The Dark Knight

2022 - 3 - 5

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Screen Rant"

Is The Batman Better Than The Dark Knight? (Screen Rant)

Matt Reeves' The Batman is the best Batman movie since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, but is it better than the 2008 film? Batman is a character who works ...

Even though The Batman can't beat The Dark Knight, there's no shame in that: that is one of the all time great comic book movies - arguably the all time great comic book movie - and one that showed the world they could be much deeper and more complex as works of art; The Batman doesn't match that, but it's an offering that continues its legacy of re-shaping how Batman is viewed, while being different enough (and good enough) that it can still stand apart. The Batman is very good, and great in parts, but The Dark Knight is still the masterpiece, a film so complete and so endlessly captivating that it has not been topped. That is what sets The Dark Knight apart in terms of superhero movies and from The Batman: not only is it jaw-dropping in its spectacle, an astonishing technical feat, and a mastery of acting craft, but it has a terrifying unpredictability to it that allows it to reach greater heights. Oddly enough, for all this is the first movie in a possible trilogy versus the last, that is a movie this feels somewhat alike: not in terms of story - although The Riddler's uprising in Gotham has shades of Bane's (Tom Hardy) - but more in how it has some contrivances, stumbles, and ideas that don't fully meld together in the end. Then there's the small matter of The Joker, which is the biggest reason The Dark Knight is better than The Batman. That's not simply because he's a better villain - and he is, for all Dano's qualities; Ledger remains the all time great in terms of comic book movie villains, so completely losing himself within the character in a way that is equal parts menacing and mesmerizing. The comparisons to The Dark Knight have perhaps been even stronger for The Batman, which is the first solo live-action Batman movie since 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, and the marketing for which has promised a grounded take on the character that has, in parts, evoked Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Likewise, Michael Caine's Alfred remains the best ever in live-action, and in The Dark Knight there is an ideal balance of fatherly love and wisdom, while also being someone who'll challenge Batman where necessary, that gave the movie a greater deal of heart, humor, and emotion than is seen from Andy Serkis' Alfred's relationship with Bruce, which gets one stand-out hospital scene but otherwise isn't quite as strong. There are elements of horror to The Batman, which is present in The Riddler emerging from the shadows in its opening scene, and in how it presents Batman has a terrifying creature of the night, stalking his prey before enacting his brutal, bloody vengeance. For all its strengths, and there are many, The Batman isn't better than The Dark Knight as a whole. Robert Pattinson is the third live-action Batman actor of the 21st Century, but he quickly establishes himself as a very different presence to Christian Bale. Of course, Bale has three completed movies to fully showcase his growth as Batman, something Pattinson will hopefully achieve too, but the early signs are great: Pattinson is a superb Batman, arguably already better than Bale was in his first movie, and certainly with the potential to grow further (Bale's best performance was in The Dark Knight Rises). The biggest difference between Pattinson and Bale's Batmen is perhaps less the suit, and more when they're out of it. Batman is a character who works in the shadows, and all Batman movies now live in the shadow of The Dark Knight, which has stood as the seminal take on its eponymous hero ever since its release. Any Batman movie is going to share some similarities to those that have come before, such is the nature of the character and the world he exists within.

Fans Are Divided Over Whether The Batman Is Better Than The ... (Looper)

Now that "The Batman" has finally been released, fans are debating whether the film is better than "The Dark Knight," starring Christian Bale and Heath ...

Likewise, u/Dota2Curious added, "We're blessed that we have 2 amazing Batman movies that are at a transcended level." Despite having the same source material and main character, "The Batman" and "The Dark Knight" are vastly different thanks to the creative interpretations of the films' directors. Additionally, u/SnooRoberts1751 argued, "Nolan's movies are phenomenal movies that use Batman characters.

