@Cody was fun to get your thoughts on this classic. Good an Bad i always appreciate a different perspective and usually learn something from it, even when we disagree. I personally feel this is the best LIVE ACTION version of Batman but all still pales to compare to what WE HERE feel is the best Batman The Animated Series..... Thanks for the upload, and remember just block and unsub the jerks anyone who wishes to threaten to leave a channel due to you not parroting their own points of view are not worth the HUGE time away from YOUR family these quality 20 an d35 minute videos take. Keep being YOU Cody. Wife and I are here til you shut it down.
A epic review of a epic Batman movie. My favourite Batman film, Heath Ledgers performance is a masterclass, terrifying yet hilarious his Joker is unpredictable he's all about chaos not motivated by money which makes him a terrifying dangerous threat. Besides the gruff Batman voice Kudos to Christian Bale who's performance captures the inner psyche of the character perfectly, the scene were he & Joker confront neach other at the police integration room where Batman beats up Joker & he just laughs at him is my favourite scene in the movie, here's a guy stronger more threatening beating down on a guy who just doesn't care if he lives or dies to the point & he just laughs in his face. Great action, excellent performances by the cast, goosebump score from Hans Zimmer, just a shame he never got to see his performance on the big screen & he definitely deserved the Oscar because it's still my favourite Joker performance.
The Dark Knight is still one of the best movies ever made. A little overrated but doesn't change the fact that this is a masterpiece in it's own right. Also the best one in the trilogy and Nolan's best trilogy. There are some conveniences but still pretty much I can get over. Heath Ledger is still the best Joker movie and I do call out a few conveniences. Ledger was gonna come back for The Dark Knight Rises but Nolan wanted to respect his memory. The fighting style they developed here is the Keysi Fighting Mode. Katie Holmes didn't come back because she decided to do Mad Money. Still 12 years later, an amazing film. Can't wait for your review of Inception. I don't mind Bale's voice as Batman. Also, overrated doesn't mean bad. The whole trilogy is meant to tell Bruce's story of the man as Batman. But great review, Cody. My only flaw are some inconveniences and I wish Two-Face was in it a bit more. As far as favorite movies of all-time, this is number 49. I'm fucking hyped for Tenet
There's no exact confirmation if The Joker was going to be in TDKR. He might've had a smaller role if he lived, but Nolan hasn't said anything about it. It doesn't substantially affect TDKR overall, and it's as much of a passion project as TDK is. I agree that this trilogy is still Batman/Bruce's story, as well as the Keysi fighting method. It doesn't need to be stylized.
Great review as always & this is one of my top 10 movies of all time.Love the Joker & the overall story...btw Katie didn't return because her husband at the time Tom,didn't want her to continue with the role.
@@aydenbaldwin3041 it might be better to you, but not to other people. Its subjective. So to say "how is winter soldier not better than the dark knight" kinda makes it sound like you think its a fact that the movie is better just because you think its better. Stop trying to force your own opinion on to other people and act like its a fact.
OMG Cody! You have totally caused me to have epiphany after epiphany with this vid. I mean...after all the times I've seen this movie I never realized how flawed it was because of one simple thing HEATH EFFING LEDGER! He overshadows and steals so many scenes in this movie that it's just like a misdirection movie magic trick, litterally! You're spot on about the logic gaps, the fighting, the conveniences, Bale's Batman Voice...you've totally opened my eyes about this movie. I used to think this was the best movie of all time, but now I just realize that it just has the best acting performance of all time (obviously Maggie Gyllenhall's Rachel) JK! No but seriously Heath Ledger's Joker performance was literally so transcendent that It actually hid all the mistakes I otherwise would have noticed. Thanks for illuminating me man!
@Cody Leach There's a film from 1986 called The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer. I highly recommend checking this film out for two reasons. First off, it's just an awesome horror thriller but second is that I think the character that Rutger Hauer portrays is exactly like Heath Ledger's Joker. I've never heard Nolan confirm this but I know he's seen the film because he has discussed it in the past. There are so many similarities that it has made me think a little less of Ledger's Joker just because I don't find it to be that unique anymore. His performance is still outstanding and how that character affects Batman is interesting, but idk that I can say that it's original. Still love The Dark Knight though.
