100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #26: The Dark Knight (2008)

Directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Jonathan & Christopher Nolan.

What more can be written about The Dark Knight?   

When it burst onto screens in July of 2008, the think pieces were already everywhere. Some claimed it revolutionized not just superhero movies, but blockbuster cinema as a whole. Heath Ledger, just months after his tragic passing, was dubbed the leading candidate for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars due to his haunting, horrifying portrayal of the Joker (a prediction that ultimately came to pass). Christopher Nolan, already an exciting new voice in Hollywood, was proclaimed the hottest director in town.   

The Dark Knight captured the cultural zeitgeist in a way seldom seen in 2008. Feverish anticipation for the film, following on the heels of Nolan’s popular Batman Begins, resulted in sold-out theaters, lines around the block, and box office records, Quotes from the movie worked their way into daily conversation (and into this piece, as you’ll soon see), posters lined bedroom walls, and the film shot its way not only onto many a critic’s Top 10 list for the year, but onto many a critic’s “Top Movies of All Time” list as well.   

At the 2009 Academy Awards, it was nominated for eight Oscars, walking away with two. In addition, it caused the Academy to completely change its existing format due to intense backlash over the film being snubbed for Best Picture, in favor of Harvey Weinstein’s The Reader (remember that movie? No one else does either).   

The Dark Knight was hailed as an instant classic upon release — one that Roger Ebert called “a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy.”  

All of this is prelude to say: this writer agrees wholeheartedly with Ebert’s take on the film. The Dark Knight endures for many reasons, from the writing, to the direction, to the performances. It was a gigantic swing when it first came out, and the fact that Nolan and his team of collaborators managed to pull off such an accomplishment in the blockbuster landscape continues to be a minor miracle.   

Ebert and the vast majority of film critics highlight this in review after review for the film. And so, once again, I ask: what more can be written about The Dark Knight?  

Through the spiritual lens, much. What Ebert dances around in his own review, and what makes the film a particularly important one not only culturally but also, for the purpose of this list, spiritually, is the moral battle that the entire film is driven by.  

This isn’t your typical comic book movie, not by any stretch of the imagination. Yes — there’s the requisite costumes, explosions, and incredible special effects. But there’s an artfulness and poetry in the screenplay that elevates everything into far deeper waters than usually seen in this fare.  

*spoilers, of course, follow.  

“Why so serious?”  

The plot of the film revolves around the “battle for Gotham’s soul,” as Heath Ledger’s Joker says in the movie. He sets out to prove that anyone, when pushed far enough, will abandon their principles and give into chaos. It doesn’t matter if they’re ordinary or extraordinary — nobody is spared in the Joker’s mission to burn down all of Gotham. Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale), James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Gotham’s new “White Knight,” Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), are especially in his crosswords, as they seek to finally rid Gotham of the criminal underbelly that has poisoned it for decades. After a hopeful first act of the movie, this trinity of heroes, and the rest of Gotham, are plunged headfirst into the Joker’s quest to prove that, “when the chips are down, these civilized people, they’ll eat each other.”

In terms of performances, Ledger’s remains as haunting and iconic as ever. The greatest villain performance of all time? If it’s not, it’s very near the top. Matching him throughout the film are Bale, Eckhart, Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhall, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and a whole host of others. Each of the performances represents actors at the top of their game, but they are all in service to what’s written by Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, operating in a depth more often seen in the works of Michael Mann than comic books (Nolan famously was inspired by Mann’s Heat when writing and directing The Dark Knight).   

Each of the protagonists is tested to the limit by Ledger’s Joker. Each has to answer the question: how do we respond to adversity? Do we give in? Or, do we stand strong in our principles?   

Such questions face Catholics on a daily basis. How do we answer to temptation, to challenges, to sin? In the middle of the film, Dent goes too far in an interrogation and is challenged by Batman that to cross the line would undo everything they have fought for. Principles and morality must stand, even when it would be easier to do otherwise. While this scene illustrates Nolan’s ultimate philosophy of the movie, another scene goes even deeper — to even more satisfying results.  

“This city just showed you it’s full of people ready to believe in good.”  

Nolan provides an answer to the question of “what do we do in the face of adversity” numerous times throughout the movie, but never more so than in the Two Ferries sequence that makes up much of the film’s climax. It’s a bold stroke, especially considering how these films usually end: with a giant CGI fist fight. Not here.   

