Batman Begins may have successfully rebooted the Batman franchise, bringing it back from the day glo excesses of the Joel Schumacher era, but it was the second film in Christopher Nolan's trilogy, The Dark Knight, that became a true sensation. The Dark Knight earned over a billion dollars worldwide; it got
terrific reviews; it launched a thousand (largely stupid) discussions about its politics, whether it was pro Bush or anti War on Terror or something or other; it enshrined the brilliant (and, sadly, penultimate) performance of Heath Ledger, who breathed fiery life into the Joker in a way that audiences had never seen before. Heck, The Dark Knight, after being "snubbed" for a best picture nomination, is largely credited with inspiring the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to change the number of nominees for best picture; yeah, I know the Oscars dont matter and nobody cares about them, but
still getting that bunch of old, out of touch white guys to change rules that are some eighty years old? Thats when you know a movies gone from being just a flick to being a cultural touchstone. The Dark Knight was a
massive touchstone moment for Batman, in a way not seen since the release of the 1989 Batman movie. But come on, you have access to Google, you know all this. You know that The Dark Knight brought the superhero film that much closer to legitimacy, and took it a little bit farther into despair; you know that Christopher Nolan upped the ante in a way thats enshrined The Dark Knight next to Empire Strikes Back and Toy Story 2 as sequels that got it right; you know that Batmans voice got scratchier and growlier in between films. (Seriously guys, give it a rest Batman gets a cold too, sometimes.) Heck, youre a smart, attractive, well dressed person you probably already know everything we're about to tell you about The Dark Knight. But it could just be that there are a few tasty nuggets tucked in there so, y'know, bear with us...