Dark Knight Was A Monster Hit For 5 Major Reasons

July 22, 2008 by ~DaRk-EyE~ , , , ,

dark knight, heath ledger, christian bale, joker64% of Dark Knight moviegoers say they plan to see the movie again in the theater, according to a poll conducted this weekend by fandango. Sixty-two percent of those respondents said that Heath Ledger’s incredible performance is the factor that makes them want to see it a second time.

I should probably preface this post with the fact that honestly, I’m not that much of a Batman fan. Growing up I enjoyed the Old Skool Batman movie with Michael Keaton, but since then I’ve had a hard time with all of the later Batman movies. Still, I managed to snag a much-coveted ticket to a midnight showing of The Dark Knight, and was incredibly impressed. I won’t give another gushing review, because you can read those anywhere. But I do believe this movie will win actual awards (Best Actor, Best Movie?) from the Academy later on.The Dark Knight is an exceptional movie because the people who created it thought completely outside of the box.


5 Major Reasons Why Dark Knight Succeeded

1). Going IMax - Shooting a film largely with IMAX cameras had been a goal of director Christopher Nolan for a long time, but the right project hadn’t come along until The Dark Knight. There are many obstacles to shooting in IMAX. First, they’re much heavier and bulkier than traditional cameras, so Nolan had to modify the camera arms so that they could support the weight. However, an even bigger obstacle proved to be the limited film was the fact that IMAX cameras have 2 and a half minute load times.

Even though there were many obstacles to filming the movie in IMAX, the results are breathtaking. The frames are much larger and clearer, and everything comes to life. By overcoming obstacles with IMAX technology, The Dark Knight was allowed to reach a whole new level of engagement.

2.) Sparse and creepy music - Instead of crafting a film score like other action/superhero blockbusters, The Dark Knight takes a minimalist approach to film score. Instead of using loud, broad music to set the tone in the movie, the film score effectively steps out of the way, letting the incredible acting by Heath Ledger and Company take over the tone of the movie.

The music also has another interesting twist to it: When music is actually present, it’s done with almost a horror movie feel. When the Joker is going to do something creepy, there is a slight buzzing sound that grows. It’s not an instrument, just a buzzing sound. Very creepy, and very effective.

3). Relied on real acting as opposed to special effects - I’ve never walked away from a movie and been so amazed by the quality of acting from all actors in the movie. This is not usually the case for action movies, or any movies for that matter. By holding out for the best actors and getting the right chemisty between them, the writers and cast and crew ensured that the movie was a step-above all other action movies this summer.

4). Re-working the Joker’s character from the ground-up - A common theme to the direction of the movie was to “re-work” every aspect of the movie. There’s no better example of this than Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. Instead of taking the typical, mostly-funny and hardly scary crack at one of the most portrayed villains, Ledger created something altogether different. The Joker is insane. He is by far scarier and altogether demented. In fact, that’s what makes him so scary. You can still tell he’s a person. Just the most twisted person you’ve ever seen. Instead of a playful villian, he’s something that any city would fear to have running loose.

5). A lot more detail about the characters - Instead of placing the sole emphasis of the movie on limitless special effects budgets, the writers of The Dark Knight brought out the storyline of the characters more than any other Batman movie. This allowed you to identify with the characters much better, pulling you in to the movie as opposed to being a spectator.

0 comments