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Dark Knight Film Review

Batman Dark Knight Film review

Batman the Dark Knight is the second film in the Dark Knight trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan, he has directed a vast number of successful films and had focused on making the Dark Knight trilogy the best batman film to date, I would personally consider it easily one of the best films to date. My favorite character is easily Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker, He was criticized before the release of the film by critics and fans of the franchise that he will not be able to deliver the performance they wanted, the thing is he nailed it completely and raised the bar for future Joker roles. The film itself had a budget of $185 Million and made $1,004,558,444 in box office.

One of my most favorite scenes in the film was the interrogation scene, From the beginning of the scene it's instantly portrayed as a comfortable yet very unsettling scene, it starts off with using low-key lighting with a desktop lamp on the table giving off a very dim light showing the outline of The Jokers face, this in my opinion is the creators trying to make The Joker seem comfortable with his surroundings, with a long shot showing Gary Oldman’s character (Commissioner Gordon) walking into the room with the door creaking to a close, the sound of the door creaking is obviously diegetic, this adds to the eeriness and unsettling mood the creator/s have meant to create by the use of cinematography, another film which uses this is Friday The 13^th during the opening scene, yes the film is a completely different genre, but still the lighting used is extremely low-key which does create an unsettling uncomfortable mood, once you think the bad has happened Jason is silhouetted in the background behind the character ‘Whitney’ which leads to what the audience is lead to believe her death.

When Jim Gordon walks into the room there is a long shot on the very dimly lit unable to make out Joker with the use of a desktop lamp, this is a great use of Mise-En-Scene this is unsettling for me due to the cinematography used, The joker has been caught but yet is made out to seem so mysterious, it almost makes you feel something is bound to happen. When Jim sits down at the table in front of the handcuffed Joker, he questions him about the missing Harvey Dent, Joker replies with a statement that he wants to unsettle the commissioner which also creates a reference to ‘Batman Begins’ which is the prequel to Dark Knight, this really does help with the film being a sequel because it does help the audience understand  that the films are actually related and connected by story line instead of just the characters.

When the movement of the scene goes towards The Joker I could see his face a little more clearly, I could see his pale face makeup had faded and had worn away (above image), this shows a passage of time and the struggle The Joker has faced, his clothes are a little less complex as they were the scene before, which also shows the struggle which took place, this certainly makes the scene seem more realistic. After The Joker has teased and tried to downgrade the commissioner, Jim replies with “I’m going to get a coffee” to which The Joker replies “ahh the good cop bad cop routine?” Gordon walks towards the door and replies “not exactly” and closes the door behind him, (this references a load of cop based films) when Jim walks out of the door a medium close up on The Joker is shown, sitting in the dark dimly lit room, not showing anything behind him due to the low key lighting until the lights come on showing The Batman in shallow focus behind him, where he instantly hits The Jokers head off the table., the transition from low-key to high-key lighting instantly, This was really well thought of, the transition was smooth and obviously did add to the fact I felt something was about to happen, this once again is great cinematography, from a few seconds the environment itself went from mysterious to being clear.

A few seconds into the scene after Batman is introduced, there is a conflict of words between The Joker and Batman, seeming like Joker was trying to somewhat corrupt Batman, I find this part particularly weird because it isn’t exactly clear which the dominant one between the two is, yes The Joker did get his head hit off the table, but the angles aren’t exactly clear because there's over the shoulder high angle shots from Batman’s perspective looking towards The Joker, but The Joker isn’t shown in an obvious insignificant way presented in typical conflict filled films, The Joker is slouching down, not cowering in fear he’s more trying to mess with Batman’s head, I found this unsettling, however I did enjoy it because for once there wasn’t a typical antagonist cowering in fear from the protagonist, as mentioned before, I believe the Cinematography and Mise-En-Scene are both used great together to create an uncomfortable and conflict filled scene.

The physical conflict between the two was really well shown, The Joker did seem to attempt to corrupt and manipulate Batman but there was some kind of silent mental struggle going on between the two, the shot reverse shot shown and repeated throughout the whole scene made this perfectly clear to me, it worked well with the medium close ups to show the expressions on both The Joker and Batman, overall this created a visualization of the two being in an actual personal conflict. Another film which i noticed used the shot reverse shot really well was 'Panic Room' when the character of Forest Whitaker had broken into the 'Panic Room' and the expression on his face was shown by the use of the shot reverse shot when he realized the house was occupied, once again, it is a completely different genre but I believe it shows how one shot (and or angle) can be interpreted into so many different kind of film styles and still work for the creator/s purpose.