Adrien Brody Steve Carell Robin Williams Wanted To Play Joker In This Film Matt Damon Was Offered To Play Two Face But Turned it Down Due To scheduling conflicts Other Actors who Express interest for the role two face were Liev Schreiber Josh Lucas Ryan Phillippe Hugh Jackman was also considered Mark Ruffalo Audition For Two Face Sarah Michelle gellar Isla Fisher Rachel McAdams and Emily Blunt were considred for Rachel
Nolan did say that Joker would be in the Dark Knight Rises. He was meant to be behind the scenes pulling the strings. My guess is that his little cameo would've been the villain running the kangaroo court instead of Scarecrow.
I get your points with all the negatives and agree with a few but in my eyes The Dark Knight is still the best comic book movie and one of the best movies of all time. I can’t think of another comic book movie I would put over top it. Logan is another that would come close for me but that movie falls apart for me in the third act and only watched it once. I’ve rewatched the The Dark Knight series numerous times.
27:29 In the hospital Joker had his hand on the barrel of the gun so Harvey couldn't have shot him even if he wanted to. Joker also shifted the blame for Rachel's death and Harvey's scarring away from himself and onto Batman, Gordon and the mob convincing Harvey that if Batman and Gordon hadn't been trying to bring the mob down the mob wouldn't have hired him, Rachel wouldn't be dead and Harvey wouldn't be scarred. He manipulated Harvey into believing he was just a "mad dog" doing what the mob had hired him to do even though shortly after Joker got hired by them he turned on them and started trying to take over the city himself to set up his sick ferry game.
Harvey Dent (Harvey Two Face) is amazing and drives the plot forward. I always thought he was underated too. Aswell as Commissioner Gordom (Gary Oldman). But Heath Ledger deserves all the praise he got. So many great performances in this movie!!
One problem I have with this movie and specially with the next one is that there are too many "bright" scenes and sometimes Batman just looks like a guy walking around with a Batman suit. It's hard to explain but Batman needs do look dark to be believable.
Joker preferred Harvey surviving the bombs but I don’t think he would have been all that disappointed if traffic held Batman up and he died. It still would have thrown Gotham into chaos.
I like this film, but I also think this film is highly overrated! It takes itself far too serious. It’s a comic book movie, it has comic book logic, but they play it so serious as it was grounded in reality. There are so many times when it gets cheesy just as you pointed out. And Nolan overdoes it with his super dramatic city establishing shots from a drone.
There's nothing wrong with being a serious comic book movie. Batman is the prime superhero to be very serious, we don't want it otherwise. The whole idea of The Dark Knight trilogy is having extraordinary characters in an ordinary world. That was Nolan's pitch, making it grounded in reality.
Robert Alexe Ofc there’s nothing wrong with a serious comic book movie, like Joker. That one was grounded in reality, but not The Dark Knight. Cody named some of the points that are everything but realistic. Or do you really think criminals would not blow up the other boat in a Second to save themselves? There are dozens of scenes that are not realistic at all! That’s ok in a comic book movie Ofc, but then don’t play it so serious! It just doesn’t fit imo. I don’t say it’s an awful movie, I enjoy it, but I agree with Cody that it’s very overrated. Ppl tend to look over all the flaws.
@@dertodesking8379 Again, the whole idea is extraordinary characters in an ordinary world, so it fits. And we don't wanna see a live action Batman movie that's not very serious, we saw how that went in the past. The few flaws with this movie are so small that I'm not affected by and don't even care about because I love everything else about the movie. And Cody talked about and kept in mind all the small flaws and still gave it a 4.5/5 and loves it, which shows how little those things matter in the grand scheme of things, so it's not "very" overrated when you're only 0.5 below the general consensus and say it's awesome, amazing and one of the best superhero movies.
Robert Alexe To each his own. For me it’s overrated, for you it’s not. That’s ok with me. And I also want my Batman movie serious, that’s not the point.
I get what you said about the ending with joker was underwhelming and wanted more , from what I understand the third movie was supposed to have joker in it but because heath ledger passed the decided to go with bain for the last movie , but he'll yes I want more Heath as joker , he played that roll amazingly
R.i.P Heath Ledger man ... Many ppl didn't believe he can do this role ... But look what he did! Ledgendary Performance as The Joker
They said the same also about Joaquin Phoenix and now about Robert Pattinson. DC fans have a weird cycle hating on great actors then loving them
@@FPS117 💯
Count me as one of those people who thought, "Heath Ledger as Batman? The guy that made 10 Things I Hate About You? The guy that made A Knight's Tale? Noooooooooo! DC....what the fuck are you doing???? No freaking way!!!!" Boy....am I ever glad that I was so fucking wrong! Ledger killed it! Without a doubt Ledger IS The Joker! I can no longer think of the Joker without thing of Heath Ledger!
