10 Incredible Shots That Totally Defined Movies
4. The Joker Takes A Ride - The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight did so much to reinvent the modern conception of the superhero movie, best embodied by Christopher Nolan's grittier aesthetic which had more in common with a Michael Mann crime thriller than a spandex-clad comic book blockbuster.
It's a film filled with eye-wateringly beautiful imagery, but there's nevertheless a single shot which best cements its tone and pop-culture impact above all others: The Joker (Heath Ledger) joyriding a police car after escaping from jail.
Seeing The Clown Prince of Crime playfully ride the car around the streets of Gotham, hanging out the window and shaking his head like a dog, is a perfect summation of who he is - a dog chasing cars, as he even labels himself.
That the shot is beautifully filmed while depicting an act of criminal defiance encapsulates Nolan's film entirely - a stylistically superlative, technically masterful portrait of urban decay.
Given that Ledger's performance dominates the film even to the detriment of Batman (Christian Bale) himself, only a glimpse of The Joker as a full-on "agent of chaos" could possibly come to represent The Dark Knight in a single frame.