Reviews

The Dark Knight
Director: Christopher Nolan
Hongyue, Grade 10
5/5 Stars
In this revival of the classic Batman comics, the crazy clown, Joker, is back and ready to
cause chaos. He is trying to prove that even good people can become corruptible and is
attempting to use Batman as an example. He tries to bait Batman into killing him, so he goes on
a killing spree in order to lure Batman out. As a ploy to lure the Joker out, Batman gets Harvey,
who is the District Attorney, to “reveal” himself to be Batman, and have the Joker come out and
try to kill him. It works and Joker is captured by the cops. Harvey is kidnapped by a corrupt cop
as is his girlfriend, Rachel. The Joker escapes from jail with the use of a cell phone bomb. The
Joker tells Batman that Harvey and Rachel are in separate locations that are rigged to explode
and he can only save one. Batman saves Harvey thinking it was Rachel because the Joker had
switched the addresses. Joker goes to the hospital where Harvey is being treated for his burns
and manipulates him into thinking Rachel's death was all Batman, and Detective Gordon's fault.
Harvey takes Gordon's family hostage therefore luring Gordon to see him kill his family as
revenge. However, Batman comes and kills Harvey before he is able to. Batman then goes to
the location of where Joker is hiding and throws him off a building but saves him by shooting a
grappling hook at him therefore not killing him and still being non-corrupt. Batman tells Gordon
to paint Harvey in a good light and put all the blame on him therefore preserving hope in
Gotham.
The message of the movie is that sometimes when someone seems pure and
incorruptible, with enough trauma and a little push, they can also become evil, but for human
beings to stay civilized, they need hope that good people stay good.
This movie is for ages 12 and above because there are some graphic scenes involved.
There are some very dark and very sad moments in the movie that a child might not be able to
handle. The movie is well made with a complex but good story. It dives into the mindset of a
madman and the corruption of humans.