The Joker foresees the ending of the film, obviously if someone was watching the film for the first time they wouldn’t pick up on this straight away until the end or after watching it again, but he does say Batman would have to break his one rule (of killing another) to find out the truth, as silly as this seems I find this a smart way to portray The Joker because he is portrayed as an insane killer but also makes it seem he has thought a lot through which is what most antagonists do not do, because like I mentioned he does foresee the end where Batman has to kill Harvey Dent, this isn't Mise-En-Scene but i would say it is portrayed better with the use of Cinematography, the shots and angles used made this part of the scene more disturbing then it could of been shown.

When Batman throws The Joker onto the table, he walks off towards the door dragging a chair, the camera then jumps to The Joker lying on the table with a mid-shot with a Dutch-angle (with The Joker still mocking Batman) which is used to show unbalance and make the shot seem more obscure, the cinematography used at this point did make me feel something abnormal was going on, The Joker was lying there and taking a beating, why didn’t he fight back? So in my opinion this really did fulfill its purpose. This wasn’t the only Dutch-angle in this scene, straight after the shot shown above Batman walked towards the door dragging a chair to keep the cops out, once more this is a great use of cinematography, the Dutch-angle I believe is a rare technique which is hardly seen in films today, but it is greatly used in this scene to show unbalance and an obscure moment.

This shot, I would argue is a Dutch-angle handheld shot, because it seemed that the cameraman was running with Jim to stop Batman locking them out, because it still did create a sense of obscurity, furthermore I would say the cops are now in the dark and they (The Joker and Batman) are in the now brightly lit room how the tables have somewhat turned and that in fact the cops are actually in the dark because this isn’t any part of their plan and are kept out of the loop so to speak. Also in the shot above of Batman walking to lock the door there was a high pitch non-diegetic sound playing over the scene, in my own personal opinion I believe it’s symbolic towards Batman’s temper and his self-control building up to the point of where he snaps, this non-diegetic sound is a part of cinematography which is used well to show his temper rising.

A few seconds after locking the door Batman hits The Jokers head against the two way mirror there is a clear sign of dominance here and it is shown by the constant high angle shot from batman’s perspective and a low angle shot looking up at Batman from The Joker’s perspective, this is used very well with the shot reverse shot still going on throughout the scene, Even though Batman grabs and pulls up The Joker, he is still is shown dominant by the now obvious use of the high angle shot making The Joker now seem insignificant whereas before the Joker seemed to mock The Batman by slouching into a more insignificant position, this shown the still unserious joking personality of The Joker.

The colors throughout scene are bleak, The Joker's only mainly showing the color and green while batman is showing the color black, the color green is added in peoples life to show change while Batman’s color of black is mysterious and preparing for the unknown, this as much as it seems as I’m making it up is true and I believe as stupid as it seems that the creator/s thought about this and adapted through the use of mise-en-scene.

The scene isn't complex at all, mise-en-scene is used well throughout, due to nothing much actually being in the room besides a table, two chairs and a desk lamp, in my opinion it adds to the tension and the Cinematography used certainly does create a supportive structure to what is, in my opinion amazing acting and obviously helps portray the insanity of The Joker and the mysterious Batman trying to be morally good.

Fan Reviews  - dimmutaker:“Ok july isn't here yet, but a cople of people here, myself included, had the great oportunity to see TDK (The Dark Knight) early so let's post the reviews here for everyone to see

My partner works(asst mgr.) at a muvico theater here in tampa, fl and he took me this morning to what he told me was a screening for hellboy just for the employees.. Anyway when the movie started to roll it wasnt hellboy but the dark knight.... Of course me beign the sentimental and stupid guy i started to cry cause, first it wasnt an imax experience LOL(althought i already have tickets to see it on the 18th 3 times).. and second cause truly i wasnt expecting to see it this early.... Anyway so enough about me

This movie is a masterpiece, truly amazing in every word.. I havent seen a movie in which incorporates a lot of feelings into a 2 1/2 hours, until this one... funny, sad, pissed off, happy, amazed, joyful, SHOCKED, all this in one of another is going to pop up in you.... The characters and actors are amazing.. Starting from Rachel, which in this movie you really feel connected to her, in a way a friend, true friend, would be... Harvey.. In him you see someone who can really do a lot of good in a courtroom instead of beign outside kicking people asses. Great performance by Aaron and is true what people have said out there, you truly feel sorry and pitty for him. In one way he didnt want it to be two-face and u can REALLY sense his pain, and i will go further as to feel it.... Alfred is amazing as always. He cares about bruce a lot. You can see that in this movie, just like in begins, he's trying to talk bruce out of the batman idea, NOT directly, but with words... Gordon, still a little reserved, respect and is thankful for batman to be a hand against crime and corruption. Of course, as a lot of u guys know, that doesnt last long. From maroni to scarecrow all of them, even with little parts, all of them had a purpose in this movie....

