The Dark Knight Official Critics Reviews of TDK

[Anita18]

Harry disappoints with no crazy hyperboles (AICN)

The film is, in fact, superb in every way. A vast improvement on BATMAN BEGINS – amazing what happens when you no longer have to deal with an origin story and satisfying only the merchandizing interests of the parent corporation. Instead, Nolan has decided to treat Batman as only the best Comic Writers have dared to. Adult, scary and frightening.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37525

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NYTimes

Pitched at the divide between art and industry, poetry and entertainment, it goes darker and deeper than any Hollywood movie of its comic-book kind.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/movies/18knig.html?8dpc

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Kevin Powers (First Showing) - 10/10

For a movie like this, you naturally expect to be engrossed by garish gadgetry, incredible stunts and seat-gripping adventure. The Dark Knight has all of this...but even the most intricately executed explosion or choreographed car crash does little to shock you out of the stunning, unrelenting dark drama created in what amounts to one of the best sequels in cinematic history.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/07...ark-knight-the-dark-has-never-been-so-bright/

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Rebecca Murray (About.com) - 5/5

Nolan and company have surpassed what they accomplished the first time out, and The Dark Knight is everything you'd want from a superhero movie and much, much more.

http://movies.about.com/od/thedarkknight/fr/darkknight71708.htm

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Claudia Puig (USA Today) - 4/4

The Dark Knight is a more thrilling, intelligent, morally complex and masterfully crafted film than any summer blockbuster in recent years. It's probably the best superhero movie to date.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2008-07-16-dark-knight-review_N.htm

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Kenneth Turan (LA Times) -

Nolan and his co-writer brother Jonathan saw a chance to go deeper into familiar characters and mythology, a chance to meditate on darker-than-usual themes that have implications for the way we live now. A chance to disturb us in the ways these kinds of movies rarely do.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-knight17-2008jul17,0,522171.story

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Roger Ebert - 4/4

“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.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/REVIEWS/55996637/1001

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Clint Morris (Moviehole)

“The Dark Knight” is the best Batman film ever made, the best Superhero movie ever made, and the best movie of the year to date. It’s a 5-star masterpiece that’ll leave you spinning!

http://www.moviehole.net/2008/07/15/clints-seen-the-dark-knight/

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Alonso Duralde (MSNBC)

...The last half hour of the film dawdles and sidetracks when it should be gunning for the climax. It’s a flaw shared by Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman,” and it’s the one misstep of “The Dark Knight.” Other than that, it’s a soaring, brooding, haunting piece of work that sets a very high new standard for any future film forays for the Caped Crusader.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25692364/

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David Fear (Time Out New York) - 3/6. (What IS it with NY critics and this movie??)

...[Nolan] is going for the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance of men-in-tights films, and he comes remarkably close. Nolan is pondering big themes: post-9/11 concepts of justice, the fragility of social bonds, when it’s better to simply print the legend. All of which makes superfluous side trips like an IMAX-ed Mission: Impossible–style sequence that much more disappointing.

http://www.timeout.com/film/newyork/reviews/84507/the-dark-knight.html

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Quint (AICN)

Mark my words: Ledger will be nominated, Wally Pfister will be nominated, Chris Nolan will be nominated for direction, Jonathan and Chris Nolan for script and if the movie Gods are feeling kind early next year we might even see a Best Picture nom.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37466

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Massawyrm (AICN)

It is a film that may never find an equal, a film that will have you staring jaw agape with your hand planted in front of your face in disbelief at how far it is ready to go. It is what we always thought a Batman film could be, but never seemed to happen. Yes. It is the real deal. It is the greatest Batman story ever told.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37469

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Empire - 5/5

The Dark Knight is spectacular, visionary blockbuster entertainment: pretty much everything you could hope for and then some. It isn’t perfect but then, like its hero, like his late co-star, and as Nolan’s fitting tribute so ably observes, nobody is.

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=134520

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Total Film - 5/5

A minor second act shake can’t undermine a dazzling, determined superhero classic and Ledger puts Nicholson in the shade. With Batman Begins Nolan set the bar; with TDK he’s just raised it.

http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/the_dark_knight

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Aaron Duran (Geek in the City)

The Dark Knight is, without a doubt, the greatest “Superhero or Comic Book” film ever made. The Dark Knight just might be the best film I’ll see all year. Yes, I am an unabashed Batman fan, but you know what... The Dark Knight might be one of the best crime / drama films ever made.

http://www.geekinthecity.com/movies/the_dark_knight.php

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Daniel Fienberg - 86/100 (he's VERY tough; calls TDK Nolan's "pinnacle")