@This Is What Awesome Looks Like How can you even compare them? You only saw Joaquin's Joker for like 20 minutes. Joker is about his descent into that prolific character
Heath made history with this role, that he made this version of Joker; one of the most iconic movie villains of all-time.
Rest in piece, Heath.
The ending does make sense. When Dent had Gordon's family at the place where Rachel died, the police had a border already set up. By this time, Joker was in custody. Had they blamed Joker, everyone would have known they were lying. That would lead to an investigation into the other deaths. Joker was busy all day with the hospital and taking hostages so it wouldn't have been believable to blame them on him. Batman wouldn't want to falsely pin crimes on even someone like the Joker, and after the events of The Dark Knight, he can no longer allow himself to be affiliated with Gotham Police without risking more deaths. By "rebranding" himself, he not only severs all ties to authority, he also becomes the villain. Of course this changes by the end of The Dark Knight Rises. They kept their morals intact without hindering the prosecution of the mob. Most of the alleged plot holes in this and TDKR are actually explainable.
Exactly, well said.
I disagree, they could have just blamed it on any of the hundreds of random henchman running around. There was so much shit going on, nobody would have questioned it. Batman taking the blame makes no sense.
@@justinamenta7241 Truthfully, Batman is not the kind of character to pin murders on other people; he will accept responsibility for things he doesn't deserve but he won't pin it on someone else
@@BichaeldeAngelo he wouldn't have to pin it on a specific individual. Just say it was some guy with a mask
@@JaceDeanLove which would lead to large amounts of investigation which could possibly reveal the truth- I'm not saying it's perfect writing (there's probably other avenues that could've been explored) but at the same time, I think there's enough internal logic that in the immediate circumstance they did the best with what they could in thinking quickly.
Mark Hamill said that Heath Ledger’s Joker is really scary
To this day is The Dark Knight (2008) still my favorite Comicbook Movie, my favorite Christopher Nolan Movie and one of my favorite Movies of all time.
Christian Bale and Heath Ledger were money in this movie, had such great chemistry as characters and both individually are amazing actors
RIP Heath, your name lives on ❤
I completely agree.
I completely agree I always imagine their friendship.
CASH MONEY 💵💵💵💵💵
Heath kinda carried the movie, never liked Bale Batman.
People need to understand that just because someone says something is overrated doesn't mean they think it's bad.
Not only that, but they need to understand that just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean you can't adore it. In my mind, no film is perfect, and that's okay. My favorite movies of all time have small things here and there that could be slightly better. Does that ruin the experience? Not even close! There is no such thing as a perfect film, there are only films that we as individuals consider to be perfect.
@@alltheinnocence Exactly. I love this movie, but I am aware that it isn't perfect and that it has it's flaws. I wish people would understand that not everyone thinks the same as them and that we could just like and dislike certain movies and not be judged so harshly.
No some.just say it's overrated just to start a bandwagon hate train.
This movie doesn't have flaws though
@@jaredmartin7040 it does
When The Joker came to the fundraiser, he was looking for Harvey Dent. That was the reason for him being there. During the interrogation scene later on, he says to Bruce Wayne he thought Harvey Dent was Batman, when he jumped out the window to save Rachel. So, if he came to find Harvey Dent, and he thought Harvey Dent was Batman, then he had no further reason for being there. He came to find Harvey, and he thought Harvey jumped out the window, so why stick arround, if his motivation was no longer there?
Damn man, excellent points bro because that always bothered me that it was a plot hole that Joker just left the fundraiser. So now that you brought up those points it makes a hell of a lot more sense.
@@ernestlowenkopf2211 Thanks, glad to be helpful
Exactly
Are you sure? I always took that as the joker being sarcastic, and he was just toying with the Batman by saying that he really thought he was Dent considering he’d jump out of a building for her, but not actually believing it. I never took it as him actually believing Dent was Batman.