Bruce.. God.. Nolan has created a movie so moving so powerful, that is like you can relate in some form with bruce/batman.... In begins you see that he knows that batman WILL be a force for good and he knows that in due time all of gotham will be with him. You can't say the same thing on this movie... You feel the weight of gotham in his shoulder. He knows that he will be back to "normal", thanks in part by 2 people, and most of all he knows that he will be with rachel, after batman is done.. Anyone can relate to that in some way or another.... Bruce have faith that in the end he will no longer be batman. When the movie is over for u guys, u can be damn sure, that when he was little and he fall into that hole and all the bats came after him, that was his fate, to be batman, to be some sort of securty for the people of gotham, to be an enemy against corruption, to be feared by a lot of people... Bruce realized that he created something that will never be broken, not even after death.... Anyway u guys get my point.. this movie was so good..

Joker... Everything that was said about heath and joker is true... This joker will be remember in 10 20 30 years from now.... He's an iconic figure in this movie... And im glad that... well let's say that i had concerns about joker, and im glad” – Dimmutaker – (http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=307164)

Dimmutaker in my opinion is 110% right, This Joker performance will be remembered in 10-30 years because it is so powerful and insanely right, I feel embarrassed because I feel Dimmutaker has touched more critically than I have on the movie, but that’s why I’ve chosen him as an example because he touches on points from more of an angle than I do, keeping out of consideration the appalling punctuation used.

Foreign film analysis

REC 2

This poster is for the foreign (Spanish) film franchise REC, you can tell from the poster the film is a horror, this is because the gritty "REC2" text and obviously the close up of a male charecter's red eye, another thing which helps portray the essence of horror is the contrast of the red and black colours, they both together create a dark and unsettling mood for us the audience. The only other aim towards the film itself (textual) is the"fear revisited" this gives a hint towards the fact its a sequel and does also add to the horror genre feel.

The film REC 2 is a Spanish film which i believe is shot by the use of first person throughout, this is used by the use of handheld camera's strapped to the helmet of the squad which was deployed to contain the virus. By the use of the handheld shot throughout it certainly does add to the tension and makes the film look and feel more realistic.

The trailer itself doesn't try and sell the film with fancy superstars or mind bowing special effects, it sells the film by showing a trailer FULL of action packed sequences, the trailer makes you think the film is going to be scare after scare after scare.

The estimated budget for the film was $5,600,000, during the opening weekend the film grossed $3,212,444 in spain, overall the film grossed $18,497,446 worldwide.

The film wasn't exactly a hugely hyped film so didn't release loads of merchandise like a box office film like the avengers for example. REC 2 released posters, dvd's and Blu-Ray's.

Alien 2 scene analysis

Alien Scene Analysis


The Alien film is easily one of blockbusters most iconic Sci - Fi horror movies released to date, it was directed by Ridley Scott and became an instant hit, two of the most popular scenes was the infamous 'chest burster' scene and the 'Here Kitty' scene because they did so much with so little.

The 'Chest Burster' moment was intended to be a horror/thriller scene, it was scripted to show Kane (John Hurt's character) recovering from a surprise attack off of a facehugger while eating dinner with his fellow crew, its obvious they're eating dinner because the use of mise-en-scene, the camera angle used was a mid shot with the crew around a table, i saw the crew sitting around a table eating cereal, using cutlery and having joking banter. The acting in this scene was believable and realistic..(due to only some of the cast during filming actually knowing what was going to happen)..of Course the events were not, the scene shows Kane and the crew eating cereal, a few seconds into the scene Kane starts coughing and holding onto his chest, after a few more seconds the crew click on that the matter is severe and lie Kane down on the table, he rolls around on the table screaming until his chest bursts and an alien emerges, the crew look on devastated as the alien looks around, makes a snarl and then runs away, this scene was as i stated before created to be a horrific scene which was supposed to scare and thrill the audience, back in 1979 when the film was released the response the creators intended was delivered, but personally this scene didn't scare me, with the effects used and the technique shown (being outdated now day's) i found it more humorous then i did scary. The scene wasn't consisted of much editing,just cut shots, personally i think this was done to make the event look more serious and due to the Still shots followed by the hand held shots i believe the message was delivered, the rhythm of the scene was face paced which shown seriousness to the situation, there was much diegetic sounds in the scene with the crew talking to one another, the sounds of objects falling from the table, the chest bursting and the alien snarling then running away, Surprisingly the Lighting was high-key, this made me feel comfortable, like the worst was over and Kane had indeed recovered, but to my surprise he had not.