...I'm prepared to call "The Dark Knight" the finest comic book movie ever made and I would expect with some confidence to find it in my overall Top Five at the end of the year. Quite simply: While "The Dark Knight" isn't without flaws, it is what you hope it will be.

http://fienprint.blogspot.com/2008/07/moviewatch-dark-knight.html

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Gary Cogill of WFAA (Dallas) gives a great rambly speech after being "profoundly moved" by TDK

"The Dark Knight is one of a handful of great movie-going experiences in my life...Huge monumental achievement in filmmaking."

http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=263179

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James Berardinelli - 4/4

This is a tough, uncompromising motion picture - one that defies the common notions of what is expected from a "superhero" film. While there are plenty of action sequences and instances of derring-do, The Dark Knight's subtext has a tragic underpinning that would intrigue Shakespeare or the Greeks. It's about power and impotence, sanity and madness, image and reality, selfishness and sacrifice, and - yes - consequences.

http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=1235

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Ohmynews.com - 9/10. Not a big gun but a fascinating, thoughtful review

But "The Dark Knight" is a lot more than that. This is A VERY BIG FLICK. It is a commentary about the human condition, right now.

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=383133&rel_no=1

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First ACTUAL negative review: Another David (Denby) from New Yorker

I can’t rate “The Dark Knight” as an outstanding piece of craftsmanship. “Batman Begins” was grim and methodical, and this movie is grim and jammed together. The narrative isn’t shaped coherently to bring out contrasts and build toward a satisfying climax. “The Dark Knight” is constant climax; it’s always in a frenzy, and it goes on forever.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/07/21/080721crci_cinema_denby

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David Edelstein from NYMag
You know what, I won't even copy a blurb here from his review. He says, "...I hope I didn’t give the impression I think playing the Joker killed him. He was an addict who went too far. " I didn't even read the rest.
http://nymag.com/listings/movie/the-dark-knight/
http://nymag.com/daily/movies/2008/07/why_youre_still_wrong_about_th.html

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Star Magazine - 2.5/4. The blurb below explains enough

Why do comic-book movies want to be serious literature? That’s the problem with this movie...

http://www.starmagazine.com/the_dark_knight/reviews/movie/14019

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Entertainment Weekly - A-

...The movie exudes a predatory glamour that makes the comic-book films that have come before it look all the more like kid stuff.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20212455,00.html

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MovieMantz on AccessHollywood - See It!

The existential, psychological, intelligent approach of “The Dark Knight” makes it less of a superhero movie and more of an epic crime drama that puts Nolan in the same league as Brian de Palma, Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann.

http://www.accesshollywood.com/article/10316/moviemantz-review-the-dark-knight/

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Cinemablend - 5/5

Movies rarely get better than this. Check your gut before you go in, The Dark Knight is going to land a punch right in the middle of it. You won’t soon forget it.

http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/The-Dark-Knight-IMAX-3238.html

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At the Movies w/ Ebert and Roeper (Roeper and Michael Phillips) - Two "See It's," Roeper says "See it twice!" and "Should merit consideration for a Best Picture nomination."


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Time (contains minor spoilers)

Batman Begins, the 2005 film that launched Nolan's series, was a mere five-finger exercise. This is the full symphony...The Dark Knight is bound to haunt you long after you've told yourself, Aah, it's only a comic-book movie.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1821365,00.html

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David Poland (The Hot Button) - feels it was too restrained by its action scenes to flesh out a message it wanted to communicate

Christopher Nolan and his collaborators quite carefully walked the line, as others have already noticed, between a classic movie cop drama and a comic book. This is inherently the strength and the weakness of the work. The mere effort to combine the two, combined with the degree of filmmaking skill involved, makes this film not only enjoyable, but somewhat important.

http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotbutton/2008/07/the_darkest_longest_knight.html

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Variety

Justin Chang: An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some.
http://www.variety.com/VE1117937619.html

Anne Thompson: (thought the Dent subplot brought it down a notch) Nolan delivered on the first Batman reboot and he does it again here...The complexities of the plot are more fun to talk about than anything since Wall-E or Iron Man, and that makes Dark Knight one of the best movies of the summer.
http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2008/07/dark-knight-rev.html

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Newsweek (David Ansen) - fresh on RT

When you're fighting an enemy who plays by no rules, do you have to abandon your own moral code to vanquish him? This is the ethics dilemma Nolan explores in his impressive, and sometimes oppressive, epic.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/145509

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ComingSoon.net - 9/10

Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is another unforgettable offering from the visionary that defies all expectations by creating a serious "superhero" movie for grown-ups, one so grounded in a brutal reality you're left in a cold sweat by its stalwart refusal to cater to escapist fantasies.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/reviewsnews.php?id=46667