@@Views-ui2xh I think he did. I mean, Dent loved Rachel, he was a man with a lot of power and resources in Gotham, so why wouldn't the Joker believe it was him. Besides, the Joker said he only thought that for a moment, not that he thought that for like the whole movie or smth
The Dark Knight trilogy is one of the greatest trilogies ever made
The Dark Knight Rises was hot garbage
Undead 12335 not really
The dark Knight trilogy is the second best trilogy for me.
Number 1 is The Lord of the Rings.
@@undead12335. The dark Knight rises is brilliant. The hate for it is horseshit.
Kain VS Predator for me number one is Indiana Jones
In my top 5 movies of all time. Dark knight is amazing
Same for me👍🏽
This is my favorite movie ever!!! This is literally a masterpiece. Definitely my favorite one! Just an absolute sucker for this one!
I absolutely love your honesty and “no bullshit” attitude man. It really makes you stand out as a movie reviewer and I admire it so much! Great review! I also agree on it being overrated. I’m hitting up Tenet in theaters next week!!
Thank you
Love your fair and honest reviews man.
A nitpick negative I got for this film is the scene where he’s wearing the Batman suit & he disguises his voice even when he’s talking to Lucious Fox even tho Lucious knows his identity 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hahahahaha damn I wish I would've noticed that. Would have been a great bit.
Actually rewatched this movie just today😂😂 and I ended up standing up and clapping at the ending, even though instead of being in a theatre with a crowd I was in my living room by myself but I love this film😂😂 that's what I'm trying to say! 724/10
This film is a masterpiece.
This is my favorite movie of all time it never gets old .
The Dark Knight is a great movie but Heath Ledger's performance put it into one of the greatest movies of all time. Not sure how true it is but I heard if Ledger never passed away Nolan would of had The Joker return in the Dark Knight Rises which I think would have made that a better movie. And then I wonder if Ledger would of also had his own standalone Joker movie but we will never know. RIP Heath Ledger
Okay this is imo the best Batman film of all time
I know some people who say the Heath Ledger only won the Oscar only because he died. That always pissed me off because his performance in genuinely one of the best ever
This movie is not about the action, its full of philosophical layers, where upon reviewing, something new stands out, its a reflection of our world. That is why it is a masterpiece. Its not dependent of fight choreography, or cgi. Minimal cgi in the majority of scenes. The convenience plot 'errors are in EVERY film. I dismiss those as long as the characters are true to themselves. A film is fiction, its a stage on the screen, i let those nitpicking errors go. I couldnt have made it better myself, nor would i know any other director that could.
Cody talking about Alfred being Bruce's accomplice reminds me of the scene where Bruce was going to reveal that he was Batman to stop Joker from killing people and Alfred says "I suppose they're gonna lock me up as well as your accomplice" so Bruce jokes "Accomplice? I'm gonna tell them the whole thing was your idea."
I heard Heath's joker was going to return in dark knight rises and the story was going to follow his court proceedings and the reality to his chaos, that his actions had consequences. He wasnt going to be a main character but a background character when batman had to deal with a new threat.
I love the ending cause the joker actually won. They had to kill Harvey so they had to lie and sacrifice Batman and make him the bad guy. Such good storytelling
Sloppy
Cody, I love that teen wolf shirt you’re wearing! That movie is one of my favorites. “Never... say... die”
One of my favorite scenes is the final exchange between joker and Batman where joker continues talking and Batman visibly sighs like “f*ck dude, shut up”. Most realistic reaction to a villain ever.
This is my all time favorite movie! The acting is fantastic, and not just Heath Ledger, but everyone! Christian Bale, Aron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine are fantastic too. Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance is very underrated. It's got very deep and rich themes about chaos. It's very thrilling and intense! The film just overall groundbreaking! I've lost count of how many times I've watched this film. I can quote this ENTIRE film. An absolute masterpeice, I give it a 10/10 and an A+!
I remember being so excited when I heard Ledger being cast as joker and a photo was leaked of a silhouette of joker behind glass and I got excited. Going to the theater and watching this movie is probably one of the best experiences I ever had
This is the best of the Dark Knight trilogy. I'm curious for Cody's take on Batman Forever & Batman & Robin.
Apparently in the original script for the sequel to this involved the joker standing trial for his crimes and Harvey Dent surviving the fall and continuing to terrorise Gotham
Negative - Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Katie Holmes was WAAAAYYYY better as Rachel.
