The Dark Knight (2008)
Average Rating: 8.5/10
Reviews Counted: 287
Fresh: 269 | Rotten: 18
Dark, complex and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga.
Average Rating: 8/10
Critic Reviews: 49
Fresh: 44 | Rotten: 5
Dark, complex and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.5/5
User Ratings: 1,167,871
My Rating
Movie Info
Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming face to face with his greatest nemesis -- the dreaded Joker. Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), and Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger dons the ghoulishly gleeful Joker makeup previously worn by Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero. Just as it begins to appear as
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Christian Bale
Batman/Bruce Wayne -
Heath Ledger
Joker -
Aaron Eckhart
Harvey Dent -
Michael Caine
Alfred -
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Rachel Dawes -
Gary Oldman
Gordon -
Morgan Freeman
Lucius Fox -
Monique Curnen
Ramirez -
Ron Dean
Wuertz -
Cillian Murphy
Scarecrow -
Chin Han
Lau -
Nestor Carbonell
Mayor -
Eric Roberts
Maroni -
Ritchie Coster
Chechen -
Anthony Michael Hall
Engel -
Colin McFarlane
Loeb -
Joshua Harto
Reese -
Melinda McGraw
Barbara Gordon -
Nathan Gamble
James Gordon -
Michael Vieau
Rossi -
Michael Stoyanov
Dopey -
Bill Smille
Grumpy -
Michael Jai White
Gambol -
Matthew O'Neill
Chuckles -
William Fichtner
Bank Manager -
Olumiji Olawumi
Drug Dealer -
Greg Beam
Junkie -
Erik Hellman
Junkie -
Beatrice Rosen
Natascha -
Vincenzo Nicoli
Crime Boss -
Edison Chen
LSI VP -
Nydia Rodriguez Terracina
Judge Surrillo -
Andy Luther
Brian -
James Farruggio
Man No. 1 -
Thomas McElroy
Man No. 2 -
Will Zahrn
Assistant DA -
James Fierro
Thug at Party -
Sam Derence
Male Guest -
Jennifer Knox
Female Guest -
Patrick Clear
Judge Freel -
Sarah Jayne Dunn
Maroni's Mistress -
Chucky Venn
Gambol's Bodyguards -
Winston Ellis
Gamble Bodyguard -
David Dastmalchian
Joker's Thug -
Sophia Hinshelwood
Reporter -
Keith Kupferer
Heckler -
Joseph Luis Caballero
Cop Heckler -
Richard Dillane
Acting Commissioner -
Daryl Satcher
Officer at Intersection -
Crhis Perschler
Convy Leader -
Aidan Feore
Fat Thug -
Philip Bulcock
Murphy -
Paul Birchard
Cop with Fat Thug -
Walter Lewis
Medic -
Vincent Riotta
Cop at 250 52nd St. -
Nancy Crane
Nurse -
K. Todd Freeman
Pol -
Matt Shallenberger
Berg -
Michael Andrew Gorman
Cop at Hospital -
Lanny Lutz
Bartender -
Peter DeFaria
Civilian -
Matt Rippy
First Mate -
Andrew Bicknell
Prison Ferry Pilot -
Ariyon Bakare
Guard Commander -
Doug Ballard
Businessman -
Helene Wilson
Mother -
Tommy Campbell
Passenger -
Craig Heaney
Passenger -
Lorna Gayle
Passenger -
Joshua Rollins
SWAT Sniper -
Dale RIvera
SWAT Leader -
Matthew Leitch
Prisoner on Ferry -
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister
Tattoeed Prisoner -
Thomas Gaitsch
Reporter #3 -
William Armstrong
Evans -
Adam Kalesperis
Honor Guard Man -
Tristan Tait
Uniform Cop -
Bronson Webb
Bounty Hunter -
Gertrude Kyles
Fox's Secretary -
Jonathan Ryland
Passenger Ferry Pilot -
James Scales
Guardsman -
Nigel Carrington
Warden -
Ian Pirie
Prisoner -
Lateef Lovejoy
Prisoner -
Grahame Edwards
Prisoner -
Roger Monk
Prisoner -
Ronan Summers
Prisoner -
Wai Wong
Hong Kong Detective -
Michael Corey Foster
Honor Guard Leader -
Hannah Gunn
Gordon's Daughter -
Brandon Lambdin
Armored Car SWAT -
ADVERTISEMENT
The Dark Knight Trailer & Photos
All Critics (287) | Top Critics (49) | Fresh (276) | Rotten (21) | DVD (28)
An exceptionally smart, brooding picture with some terrific performances.
Christopher Nolan is much, much smarter than your average filmmaker.
Christopher Nolan's latest exploration of the Batman mythology steeps its muddled plot in so much murk that the Joker's maniacal nihilism comes to seem like a recurrent grace note.
The film is so relentlessly bleak that, paradoxically, its blackness is not given its full due. But this comic-book movie is more disturbing, and has more freakish power, than anything else I've seen all year.
Watching The Dark Knight is like gazing into a mirror on a waning moon night: chilling and mesmerizing.
