Batman : The Dark Knight Blog

The Dark Knight (film)

The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. The film is the sequel to the 2005 release Batman Begins, which rebooted the Batman franchise after an eight-year hiatus. Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins, continues as the director of the sequel, which stars Christian Bale again as Batman and Heath Ledger as the Joker. The film follows Batman becoming more of a detective, dealing with the escalated situation from the end of Batman Begins as well as the dilemma of his vigilante crusade, and his friendship with district attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart.

Nolan was initially unsure of returning for the sequel, but eventually decided upon creating a new interpretation of the Joker, based on the villain’s original appearances in comic book lore. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as had been done for Batman Begins, as well as several other locations in and outside the United States. The director also used an IMAX camera to film four major action sequences, including the Joker’s first appearance. The Batsuit was redesigned, with a cowl allowing Bale to move his head, and a recreation of the Batcycle known as the Batpod will be introduced.

The studio undertook a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight in which websites were created so Batman fan collaboration would reveal items such as new screenshots from the film. The film will also be marketed by selling related toys and an animated direct-to-DVD anthology titled Batman: Gotham Knight that is set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight has a tentative release date of July 18, 2008 in the United States and July 25 in the United Kingdom.

Premise
The film will detail Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey Dent rounding up the criminals that plague Gotham City. In particular, they will battle a mysterious criminal mastermind known only as The Joker.

Cast and characters

reprises the role of Bruce Wayne / Batman, a billionaire who has dedicated himself to being the vigilante protector of Gotham City in the form of Batman, the Dark Knight. Bale felt confident in his reprisal because of the positive response to his performance in Batman Begins. He trained in the Keysi Fighting Method, and performed many of his own stunts.The actor described Batman’s dilemma as whether “[his crusade is] something that has an end? Can he quit and have an ordinary life? The kind of manic intensity someone has to have to maintain the passion and the anger that they felt as a child, takes an effort after awhile, to keep doing that. At some point, you have to exorcise your demons.” Bale felt that because of the strong establishment of Batman’s personality in Batman Begins, it was unlikely that the character would be overshadowed by the villains, as with the first four films. Instead, “I have no problem with competing with someone else. And that’s going to make a better movie.”

Heath Ledger plays the Joker, a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy”.Before Ledger was confirmed as the Joker in July 2006, actors Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody,, Steve Carell, and Robin Williams had publicly expressed interest in the role. Nolan had previously met with Ledger on a number of supposed projects in the past, but had been unable to do so. Ledger had personally expressed heavy interest in the role, and Nolan agreed upon his anarchic interpretation of the character. The Joker marks Ledger’s first villainous role. To prepare Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character’s posture, voice and psychology.[8] While he initially found it difficult, Ledger was eventually able to generate a voice which didn’t sound like Jack Nicholson’s take on the character in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film. He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker’s thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance, and he also looked at the books Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Ledger also cited inspiration in A Clockwork Orange and Sid Vicious.Ultimately, “there’s nothing that consistent”, as his main objective was to frighten the audience. Playing the role put a strain on the actor’s sleeping patterns.

Aaron Eckhart plays district attorney Harvey Dent / Two-Face, for whom battling the Joker takes a dark toll. Eckhart described the character of Harvey Dent as coming from the same world as Batman, but simultaneously being apart from it. “I’m looking for the tension between the two, the similarities between the two. I want to find what’s similar to Batman and then find what’s opposite to him,” Eckhart said. Before Eckhart was cast in February 2007, actors Liev Schreiber, Josh Lucas, and Ryan Phillippe had expressed interest in the role.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes, a childhood friend of Bruce and one of the few to know he is Batman. Actress Katie Holmes, who portrayed Rachel Dawes in the previous film, was purported in August 2005 by producer Charles Roven to be signed for The Dark Knight. In January 2007, Holmes had turned down an offer to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes due to scheduling conflicts, and the role was recast two months later.

source

Popularity: 1% [?]