I’m definitely a Dark Knight fanatic but I like your channel content so much that I wanted to hear your criticisms on it. Good stuff.
You’re right Cody there has been some awesome comic book movies both before and after Dark Knight but I’ve gotta say in my opinion Dark Knight is still the best comic book movie.
This was the first comic book movie I really loved (besides the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy lol), it came out around my 13th birthday and I saw it in the theater. I was just amazed and immersed for the entire 2.5 hours, I’d never seen anything like it back then in 2008. It will always be one of my favorite movies of all time, and definitely one of my favorite comic book movies of all time. And quite frankly, I could write an entire essay about how great Heath Ledger was. Anyways, this wasn’t just a movie for me, it was a cinematic experience.
That’s a hell of a birthday present. Awesome
Easily the most unbiased review of The Dark Knight. Great job!
Heath Ledger's performance is a tour de force.
Heath Ledger was great as the Joker. One of my all time favorite performance! That being said Aaron Eckhart was overlooked! He was great also!
Holy smokes, Cody; you KILLED IT on this video!! Seriously, might be your best one.
The film that holds my most attendance record. Saw this film 10 times in theaters. Saw it Midnight with my friends in Joker and Batman cosplay. The other days with family and friends. Love this film. Not my number one favorite Batman film but still a very enjoyable film.
I truly truly love this movie, this is probably the best feeling character played ever, I don't think we'll ever get to see a joker like Heath Ledger. He was funny, witty, Scary, Crazy, spontaneous, I mean he was everything good and bad that a villain could be and has never been. I got really sad when I heard he passed away
Cody's absolutely right on this being a Joker movie, totally agree. I even chose the Joker character as my DVD cover.
Probably gonna see Tenet monday too. Its a double feature at the nearest drive in with unhinged as the second movie. Quite a night. And by the way, I have never heard anyone hating on the dark knight, didnt even think it was possible ! Thx again for the review!
I would have said this was my favorite batman movie until last year (i prefer batman begins now), but still love this movie to death
The Dark Knight is a textbook classic example of how to make an excellent sequel and a textbook classic example of how to make an excellent villain
R.I.P Heath Ledger another awesome video cody
I honestly believe that, had Heath Ledger survived, he would've been "The Next Big Thing". He was a rising star as was(loved "Ned Kelly"(this was a remake, Heath playing the title role in this version, Mick Jagger playing the same in the original) and "10 Things I Hate About You"), but his take on The Joker had him OWNING this movie, imo, and would've cast him into the stratosphere.
100% agree, the main reason I always go back and watch The Dark Knight is to see The Joker.
Does any movie need the line of dialogue “have a nice trip, see you next fall?” Also when you save Rachael from falling off of a building while crushing the roof of a car, why not scoop up the Joker when he comes out of the front door of said building?
27:32 If you look at the gun, joker holds onto the hammer of the gun; just in case if Harvey tries to shoot him it won't fire. A real subtle detail, but it shows joker was always a guy with a plan.
Greatest comic book film....ever. I have 3 of my tattoos because of this movie alone. It definitely made my top 10 films in life...ever. (I want your shirt) Being a Joker fan Heaths performance drove me to tears. Phenomenal
Yes! Finally you review this movie! Love it
I was literally scavenger hunting your channel for this review last week. Can’t wait to listen now much love CL
Where can I get that candyman mirror you have in the background? It's so kickass!
The very first scene where Gordon speaks to Harvey, Harvey brings up how much he’s investigated officers in Gordon’s unit. He mentions how there are people who he knows are guilty that Gordon still trusts. Joker reminds Harvey of this. That’s why he lets Joker go. Whether Joker was involved or not Maroni had moles in Gordon’s unit that likely would have done something like this down the line anyway.
That’s why I think he lets Joker go and focuses his hate on Gordon.
Dude. Cody. I. Totally agree with everything you said big fan of you brother nothing but love and positivity. Watching and hearing your points I couldn't help but bang my head as a yes. Love you brother.
This is a Masterpiece of a film.
While we’ve differed on a few of Nolan’s movies, we’re quite close here: I think it’s pretty good, but wouldn’t go much further than that. (Admittedly I was much more impressed when I first saw it in theaters, but when I went back later with different groups of friends certain things began to bother me more.)