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Hollywood Reporter

Nolan is one of our smarter directors. He builds movies around ideas and characters, and "Dark Knight" is no exception. The ideas here are not new to the movie world of cops and criminal, but in the context of a comic book movie, they ring out with startling clarity. In other words, you expect moralistic underpinnings in a Martin Scorsese movie; in a Batman movie, they hit home with renewed vigor.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=11376

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Horror.com

Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Michael Mann's Heat. Brian de Palma's The Untouchables. And now, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight can join the ranks as one of the best crime dramas in modern movie history. It's only incidental it's set in the fictional gritty city of Gotham, and it just happens to feature a superhero wearing a bat-suit and an arch-villain in clown makeup.

http://www.horror.com/php/article-2022-1.html

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Rolling Stone - 3.5/4

Heads up: a thunderbolt is about to rip into the blanket of bland we call summer movies. The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan's absolute stunner of a follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins, is a potent provocation decked out as a comic-book movie.

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/16155928/review/21477208/the_dark_knight

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Emanuel Levy - A

Dark, grim, haunting and visionary, "The Dark Knight" is nothing short of brilliant, the best comic hero adaptation you are likely to see this summer season, and perhaps during the whole year.

http://emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=10176

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Moriarty (AICN) reviews TDK and Hellboy II (spoilers for both)

...Every single time you set out to make a film, you have a chance to say something, a chance to genuinely affect your viewer. You don’t have to aim for “good enough.” ...It’s ambition plus inspiration plus creative chemistry plus a little bit of dumb ****ing luck that all come together to make movies like these. But the only reason they accomplish anything is because Christopher Nolan and Guillermo Del Toro and all the remarkable madmen they collaborated with in bringing them to the screen... they all dared to drop the word “just” from their vocabulary. They aimed for art. They aimed for pure enduring cinema.

And, good god, we are richer for it.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37285

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IGN - 5/5

It isn't an overstatement to call The Dark Knight the most sophisticated and ambitious work of its kind...suffice it to say that The Dark Knight qualifies as the first official comic book adaptation that truly succeeds in being a great artistic achievement in its own right.

http://movies.ign.com/articles/884/884876p1.html

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JoBlo - 10/10

This is by far, [Nolan's] most daring and ambitious film. In fact, this is one of the few superhero film that is absolutely Oscar worthy. This is as good of a Best Picture as any film could be.

http://joblo.com/review-dark-knight

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Soundtrack.net - 4.5/5

It's a movie that just succeeds on every possible level - it is the movie of the summer (if not the year), and I can't recommend it enough.

http://soundtrack.net/movies/database/?id=5812&page=review

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Devin and Nick at CHUD - Devin, despite himself, says that he'll give it 8 or 8.5 of 10

Devin: It's okay to good. It's more consistently good than BEGINS, with no serious third act f***ery.

Nick: (8.5/10) As it stands, the film is quite special but where some films can weather extraneous or padded scenes, The Dark Knight has some distracting bloat to it which keeps it out of masterpiece territory.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/15382/1/REVIEW-THE-DARK-KNIGHT-NICK039S-TAKE/Page1.html

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The Movie Blog - 8.5/10

This is a fantastic movie! Yes it’s too long, yes one or two of the characters are wasted… but aside from that it is a wonderfully told, MAGNIFICENTLY acted and beautifully shot comic book movie that ranks amongst one of the best films (not just comic book films) of the year so far.

http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/06/the-dark-knight-review

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Film School Rejects - A+

...The Dark Knight is easily the most well-crafted superhero movie that I have ever seen, one that transcends genre, on a scale that is as epic as they come and with performances that will shake you to your core.

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/movie-review-the-dark-knight.php

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Dark Horizons

It demands intelligence and attention, but as a reward delivers a film that justifably will sit high on many Top Ten lists at the end of the year. Certainly as mainstream studio releases go, it rarely gets better than this.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/reviews/darkknight.php

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Movieweb - 5/5

Its attempts at setting up a realistic pulp atmosphere ultimately achieve a blissful state of being, and in the end we are given a true masterpiece of summer filmmaking.

http://www.movieweb.com/movies/film/81/4381/review5717.php

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Blood-Disgusting - "Masterpiece" (some minor spoilers in review)

If DARK KNIGHT gets anything less than an Oscar nomination it would be a great injustice to the world of cinema. Nolan has delivered an epic masterpiece that will literally take your breath away.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/blog/entry.php?id=173

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Latino Review:

George - A-: I didn’t enjoy the ending and I thought the script got too heavy at times. There were too many characters and a good fifteen, twenty minutes could have been cut...Despite those negatives, The Dark Knight is an exciting movie to watch, especially on a giant IMAX screen.

http://www.latinoreview.com/filmreview?id=513

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Comic Book Resources

All the things you never thought you would see in a Batman film are present in "The Dark Knight." Christopher Nolan's dark, disturbing sequel to 2006's "Batman Begins" pulls off an impossible task: making an epic from a movie with a man in tights.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17013

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Kevin Smith and Slashfilm

I had one of those movie experiences that only happens once in a long long time, where you leave the theater completely blown away by what you just experienced. Folks, this isn’t hype - The Dark Knight is a movie will destroy your expectations.

