Hi everyone!

Welcome back for another week of reviews!

This week, we have so much in store for everyone! I’ll get to today’s exciting Sponsor Sunday review in a bit, but that’s just one of seven amazing reviews for you this week. Tomorrow, Ryan L. Terry returns for Matinee Monday with a review for the comedy horror reboot, BLUMHOUSE’S FANTASY ISLAND. Tuesday, the Comics in Motion Podcast return to cover the DCEU’s latest entry, BIRDS OF PREY. On Wednesday, I’ll be reviewing the low-budget, independent thriller TURBINES, featuring interview segments from writer/director Igor Breakenback. On Thursday, Christina Eldridge returns with her review of the latest GKIDS distribution, RIDE YOUR WAVE. On Friday, Andrew Campbell returns with his review of Shudder Exclusive BLISS. And I round out the week with a Chinese animated film called HAVE A NICE DAY, as part of our Under the Kanopy series.

But today is Sunday, and more importantly, Sponsor Sunday, thanks to the monthly contribution by Ken at the Ocho Duro Parlay Hour. Sponsor Sunday is one of the benefits you receive when you sign up as a sponsor at patreon.com/onemoviepunch, where you get to force me to review a film of your choice, as long as we haven’t reviewed it yet, with just a few exceptions. Honestly, I’m really starting to wonder if people don’t realize what forcing actually means, because you do NOT have to force me to watch 2008’s THE DARK KNIGHT, easily one of my favorite films with one of my favorite performances. I also have a fun story about catching the midnight showing, and the power of avoiding trailers.

But that’s not all! Over at patreon.com/onemoviepunch, we just posted our next installment in “One Movie Punch Presents: Zero Percent”, where I review films which have acquired the lowest possible rating at Rotten Tomatoes. This installment we look at 10 MINUTES GONE (2019), a crime thriller that didn’t fare well with the critics at all. The review is available publicly for a limited time, but you can maintain access by contributing to One Movie Punch at any level. And then you can participate in Sponsor Sundays. Also, check back next week for our full interview with Igor Breakenback for his most recent feature film, TURBINES (2019).

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Here we go!

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<< ODPH PROMO >>

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Today’s movie is THE DARK KNIGHT(2008), the landmark comic book film directed by Christopher Nolan and written for the screen in collaboration with Jonathan Nolan, based on a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, based on the characters by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson. In the wake of BATMAN BEGINS, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has escalated his campaign as The Batman against the criminal underworld of Gotham, while a new District Attorney named Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is putting mobsters behind bars in the courts. But when a mysterious new criminal shows up, inspired by the actions of The Batman, he begins to change Gotham for the worse, one terrorist act at a time.

Oh, we’re definitely spoiling things. I mean, how have you NOT seen this film?

I love the midnight showing. It used to be that the midnight showing was for the limited run independent feature, or the classic throwback picture, usually with a raucous, slightly intoxicated crowd. Eventually, the distributors and theaters got wise to this social phenomenon and started offering midnight premieres for blockbusters. My first taste of this STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE, in 1999, which could have had a better theater and a better movie, but I loved it. It wasn’t until I moved to Denver, and was working in Los Angeles, that I saw more of the independent fare. Two years of midnight showings, whenever practical, and back then, I had all the energy in the world. And then a kid showed up and I spent more time as a parent and settling into a new job. It was the beginning of my second major movie drought, where I mostly watched films on DVD, and before online streaming was really a thing.

I sure as hell missed BATMAN BEGINS in the theaters, with a one year old, a busy job, and frankly, not enough desire to see what the guy who did MEMENTO might do with Batman. I mean, I saw INSOMNIA, and it wasn’t as mind-blowing. What could Nolan possibly do? And a bunch of other things I told myself, because what I really wanted to do was get out of the house. The folks who saw it seemed to like it, though, and I just missed making it to the theater before the longer wait for DVD. My life got a little easier a few years later, though, and I went back to watch BATMAN BEGINS via rental before organizing a bunch of friends for a midnight showing at our local IMAX theater for THE DARK KNIGHT. We went out for drinks, then made our way to the theater, and settled in for what I hoped would be at least as good as BATMAN BEGINS. And I walked out of the film at the end completely and quite literally speechless.

If you haven’t been able to tell on this podcast, I generally have a lot to say. So, to leave a theater speechless, born out of complete admiration, means something phenomenal has happened. The last time this happened to me was the first time I walked out of JURASSIC PARK, completely in love with the film, and returning to see it in the theater about eight times, most of which were packed weekend dollar showings. I wouldn’t have the luxury of doing that for THE DARK KNIGHT, no matter how much I wanted to, but I did sneak back a second time for the details I missed picking my jaw up off the floor.