His movies have gotten very exposition-heavy by this point, but still work better than they really should - probably because of how good his casts are. I can say the same thing about his next movie. He also has his characters verbally underline certain themes more than is really necessary (Caine talking about the Joker, Freeman’s worries about surveillance, and a good chunk of Eckhart’s scenes), though things never become quite as obvious or clunky as in, say, a James Cameron movie.
Agreed on the ending too, though I’d extend it to the last 20-30 minutes; it suddenly shifts gears into a slower, more self-important kind of movie where the themes are underlined even more heavily than before. That Dent becomes a villain and then dies so quickly is also a bit weird; Nolan needed to work on this character’s arc a bit more, and either give it more screentime or save it for the next film.
As for the action sequences, Nolan seemed to be getting more comfortable with those this time around, though they’re still not quite top-tier (some rather odd shooting/editing choices, but maybe you can chalk that up to the comic-book-panel aesthetic; I’ve heard that used as a defense, as well as the tendency in other scenes to cut between characters rather than show two at a time).
Already know how much you love Inception, but am curious as to your views on his remaining movies. Looking forward to seeing Tenet, and to getting back in a damn theater!
This film has endured very well for me over the years. I'll admit it didnt exactly blow me away when I first saw it (preferred Batman Begins) but its grown on me as the years go by and now its at a constant battle with BB. Love the film. I have some issues but its a movie I will regularly watch.
I enjoy the Norlan trilogy but the reason why I dont rewatching it often is the fighting and the way Bruce never really used his detective skills to help him. Great review. I agree with you. Cant wait for the new batman movie.
who the hell hates this movie?! its one of the greatest movies i have ever seen
Dark Knight is underrated. There is no question about whether it is the best comicbook movie of all time, it doesn't even have a close competitor (Watchmen, Days of Future Past, Winter Soldier and Infinity War would be the chasing pack but they are all a distance behind). The only question is whether this is the greatest film of all time. And the answer to that question is yes!
Freaking love this movie man. The reason I have heath's joker tattooed on my leg. I'm really excited to see The Batman, have a feeling mat Reeves and Pattinson will surprise alot of us. Great review Cody✌😁🤘
@Cody was fun to get your thoughts on this classic. Good an Bad i always appreciate a different perspective and usually learn something from it, even when we disagree. I personally feel this is the best LIVE ACTION version of Batman but all still pales to compare to what WE HERE feel is the best Batman The Animated Series..... Thanks for the upload, and remember just block and unsub the jerks anyone who wishes to threaten to leave a channel due to you not parroting their own points of view are not worth the HUGE time away from YOUR family these quality 20 an d35 minute videos take. Keep being YOU Cody. Wife and I are here til you shut it down.
I adore this movie, my second favourite of all time, masterpiece.
Loved the review cody, thanks for always being honest, love your channel.
18:58 preach Cody, PREACH. The glazing makes it all the worse.
A epic review of a epic Batman movie.
My favourite Batman film, Heath Ledgers performance is a masterclass, terrifying yet hilarious his Joker is unpredictable he's all about chaos not motivated by money which makes him a terrifying dangerous threat.
Besides the gruff Batman voice Kudos to Christian Bale who's performance captures the inner psyche of the character perfectly, the scene were he & Joker confront neach other at the police integration room where Batman beats up Joker & he just laughs at him is my favourite scene in the movie, here's a guy stronger more threatening beating down on a guy who just doesn't care if he lives or dies to the point & he just laughs in his face.
Great action, excellent performances by the cast, goosebump score from Hans Zimmer, just a shame he never got to see his performance on the big screen & he definitely deserved the Oscar because it's still my favourite Joker performance.
The Dark Knight is still one of the best movies ever made. A little overrated but doesn't change the fact that this is a masterpiece in it's own right. Also the best one in the trilogy and Nolan's best trilogy. There are some conveniences but still pretty much I can get over. Heath Ledger is still the best Joker movie and I do call out a few conveniences. Ledger was gonna come back for The Dark Knight Rises but Nolan wanted to respect his memory. The fighting style they developed here is the Keysi Fighting Mode. Katie Holmes didn't come back because she decided to do Mad Money. Still 12 years later, an amazing film. Can't wait for your review of Inception. I don't mind Bale's voice as Batman.