Zoë Kravitz Recalls Being Told She Was "Too Urban" to Audition For "The Dark Knight Rises" (POPSUGAR)

However, in a recent interview with The Observer, the 33-year-old star shared that she was turned down for a role in the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises." "I don't know if it came directly from Chris ...

i was simply giving an example of what it was like to be a woman of colour in this industry at that time . . . let's all calm down - as well as fact check before we write things that are untrue." "i was NOT told i was too urban to play catwoman in the dark knight. Zoë Kravitz stars as Catwoman in the Robert Pattinson-led film "The Batman," which debuted at No. 1 at the box office this weekend.

'The Batman' vs. 'The Dark Knight': Which Movie Is Greater? (Column) (Variety)

'The Dark Knight' was a great comic-book movie with no follow-through. 'The Batman' is like the sequel it should have had.

“The Batman” leads us in — and out — of a vortex. But “ The Batman” is like the follow-up that “The Dark Knight” should have had. “The Dark Knight” deserved a great sequel as much as “The Godfather” did. Yet there’s one way it looks different, and that relates to the very existence of “The Batman.” Fourteen years ago, “The Dark Knight” seemed as dark as a comic-book film could be, and in Ledger’s performance it still is. “The Batman” achieves the true moral ambiguity we associate with the ’70s (though it’s also there in films like “Boogie Nights” and “Munich”) in the hypnotic scene when Paul Dano’s Riddler, with his schizophrenic codes and avenging smirk, not only outs Bruce Wayne as the Batman, but uses their contrasting orphan stories to target him as one of the one percent. “The Dark Knight Rises,” with the exception of Anne Hathaway’s delectable performance as Catwoman, was Nolan at his most murky and overblown — not a terrible sequel, exactly, but surely one of the most disappointing sequels ever made. And one key reason the film failed to have almost any influence is that its sequel, “The Dark Knight Rises,” which didn’t come out until four years later, was such a colossal letdown. “The Dark Knight” was a one-shot. That’s an observation as lame as it is unseemly, for it’s simply not true — no more so than it would be about the films of James Dean or Janis Joplin’s “Pearl” or Jonathan Larson’s “Rent.” And though “The Dark Knight” was never a perfect film (it’s got a handful of narrative glitches and a subplot or two I actually wish were longer), it’s a comic book movie made with a sinister passion and a memorable human center. A villain whose goal — whose only destination — is disruption may speak even more to us now, in the age of Trump the showbiz fascist and Putin the warmonger with no endgame. At the time, the film wasn’t just “dark” but resonantly dark.

The Batman Falls Shy of The Dark Knight Trilogy's Opening ... (CBR)

After a huge opening weekend, Matt Reeves' The Batman falls just short of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises at the box office.

The Batman has been well-received by critics and audiences and has several spinoffs in development. As for the Batman himself, the film follows the Dark Knight in his second year of crime-fighting. The Batman opened to $128.5 million at the box office, falling shy of The Dark Knight's $155 million and The Dark Knight Rises' $160 million.

Zoe Kravitz addresses being rejected from Dark Knight Rises role ... (The Independent)

In 2015, the actor, who is the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, revealed that she was unable to “get an audition for a small role they were casting”, ...

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. “Being a woman of colour and being an actor and being told at that time that I wasn’t able to read because of the colour of my skin, and the word ‘urban’ being thrown around like that, that was what was really hard about that moment.” In 2015, the actor, who is the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, revealed that she was unable to “get an audition for a small role they were casting”, telling Nylon: “It was like, ‘What does that have to do with anything?”

The Batman Review: No Batman Film Will Ever Be As Good As The ... (DMARGE)

Matt Reeves' The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz & Paul Dano was a solid Batman film; but wasn't better than Nolan's.

With all that being said, overall, The Batman was an extremely solid Batman film. Robert Pattinson was excellent; he played Bruce Wayne/Batman as a broody and clearly tortured man who at the end of the day is just trying to make his city better by any means necessary, while Zoë Kravitz was a delight to watch and is hands down the best Catwoman that’s ever graced our screens. Additionally, some of Batman’s voiceovers were slightly cliched to the point of cringe.