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While it really sucked to wait a month for the movie to start in Austria, i finally saw it. As you may have read a hundred times by now, the movie is great, it is epic and it is Heath Ledgers legacy (and yes, i´m going to watch it a second time).
The thing i enjoyed most in the first place are not the amazing action scenes, it´s the story. It´s not important if that movie is about a super-hero, it´s an epic story and every single detail of the movie fits. And just to mention it again, Heath Ledger plays an incredible Joker.
Now that i saw the movie i finally was ready to read Dark Knight´s Screenwriting Lesson by Mystery Man (and even when i have posted it before, when you´re at it you should read 10 Reasons Why I Loved The Dark Knight as well).
One key element why the story is that fascinating are the inner conflicts of the characters (not only of the protagonist but of all the characters). Mystery Man wrote down the inner conflicts of the most important characters in his post, here is a quote:
Bruce: Reveal himself to Gotham or endure the terror? And that’s a conflict rooted in his origin story, too. Because we understand now his dark, inner needs to put fear into the hearts of the criminals. I think he knew the truth about his unlikely future with Rachel, too, but he couldn’t face it. And there’s also Harvey Dent. Should he fight or support him? He’s a good guy, yet he’d love to knock his teeth in. Later, should he save Rachel or Harvey? Well, that wasn’t much of a conflict. He told Gordon he was going to save Rachel, but the Joker had switched the addresses. There were conflicts about Bruce’s limits, too, his physical and moral limitations as Batman. And we also sense that he was conflicted about his one rule – should he kill the Joker?
Rachel: Bruce or Harvey? Accept the proposal or not?
Harvey: Should he work with or against the Batman? Should he arrest him? He, too, faced his own inner conflicts about staying within the ethical limits of his power. Remember that scene where he tried to interrogate one of Joker’s minions? He wanted to go too far and Batman stopped him. And later in the third act, shoot or not?
Gordon: Should he work with or against Harvey Dent?
Alfred: Share or destroy Rachel’s letter?
Lucius: Help eavesdrop on the city in a way he doesn’t approve?
Lau: Cooperate with Harvey or face the Joker?
Salvatore Maroni: Work with or turn in the Joker?
People on ferries: Turn the pins or not?
I don´t really understand why the plot lacks or completely sucks in so many high budget action movies. The Dark Knight not only features ground-breaking action scenes and IMAX shots, there are so many little details in the story that are just ingenious.
Take just one little example: for the second time the Joker tells about how he got his scars - it´s a different story than the first. So what do we learn about the Joker in this moment? He lies. You can´t trust him.
It would have been a very easy exposition if someone talked about the Joker and told us “He lies. Don´t trust him.”. Yeah, great exposition, but what the screenwriters have done here is stick to one key principle of screenwriting: Show, don´t tell (and still so many high budget movies do it over and over again). Thanks to Amanda for that little article that says so much.
I think it´s pretty amazing how any setting or genre can make a great movie wheter it´s “in” or not. Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan proved that a movie works in any genre, time or structure. They have told a story backwards (Memento), showed two rivalling magicians (The Prestige) and made two super-hero movies (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).
These movies don´t have a lot in common, except the amazingly constructed plots coupled with a solid (in some cases even overwhelming) execution.
It´s all about the story.