Also, overrated doesn't mean bad.
The whole trilogy is meant to tell Bruce's story of the man as Batman. But great review, Cody.
My only flaw are some inconveniences and I wish Two-Face was in it a bit more.
As far as favorite movies of all-time, this is number 49.
I'm fucking hyped for Tenet
There's no exact confirmation if The Joker was going to be in TDKR. He might've had a smaller role if he lived, but Nolan hasn't said anything about it. It doesn't substantially affect TDKR overall, and it's as much of a passion project as TDK is. I agree that this trilogy is still Batman/Bruce's story, as well as the Keysi fighting method. It doesn't need to be stylized.
So let me get this straight...you have a 49th favorite movie?
@@TB-sh5bh yes number 49 in my 100 Favorite Films of All-time.
Great review as always & this is one of my top 10 movies of all time.Love the Joker & the overall story...btw Katie didn't return because her husband at the time Tom,didn't want her to continue with the role.
I have always liked the idea that two-face could have never shot him anyway because hes holding the hammer of the gun
The Dark Knight is the greatest comic book movie of all time!
Captain America the winter soldier is better
@@aydenbaldwin3041 Good for you
@@JSPokemonYT how is winter soldier not better than the dark knight
Watchmen, Spielberg's Tintin and Deadpool are better and more faithful adaptations.
@@aydenbaldwin3041 it might be better to you, but not to other people. Its subjective. So to say "how is winter soldier not better than the dark knight" kinda makes it sound like you think its a fact that the movie is better just because you think its better. Stop trying to force your own opinion on to other people and act like its a fact.
Definitely in Top 5 or Top 10 of all time for me. I agree with your criticisms though Cody. Dark Knight is constantly quoted in my household.
OMG Cody! You have totally caused me to have epiphany after epiphany with this vid. I mean...after all the times I've seen this movie I never realized how flawed it was because of one simple thing HEATH EFFING LEDGER! He overshadows and steals so many scenes in this movie that it's just like a misdirection movie magic trick, litterally! You're spot on about the logic gaps, the fighting, the conveniences, Bale's Batman Voice...you've totally opened my eyes about this movie. I used to think this was the best movie of all time, but now I just realize that it just has the best acting performance of all time (obviously Maggie Gyllenhall's Rachel) JK! No but seriously Heath Ledger's Joker performance was literally so transcendent that It actually hid all the mistakes I otherwise would have noticed. Thanks for illuminating me man!
@Cody Leach There's a film from 1986 called The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer. I highly recommend checking this film out for two reasons. First off, it's just an awesome horror thriller but second is that I think the character that Rutger Hauer portrays is exactly like Heath Ledger's Joker. I've never heard Nolan confirm this but I know he's seen the film because he has discussed it in the past. There are so many similarities that it has made me think a little less of Ledger's Joker just because I don't find it to be that unique anymore. His performance is still outstanding and how that character affects Batman is interesting, but idk that I can say that it's original. Still love The Dark Knight though.
Also thank you Cody for your reviews I truly love your channel and keep up the great work
Adrien Brody Steve Carell Robin Williams Wanted To Play Joker In This Film Matt Damon Was Offered To Play Two Face But Turned it Down Due To scheduling conflicts Other Actors who Express interest for the role two face were Liev Schreiber Josh Lucas Ryan Phillippe Hugh Jackman was also considered Mark Ruffalo Audition For Two Face Sarah Michelle gellar Isla Fisher Rachel McAdams and Emily Blunt were considred for Rachel
Nolan did say that Joker would be in the Dark Knight Rises. He was meant to be behind the scenes pulling the strings. My guess is that his little cameo would've been the villain running the kangaroo court instead of Scarecrow.
Batman:"Let her Go!"
Joker:" Very poor choice of words"... (Releases his grip)
Hahaha, love it!
I love that you mention the bale growl. Terminator salvation first half he was John Conner second half he was batman
I super appreciate the Chucky doll in the background.
My only problem with the Two Face stuff is that I find it kind of funny how the coin flips perfectly alternate between heads and tails.
I get your points with all the negatives and agree with a few but in my eyes The Dark Knight is still the best comic book movie and one of the best movies of all time.
I can’t think of another comic book movie I would put over top it. Logan is another that would come close for me but that movie falls apart for me in the third act and only watched it once. I’ve rewatched the The Dark Knight series numerous times.