I spent a full week processing how great it was, and not being able to communicate how great it was to anyone. It wasn’t just that I was afraid of giving away spoilers. I didn’t have the critical vocabulary to describe what I had just seen, nor did anyone I know understand Batman the way comic book nerds did. Geek culture hadn’t quite hit its crescendo in 2008, so when most people thought about Batman, they thought about four properties: the original Batman television show; the original, fragmented, and flawed film franchise; “Batman: The Animated Series” and its successors; and the aforementioned BATMAN BEGINS. Most people who were Batman fans didn’t even read the comic books, or not as obsessively as I did. My uncle would feed me trade paperback at birthdays and holidays, including “Batman: The Killing Joke” and “The Dark Knight Returns” and a host of others. I picked up a few series, even, before I had to ship off to college. I knew I didn’t want a Nicholson repeat, or a cartoon Joker. I wanted the real deal, from the comics I loved, and I was convinced a PG-13 rating just wasn’t going to cut it. I didn’t know how to communicate that to anyone.

And luckily, I wouldn’t have to, because the Nolan Brothers would do just that. If there’s one thing I admired with BATMAN BEGINS, it’s that they didn’t lead with the Joker, but made it that exciting teaser bit at the end. As mentioned in my review for JOKER (Episode #630), Joker wasn’t really intended to have an origin story, at least not Jerry Robinson’s version. Joker just explodes on the scene as a full-blown psychopath before the Comics Code took the sting out of him. The Nolan Brothers take the same approach to Joker, swooping in to thrive on the chaos created by Batman’s campaign against organized crime. The opening sequence gives us a taste of what Joker has in store for Gotham thematically, setting his fellow bank robbers against each other with their greed, and revealing his motivations are not guided by money or even power. It also gives us an idea of how this war will be waged, with very real modern weapons and none of the circuses, clowns, or playing cards of the previous renditions, aside from the wry masks they are all wearing.

Most importantly, it brings the story back down to the street level, where Batman flourishes best. Let’s face it, when the Justice League gets together to square off against the world-destroying entities that threaten the planet, you kind of wonder why Batman and Green Arrow are even on the team compared to the rest of the superheroes. I mean, aside from their multi-billion dollar fortunes depending on the timeline and incarnation. I always think Batman looks a little stupid against those massive threats, which is part of the reason BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE never really sat well with me, despite pulling heavily from “The Dark Knight Returns”. Opening with a bank heist and keeping the scope of each target or objective relatively narrow throughout THE DARK KNIGHT only enhances the believability, and with that firm base in realism, we get to go on the ride of a lifetime.

Clearly the major star of this picture was Heath Ledger as Joker, for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor posthumously, but not undeservedly. Ledger made his own Joker, taking the thematic influences for the script, and developing a character that I still cannot believe was played by the same guy who was William Thatcher in A KNIGHT’S TALE. His speech and mannerisms and entire performance combines with the incredible costuming and make-up to make a perfect character, which the Nolan Brothers then take him through a genius script. I actually argued at the time that he should have been put up for Best Lead Actor, but that was probably my heart talking more than my head. Little did I know that would come later for Joaquin Phoenix. The rest of the cast is also great, building off the genius casting for BATMAN BEGINS, with the obvious and unavoidable anomaly of Maggie Gyllenhaal taking over Rachel Dawes, after Katie Holmes declined to return. With the exception of a few lines where Bale can’t breathe through the mask, nearly everything is perfect.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen this film. I must have watched it at least ten times when I got the DVD, and then our family went through the whole trilogy one summer with our daughter. But each time I watch it, I see different things. This time around, I was struck by how each scene reflected the main character, with stark, empty spaces for Bruce Wayne/Batman; crowded, chaotic places for Joker; and destroyed places when we too briefly get to see Aaron Eckhart’s Two-Face. I also loved the humor, which poked fun at BATMAN BEGINS in some funny ways, along with the property as a whole. I laughed out loud when Alfred realizes he’ll end up being an accomplice, and Bruce quips he planned to say the whole thing was Alfred’s idea.

For me, the mark of a truly great film is one that you can watch over and over again and continue to discover new things. Christopher Nolan has spent a lifetime building a filmography of truly great films. THE DARK KNIGHT is such a great second act film that I wish we would have had a few more films before ending on THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. A Nolan Riddler, or a Nolan Poison Ivy all have a lot of potential. But I wouldn’t trade any of Nolan’s recent work for those films. And I suspect that would have been the price for such fantasies, aside from the coming comic book film avalanche. I will continue to re-watch this film and will continue to find new things about it that I like, as all great art does. I came to understand film better because of THE DARK KNIGHT, and this past viewing has shown me that I still have things to learn.

THE DARK KNIGHT is probably the greatest comic book movie ever made, a near perfect adaptation of source material for the modern era, proving comic book movies could be something truly profound. The Nolan Brothers would return for an excellent second act film, building off their work on BATMAN BEGINS, and providing a backdrop for one of the greatest performances of all time. I would recommend this film to everyone, as many times as possible.

Rotten Tomatoes: 94% (CERTIFIED FRESH)

Metacritic: 84 (MUST SEE)

One Movie Punch: 10/10

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) is rated PG-13 and is currently playing on Netflix and Roku.