Jonathan spent a further two months refining it until Christopher had finished directing The Prestige. The Dark Knight was also voted the greatest superhero movie by readers of Rolling Stone (2014), [416] and as one of New Zealand's favorite films (2015). The Joker was written as a purely evil psychopath and anarchist who lacks reason, logic, and fear, and could test the moral and ethical limits of the Batman, Dent, and Gordon. Believing Dent is the hero the city needs and the truth of his corruption will harm Gotham, the Batman takes the blame for his death and actions and persuades Gordon to conceal the truth.

In the second issue, we break it right down to the bare essentials, with only Batman's fists to see him through. One of the strengths is that he can be any number of things: a dark detective, an action hero, a horror figure, an ethereal spirit of the night, and so forth. Describing how his character had evolved from Batman Begins, Christian Bale said Wayne had changed from a young, naive, and angry man seeking purpose to a hero who is burdened by the realization his war against crime is seemingly endless. The dialogue Jonathan considered most important, "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain", came late in development. Chicagoan authorities had been supportive during filming of Batman Begins, allowing the production to shut stretches of roads, freeways, and bridges.The Dark Knight includes Chicago locations such as Lake Michigan, which doubled as the Caribbean Sea where Wayne boards a seaplane; [107] Richard J.

From the title itself to a majority of the story's direction, it's easy to assume One Dark Knight is a "dark and gritty" comic. Analysts said its success would be influenced by the lengthy running time that limited the number of screenings per day, and counter-programming from the romantic comedy Mamma Mia! In The Dark Knight 's final act, the Batman employs an invasive surveillance network by co-opting the phones of Gotham's citizens to locate the Joker, violating their privacy. h] He considered Dent as having a duality similar to the Batman's, providing interesting dramatic potential. His performance was praised by critics although they often found his scenes difficult to watch in the wake of his death.Christopher described Rachel as the emotional connection between Wayne and Dent, ultimately serving as a further personal loss to fuel Wayne's character. In the 2010s, a poll of 177 film critics by the BBC in 2016 listed it as the 33rd- best film of the 21st century, [374] and The Guardian placed it 98th on its own list. Readers of Empire have alternatively voted it the fifteenth (2008), [413] third (2014), [414] and the fourth-greatest film ever made (2020). Howard and Zimmer separated their duties by character; Howard focused on Dent and Zimmer focused on the Batman and the Joker. They are able to be grounded or fantastic, able to be prestigious or pure blockbuster entertainment, to be dark and gritty or light, to be character-driven or action-packed, or any variation in-between.