Do you know where you were on this day 18 years ago?
You probably don’t, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was at a movie theater formerly known as Ridge Cinema in Davie, Florida, watching on opening day with a group of my closest friends.
I can recall this partially because of how mind-blowing the movie was (more on that in a bit) but also because some guy had a in the front row and I had to run to the concession stand and tell some poor teenager working his summer job to call 9-1-1.
He survived, but they had to end the movie prematurely and offer us vouchers to come watch it again at a later date for free.
I didn’t even see the climax and resolution until the DVD release, and I still thought “The Dark Knight” was the greatest superhero movie ever made. That’s how good it was.
18 years later, and I still hold that opinion.
Sure, movies like “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War” were bigger spectacles, but Christopher Nolan’s grounded and gritty take on the caped crusader is still a nearly flawless masterpiece that stands the test of time almost two decades after its cinematic release.
I thought with all of the controversy surrounding Nolan and his questionable decisions pertaining to his latest blockbuster, “The Odyssey,” it would be nice to look back on a film from the director/producer that is almost universally beloved.
The word “perfection” gets thrown around a lot, and while I don’t think “The Dark Knight” is perfect (nor do I think any movie is perfect, for that matter), it’s about as close as a blockbuster film can get.
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN CONFIRMS BIZARRE ‘THE ODYSSEY’ CASTING CHOICES INCLUDING RAPPER TRAVIS SCOTT
Let me preface a lot of what I’m about to say with this: I am no film junkie and I’m certainly not a classically trained critic, but I think that is what makes my opinion a good one.
In a way, I represent the masses, the lowest common denominator, if you will.
So when I tell you this movie is almost perfect, it isn’t coming from a place of pretentious snobbery, but as a casual fan.
One of the biggest knocks against modern superhero movies is that they are too bloated and stuffed full of unnecessary protagonists and antagonists.
Go watch without having sat through the requisite 24 other films you have to view before going into it, and your head will be spinning by the 10th-minute mark.
“Who is this blue chick and why the hell is she hanging with Iron Man?”
Even if you never saw “Batman Begins” and went into “The Dark Knight” fresh, Nolan does a fabulous job of introducing new characters and establishing old ones in the same breath.
You don’t need to know who Rachel Dawes is from the first movie, because in the first 15 minutes of “The Dark Knight,” it’s established that she’s a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne’s whom he has unrequited feelings for, while she’s in love with the new district attorney.
Bam. Got it? Good.
Speaking of protagonists and antagonists, “The Dark Knight” starts off with introducing the Joker and does a great job of building him up.
That way, by the time the movie kicks into full gear, it isn’t jarring when he shows up and inserts himself in the war between the mob and the forces of good in Gotham.
Speaking of the Joker, it’s almost become a cliche at this point, but Heath Ledger’s tragic turn as the Clown Prince of Crime is simply subli