Despite the tensions between its form and its function, The Dark Knight succeeds far more than it fails, and lingers provocatively in the mind.
Were films judged entirely by the emotive impact of their opening and closing images, The Dark Knight would be a masterpiece.
The glimpse into the Joker's darkness during his documented torture scene is a credit to the devastatingly lost potential of Heath Ledger.
It's not just the best Batman film ever. It's not just the best superhero movie ever. It's more than a money-spinner, a franchise, a comic-book cash-in. The Dark Knight is a stunning piece of work that deserves every word of praise spoken about it.
a phenomenal masterpiece whose creators aren't content with simply making a great comic book movie, but craft one that transcends the genre to become one of the best films this decade.
Thank Warner Bros. for letting Nolan make such a smart, thrilling, emotionally involving, just terrifically well rounded and fully realized entertainment that challenges and elevates notions of what a so-called 'summer blockbuster' can do.
It is ridiculous how much praise "The Dark Knight" truly deserves. Heath Ledger is this film's crowning jewel. By the time you get to the end credits, you'll immediately want to see it again.
The Dark Knight is the best kind of sequel -- one that uses its predecessor as a gateway to explore new facets of its characters and its world.
Visceral and terrifying.
Even if this wasn't Ledger's final role before his untimely death last year, his Joker would still go down in cinema history as one of the most creepily unhinged big-screen bad guys of all time.
More than a comic-book adventure, this is a sprawling crime epic.
You know you're watching a good movie when it puts a smile on your face right from the start. In the The Dark Knight it may be a twisted grimace but given the right perspective there's enjoyment to be had in even the bleakest subject matter.
Excellent sequel much darker, more violent than the first.
Allusions to our current struggles with surveillance, public perception and terrorism are thrown into the mix, adding political immediacy to Nolan's psycho noir.
Bring on part three.
Completely lacking in vanity, Ledger creates his finest performance.
Flawed and overrated.
It not only surpasses Batman Begins - previously considered the high-water mark of movies about the Caped Crusader - but one that magnificently transcends the superhero genre.
The Dark Knight is a masterpiece of the first order, and the first great post-Sept. 11 film.
Audience Reviews for The Dark Knight
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Joker: Let's put a smile on that face!
-
- Gambol: You think you can steal from us and just walk away?
- Joker: Yeah.
-
- Batman/Bruce Wayne: People are dying, Alfred. What would you have me do?
- Alfred: Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman, he can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make, the right choice.
- Batman/Bruce Wayne: Well today I found out what Batman can't do. He can't endure this. Today you get to say "I told you so."
- Alfred: Today, I don't want to.
- Alfred: But I did bloody tell you.
-
- Batman/Bruce Wayne: What about getting back into the plane?
- Lucius Fox: I'd recommend a good travel agent.
- Batman/Bruce Wayne: Without it landing.
- Lucius Fox: Now that's more like it, Mr. Wayne.
-
- Joker: It's simple. We, uh, kill the Batman.
-
- Joker: Wanna know how I got these scars?
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Is this the best movie ever? | 16 hours ago | 55 |
| Christopher Nolan's Best Movies | 11 days ago | 1 |
| the Dark Knight is better than Dark Knight rises. | 19 days ago | 22 |
| Which Joker is the Best? Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson? | 21 days ago | 22 |
| In my opinion | 24 days ago | 2 |
Latest News on The Dark Knight
March 8, 2011:
Warner Bros. Plans Facebook Movie RentalsWarner Bros. will bring movie rentals to Facebook with "The Dark Knight," charging 30 credits (or...
January 21, 2011:
Weekly Ketchup: Anne Hathaway cast in next Batman movieThe last several weeks have been slow in movie news, as Hollywood loves taking holiday vacations...
September 17, 2010:
Who Are Film's Ultimate Heroes and Villains?Cinematical has lined up 32 film heroes against 32 bad guys in their first Heroes vs. Villains...
What's Hot On RT
Gatsby Is Style Over Substance
Blockbuster news and reviews
Movies Directed by Tyler Perry
A gallery of classic books on film
Featured on RT
- Critics Consensus: The Great Gatsby is a Case of Style Over Substance 15
- Video Interview: Peeples cast Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington, and more 0
- Total Recall: Movies Directed by Tyler Perry 70
- Parental Guidance: The Great Gatsby, Jack Reacher, and Safe Haven 9
- Video Interview: Aftershock Producer Eli Roth 3
- Ray Harryhausen: 1920-2013 33
- Digital Multiplex: Cloud Atlas, Pulp Fiction and more 4
Top Headlines
-
Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto Star Trek Into Darkness Interview
0
-
Marvel President Kevin Feige Talks Avengers 2, Doctor Strange, and More
1
-
Disney Announces Animated Marvel Project Big Hero 6
0
-
Jurassic Park 4 on Hold
0
-
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Gets a Synopsis
0
-
Alicia Vikander Joins The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
0
-
Robert Redford Laces Up for A Walk in the Woods
0
Foreign Titles
- The Dark Knight (DE)
- The Dark Knight (UK)










Top Critic