I fucking love The Dark Knight
Damn good Christopher Nolan review series, really enjoy watching you on your review's
Im so with you!
The Dark Knight with Joker 10/10
The Dark Knight without Joker 6/10
The dark night
The dark Knight rises
Without joker 1 outta 10
@@asee818 it's TRUE honesty
@@asee818 Umm hell no
This film is still awesome without Joker.
Cody you’ve gotta tell me where you got that shirt 🤣 I love it! Great review🙌🙌
27:29 In the hospital Joker had his hand on the barrel of the gun so Harvey couldn't have shot him even if he wanted to. Joker also shifted the blame for Rachel's death and Harvey's scarring away from himself and onto Batman, Gordon and the mob convincing Harvey that if Batman and Gordon hadn't been trying to bring the mob down the mob wouldn't have hired him, Rachel wouldn't be dead and Harvey wouldn't be scarred. He manipulated Harvey into believing he was just a "mad dog" doing what the mob had hired him to do even though shortly after Joker got hired by them he turned on them and started trying to take over the city himself to set up his sick ferry game.
I kove how heath's joker hanging upside down looks so much like Nicholsons dead joker
Harvey Dent (Harvey Two Face) is amazing and drives the plot forward. I always thought he was underated too. Aswell as Commissioner Gordom (Gary Oldman). But Heath Ledger deserves all the praise he got. So many great performances in this movie!!
I agree with the Rachel recasting issue. Besides that, masterpiece. And disagree with other critics.
One problem I have with this movie and specially with the next one is that there are too many "bright" scenes and sometimes Batman just looks like a guy walking around with a Batman suit. It's hard to explain but Batman needs do look dark to be believable.
Joker preferred Harvey surviving the bombs but I don’t think he would have been all that disappointed if traffic held Batman up and he died. It still would have thrown Gotham into chaos.
I think cody leach is stalking me,cuz i just got done watching this movie.🤣🤣😅
I like this film, but I also think this film is highly overrated! It takes itself far too serious. It’s a comic book movie, it has comic book logic, but they play it so serious as it was grounded in reality. There are so many times when it gets cheesy just as you pointed out. And Nolan overdoes it with his super dramatic city establishing shots from a drone.
There's nothing wrong with being a serious comic book movie. Batman is the prime superhero to be very serious, we don't want it otherwise. The whole idea of The Dark Knight trilogy is having extraordinary characters in an ordinary world. That was Nolan's pitch, making it grounded in reality.
Robert Alexe Ofc there’s nothing wrong with a serious comic book movie, like Joker. That one was grounded in reality, but not The Dark Knight. Cody named some of the points that are everything but realistic. Or do you really think criminals would not blow up the other boat in a Second to save themselves? There are dozens of scenes that are not realistic at all! That’s ok in a comic book movie Ofc, but then don’t play it so serious! It just doesn’t fit imo. I don’t say it’s an awful movie, I enjoy it, but I agree with Cody that it’s very overrated. Ppl tend to look over all the flaws.
@@dertodesking8379 Again, the whole idea is extraordinary characters in an ordinary world, so it fits. And we don't wanna see a live action Batman movie that's not very serious, we saw how that went in the past. The few flaws with this movie are so small that I'm not affected by and don't even care about because I love everything else about the movie. And Cody talked about and kept in mind all the small flaws and still gave it a 4.5/5 and loves it, which shows how little those things matter in the grand scheme of things, so it's not "very" overrated when you're only 0.5 below the general consensus and say it's awesome, amazing and one of the best superhero movies.
Robert Alexe To each his own. For me it’s overrated, for you it’s not. That’s ok with me. And I also want my Batman movie serious, that’s not the point.
@@dertodesking8379 👍
Nice Teen Wolf shirt by the way
I've been waiting for this review.
Bryan is going to freak
Thanks Cody Been Waiting For a While man 👍
Love this and I agree, Dent letting the Joker go made no sense to me either
I get what you said about the ending with joker was underwhelming and wanted more , from what I understand the third movie was supposed to have joker in it but because heath ledger passed the decided to go with bain for the last movie , but he'll yes I want more Heath as joker , he played that roll amazingly
Best Comic Book movie of all time The action the story the Performances 10/10 ☆☆☆☆☆
Lol okay
Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent/Two Face is frightening