Without giving anything away, this is an epic film (and trust me: based on the sheer size and scope of the visuals and storytelling, that’s not an overstatement). It’s the “Godfather II” of comic book films and three times more earnest than “Batman Begins”

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/29/kevin-smith-reviews-the-dark-knight-new-zack-and-miri-photo/

 

[abcdefz]

Okay, now -- that's legit.

 

[the_monk]

Awesome!!!

 

[Citadel30]

Giggitty Giggitty Goo!!!!!

 

[#1Batmanfan]

he gave batman begins 3 stars so this is an improvement !!!

 

[ActuallyRobin]

This needs to be stickied

 

[Symbiotic]

Nice!

 

[jtfaria]

Since Rolling Stone's review just came in and we know others are going to be seeing it by the end of this week, we should probably merge all of them into one thread so people won't make a separate thread for each one that comes out. (And make into a sticky? )

Yes, this should be a sticky, quite right. Also, I think RS was holding back. From all accounts, if any movie deserves 4 out of 4 stars, it's this one. Well, we'll see.

 

[Carnotaur3]

Looks like Jow was wrong about the past two reviews being fake. This one confirms the "father carves a smile" thing Joker says.

 

[ronny]

3.5? Is that some sort of joke? 3.5? 3 point ****ing five?
You know, if you want to give it four stars, give it four stars. Don't pussyfoot around it with a damn ".5" thing.

 

[abcdefz]

Hmmm....

I am getting kind of tired of people regurgitating the press releases.

Sex Pistols? Check.

Clockwork Orange? Check.

Heat? Check.

Godfather II? Check.

 

[Anita18]

Yes, this should be a sticky, quite right. Also, I think RS was holding back. From all accounts, if any movie deserves 4 out of 4 stars, it's this one. Well, we'll see.

I think I'll also put everything in the first post, so people won't have to search for it?

Once they start coming in, of course.

 

[escobar2248]

Looks like Jow was wrong about the past two reviews being fake. This one confirms the "father carves a smile" thing Joker says.

That ran across my mind as well....

 

[Anita18]

3.5? Is that some sort of joke? 3.5? 3 point ****ing five?
You know, if you want to give it four stars, give it four stars. Don't pussyfoot around it with a damn ".5" thing.

The films he gave 4 stars to last year were all Oscar Best Picture nominees.

I'm sure he wants to insinuate it's a great film, but I don't think he wants to insinuate it THAT much.

The review itself is quite glowing. I'm satisfied.

 

[J.Howlett]

It begins....

 

[ActuallyRobin]

I think I'll also put everything in the first post, so people won't have to search for it?

Once they start coming in, of course.

Yes, do it, do it.

 

[Hole Shot]

This is good news, since Peter Travers is one of the few critics I like.

 

[suntorytime10]

Great review from someone who wasn't a mssive fan of Begins! It's a glowing review, one which seemingly doesn't bring up once false note with the film, except the run time. Sure, it's half a star away, but let's face it, I'm sure he keeps those top marks for Oscar winners, your Gladiator, Godfather, Shawshanks of the world, which are dare I say it, human dramas rather than summer films.

Still, that's just one review, sure there will be hundreds like it, keep em coming!!

 

[J.Howlett]

Okay...read the review...what is this deal about Alfred holding on to a secret that could crush Wayne?

 

[Symbiotic]

Whatever happened to

Spoiler

keeping any hints of The Joker's past a mystery?

 

[hegele]

Looks like Jow was wrong about the past two reviews being fake. This one confirms the "father carves a smile" thing Joker says.

hey, i like jow, i think hes a great poster and i wish him well in his career, but hes been wrong before.

 

[turtlefocker]

didn't he claim to know some earth-shattering fan base-dividing twist but refused to post it... ?

 

[batman44]

Great review. "Nolan shot this sequence, and three others, for the IMAX screen and with a finesse for choreographing action that rivals Michael Mann's Heat" Awesome.

 

[escobar2248]

Looks like Jow was wrong about the past two reviews being fake. This one confirms the "father carves a smile" thing Joker says.

That ran across my mind as well....

 

[mad-sci]

Okay...read the review...what is this deal about Alfred holding on to a secret that could crush Wayne?

Wild guess - His 'one' hope for a normal life (Rachel) has gone (she's engaged to Harvey?)