While Batman tries to resolve a hostage crisis and take the Joker into custody in an abandoned skyscraper, two ferries sit dead in Gotham Harbor. None of the film’s main cast are on these ferries — instead, they’re filled with people we haven’t seen before in the movie, who are simply pawns in the Joker’s “social experiment,” as he says. Each ferry is given a detonator and a choice: blow up the other ferry, or risk being blown up themselves. One ferry is made up of ordinary citizens, trying to escape Gotham before the Joker launches his next attack on the city. The other? Made up of criminals, incarcerated earlier in the film. Who will live? Who will die? They are given the decision. They have to choose.  

The Joker makes people choose between two terrible decisions throughout the movie, but this is his masterpiece, the choice that will finally destroy Gotham’s soul. What is he trying to prove? “That deep down, we're all as ugly as you?” Batman asks. Ultimately, yes. That’s exactly what he’s hoping to accomplish. Nolan builds tension masterfully here, utilizing editing, performances, and score to drive home the desperation of this sequence. Some on the ferries quickly come to terrible decisions, while others agonize over them. As you watch it unfold, you can feel Nolan asking the audience the same horrifying question: what would you choose to do?  

On the ferry full of ordinary citizens, they make the argument that the criminals had their chance and made poor choices — there is no reason men, women, and children should die instead of them. On the ferry full of criminals, one — played expertly by Tommy “Tiny” Lester in a brief role — tells the captain of the boat to give the detonator to him, so he can “do what you should’ve done ten minutes ago.”   

What should have been done ten minutes ago? In one of the film’s most effective moments, he tosses the detonator out the window, accepting that, if anyone should die, it's them. Other criminals gather around Lester’s character in this moment to comfort him, also accepting their fate. On the other ferry, when finally confronted with the choice to use the detonator, a man decides against using it. Each ferry chooses to not destroy the other, and instead believe that the other ferry will choose to do the right thing.  

The Joker, finally, is proven wrong. The camera lingers on his face in this moment, as, for the first time, confusion and shock registers. “You’re alone,” Batman says.   

Another choice is then laid before Batman to close this sequence: kill the Joker and end his reign of terror once and for all or stay strong in his “one rule” — not killing in the name of justice. He chooses the latter, becoming the “unstoppable force” that meets an “immovable object,” as the Joker says, a force of sheer good meeting a force of sheer evil, destined to do this dance forever. Earlier in the film, Batman is told that “he can’t give in.” Even in the face of hardship, he doesn’t. Those on the ferries make the same decision, with each of these souls serving as avatars for Nolan’s central philosophy in the film.  

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”  

And yet, The Dark Knight is not a film of easy answers. The Joker does win, in the end, in one key case. Harvey Dent, played beautifully by Aaron Eckhart, represents Gotham’s “White Knight” throughout the film, serving as the public face of the attempts to finally free Gotham of the mob. The Joker, of course, targets Dent specifically, looking to show that even the best of Gotham can fall. Which, in the end, he does. As Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon says, “we bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore him down. People will lose hope.” 

 
Nolan does not end here, however. In what is perhaps the most iconic scene of the movie, Batman makes the decision to take the blame for all that Harvey did. To take the hatred. To take being hunted. To take being seen as the villain. All so that the city can continue to believe that good can win, and that the best cannot fall. He takes on Harvey’s sins for the good of Gotham. Catholics can see the clear spiritual reference being made here — the pain of sacrifice, the cost of it, but also how sacrifice can purify and help others.  

 
As Catholics, we are confronted daily with choices. We are tested. Do we give into these challenges, or do we remain firm in our beliefs? Do we stand strong, or do we just give into the chaos? The Joker wants us to believe that this is the right way to go with our morality. But Batman and all those on the ferries prove there is another way — a better way.   

In the character of Harvey Dent, Nolan shows that yes, even the best among us can fall to sin. That the night truly is darkest just before the dawn. But, in the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman, Nolan also shows that yes, the dawn is coming. Men can stand firm in their principles and sacrifice everything for those they love. People still can believe and stand for good — an ideal worth fighting for, worth dying for.  

“You truly are incorruptible, aren’t you?”  

What more can be written about The Dark Knight? As it turns out, much. This examination of the central philosophy at the heart of the film — that men can and should stand strong in the face of evil — only scratches the surface of everything at play. Such themes and such conversations are capable of existing in giant, blockbuster movies consumed by the masses. It's part of the reason why The Dark Knight still endures to this day. This writer can only hope that more writers and directors take this lesson from the film and apply it to more populist entertainments.   

In the end, maybe one line of the Joker can be embraced: “it's not about money. It's about sending a message.”  

And what is Nolan’s message? I turn to one final quote from an endlessly quotable movie.  

“Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They’ll hate you for it, but that’s the point of Batman...He can make the choice that no one else can face. The right choice.”