Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 39 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 2988 Ratings

  • Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger
  • Summary: Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker. (Warner Bros.) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 39
  2. Negative: 0 out of 39
  1. Bale again brilliantly personifies all the deep traumas and misgivings of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. A bit of Hamlet is in this Batman.
  2. 100
    "Batman" isn't a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about. That's because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production.
  3. 80
    The moral dilemmas are perfectly fused with the amped-up action and outsize characters, but they're impossible to miss: like all of us, the people of Gotham have to protect themselves from evil without falling prey to it.
  4. Christopher Nolan's latest exploration of the Batman mythology steeps its muddled plot in so much murk that the Joker's maniacal nihilism comes to seem like a recurrent grace note.

See all 39 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Great stuff. . Epic story, good acting and production. Something as big as this can't help but attract negativity, but please be assured that it is a great effort. And remember, this is modern myth-making! These stories are our morality plays, our tales of gods and monsters. Please don't look at it as just a crime thriller or you will find implausibility! Expand
  2. This super hero movie is a rare film that drills deep inside the character and the script more than the action. It may be boring to a few people who despise waiting for 2 hrs; However I promise you, Heath Ledger will keep you amazed the whole time. Ultimately, Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is a masterpiece, a film that doesn't just show off the visuals and action, but understands what deep pains and afflictions a superhero suffers. Expand
  3. LittleJoe
    5
    I wanted to like this movie because of its high scores both by critics and users, but I found it to be very confusing and extremely hard to follow. The effects were spectacular, the acting nicely done, but the plot was a complete mishmash. Expand
  4. The Dark Knight makes no sense, the scenes go by so rapidly and with so little connection to the next frame that you're often wondering what the heck you just watched or why something happened. The movie is terribly convoluted, lasting 2 hours and 26 minutes. It could havbe actually ended at around 1 hour and 20 minutes and the audience would have been perfectly satisfied and the rest could have been made into another movie. Instead, they rinse and repeat for another hour. There are a whole bunch of gizmos and gadgets that were just thrown in there to look gadgety, they add absolutely nothing to the movie. Why is there such a discrepancy between the technology Batman uses and the technology the police use? If Batman loves to fight crime, why doesn't he increase the survival chance of the average cop or give them a pay raise so they're less inclined to corruption? Heck, why doesn't he feed the poor so they won't have to steal? There is barely any Batman and when there is, we get poorly choreographed fights with people that have such unbelievable poor aim you do not consider them evil at all since they rarely hit anything and we never really see 'm commit any crimes either. Mostly they just sit around talk about how they're going to take over the city. Last time I checked, this is not a crime. Batman's accent is horrible, it's as if though they were trying to raise awareness for throat cancer victims. It's not mysterious, it's not dark it's just ridiculous. If anyone were to talk like that while dressed in a giant costume you wouldn't be able to take them seriously no matter how hard you tried. I also think the butler is far too haugty, I recall him to be very servile and humble.I've never been a big fan of Batman, the idea of a rich industrialist going after "criminals" is just a completely unrealistic yuppie fantasie but I'm open for a good interpretation of some old comic if delivered right. This is not a good interpretation, I'd rather watch the 70's cartoons. The acting is semi-decent, I'm not too impressed by the Joker. he seems pretty meek for a villain. He also seems more human than the rest of the cast. That's a mistake for a movie that's about good and evil from a 50's point of view. And what's with these annoying women playing the love interests? Maybe they should have made Batman pair up with a really queer yet loyal construction worker that likes to run around in a furry suit instead of a woman that likes to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. You know, actually gives us a character we can laugh about instead of make us run out of nails to bite. Or maybe America just has a thing for unloyal, undecisive annoying women on the silver-screen? Same went for Spiderman. Great movies, just couldn't stand the female lead because of her inability to actually stand behind her man or make a choice. Sure it's all in the script but somehow these women play the part perfectly, they all have the same annoying look on their face when they deliver the same old lines. The batmobile wasn't very iconic either, it looked like something Mad-Max'ish and seemed out of place. I'm pretty sure Batman is breaking a few laws driving around with a mobile razor-blade! I'd hate to be stuck with a vigilante that believes the police force is incapable of handling crime yet delivers the criminals into their hands each and every time. Batman, unlike The Punisher, isn't timeless and it shows. Horrible movie, given the hype I expected way more. Expand

See all 1042 User Reviews

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