With Animated Exeter celebrating all things animated, Games, Books and Screen have teamed up to bring you a week of superhero-comic themed articles. The first trio all take a separate look at Batman and how each art form has explored the Dark Knight himself. Benjamin Lewis begins the superhero-centric week with a look at Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and asks…
…why so serious?
I would challenge anyone to dislike Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy or attempt to underplay the tremendous success he has had in rebooting a superhero franchise that was in dire need of it (here’s looking at you Joel Schumacher and co. for the atrocious Batman & Robin in 1997, almost killing off arguably the most fascinating superhero that either DC or Marvel has to offer).
Of all the aspects that Schumacher handled poorly, for me, the most significant was making the franchise more family friendly and camp thereby removing the dark undercurrent integral for Batman’s characterisation, as well as the focus on the implications of the caped crusader for society and himself.
After all, it is the fact that he is just a mere human, that makes Batman as a superhero so appealing. This allows for identification and understanding by the viewer, which cannot be shared with other superheroes such as Superman, whose invincibility and tendency to always make the right decision, stands in stark contrast with Batman’s ethical dilemmas and human error.
In essence, it is this aspect that Nolan so effectively handles in his trilogy, full of memorable action scenes, depth of character and plot for the most part, and the best villain in cinematic history. Whilst Christian Bale’s consistently strong depiction of a grittier Batman is arguably the best to date, it is Heath Ledger whose performance cannot be understated and in defining The Dark Knight joins cinematic history. If not the inimitable example of method acting, it is certainly one of the best and renders Ledger near on unrecognisable from loveable roles in A Knight’s Tale and 10 Things I Hate About You (both recommended).
It’s hard to summarise in so few words just how integral and responsible Nolan has been for Batman’s success but maybe the best way to do this is to compare it to fellow superhero movies. With the exception of Robert Downey Jr.’s witty and enigmatic Iron Man and the immense Avengers amongst a few others, Hollywood is littered with mediocre and downright poor superhero movies. These encompass the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, Catwoman and Green Lantern, to name but a few.
We can only hope that Man of Steel (the first instalment in the reboot of the Superman franchise), having been produced by Nolan, will build on this unrivalled trilogy and define Superman, as Nolan has so successfully done with Batman.
Benjamin Lewis
To read more about Batman, here are links to articles in the Games and Books sections on the comics and video games concerning the caped crusader…
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