The 'Here Kitty' scene shown Brett (Harry Dean Stanton's character) looking for the ships cat while also looking for the alien, after looking for a few minutes Brett comes across shedded skin which at that moment in time didn't appear to be the aliens, using a hand held shot while walking curiously towards and threw the door added a sense of realism and made me more curious because you can't read the characters facial expression so i didn't know what was going to happen, when threw the doors the character Brett was in a long shot supported by low key lighting throughout this scene, the long shot made me believe he was supposedly alone until a mid cut shot of the Alien hanging from chains came into the frame, after wondering for a few seconds Brett saw and tried catching the cat, after failing to do so numerous of times there was a close up of the cat which was now cornered which i believe was used to show how close the cat now is and that it is in fact trapped, then a reverse shot was used from the cat to Brett showing the alien slowly creeping his way from the chains into the shot, the alien was out of focus which made me more curious and eager due to not seeing the alien fully grown until now, then reverse shot back to the cat to which hissed at the alien behind Brett, there was then a close up of the aliens head, at first i was impressed with the concept behind the alien due to the times the film was made technology wasn't that great so Ridley Scott had to use a guy in a costume, so this close up i marvelling at the look of the alien which i believe is the response the creators wanted to gain from the audience with this shot, then cut back to the cat recoiling away, to which Brett turned around to and saw the Alien, a close up shown of Bretts face showing fear. In my opinion i believe this scene certainly did create more of a thrill then the chestburster scene did, the low key lighting certainly added to the suspense and thrill through out the scene, it made the background seem more mysterious, the alien seem more horrific and added to the level of acting throughout, mise en scene wasn't used too well i don't believe in this scene, yes the costumes of both Brett and the alien was believable and the level of acting made the situation seem serious but there wasn't really many props used in this scene, i couldn't make out where Brett was, the only object i recall being used is a few boxes which the cat was hiding behind and what was behind the alien, but maybe I'm wrong, other people probably know where Brett was and saw more objects then i did but overall the scene did create a level of thrill, horror and anxiety, the scene involved diegetic sounds of Brett talking to the cat, the cat hissing, the sound of water falling and the sound of chains, there was only one non diegetic sound throughout this one scene and that was what i believe to be the over dramatised sound of Brett's heart, different to the chest burster scene which was fast paced this scene was slow paced which was done by the creators to add tension and weariness.

Inglorious Bastards Film analysis

Inglorious Bastards is a action/adventure film but also a war film, there was a high budget for this film (an estimated $70,000,000) but grossed an amazing $321,455,689 worldwide as of 17th December 2009. There are a lot of great techniques used in this film, from camera shots to great use of mise–en–scene,

At the beginning of the scene I analysed there was a close up on a guy was lighting up a cigarette, the background behind him was in use of low key lighting, this clouded up my judgement on what is actually going on, as the camera angle pans outwards i saw he is standing in front of a load of cinema tapes, which hinted towards the burning down of the cinema.

When you see the Nazi walking up the stairs he’s walking from the darkness into the light, this could show a desperate struggle he is facing to try and reclaim any chance of being morally good.

When the character Shosanna is seen in this clip she is wearing a vibrant colour of red, the colour red and it shows danger,

Whereas the Nazi is wearing white, which is a colour of pureness but also has a hint of black to his costume for example; his medals are black (could show he had to do dark things to gain these accolades), a black collar and black sleeves, which I see as a power struggle to do with his past and what he wants t be like, this backs up my opinion of the struggle to be morally good.

When the two come face-to-face you see they are on two different sides, the door between the two separates and shows two sides, furthermore the rule of thirds backs this up, they are both on two different sides of the camera frame. Furthermore you can see he is in the light where as she is in the dark, this shows she as negative intentions while he has positive.

Shosanna tells the Nazi to lock the door, he is surprised that she seems willing, as he locks the door, she moves to behind the camera in the middle of the room, there is a close of up her bag which shows there is significance and importance, she takes a gun out of her bag, closes her eyes and shoots him in the back, I see this as ‘stabbing someone in the back’ because he wasn’t expecting it, when he falls to the ground he lands between the film tapes (which are in lighting) of him killing the Jews which I believe is symbolic for it being the cause of his death, but also he lands half in darkness and half in shadow which I believed was to show he wasn’t dead.
After Shosanna shoots him in the back she moves over to the window and looks into the cinema, because the movie playing is of the Nazi’s and he is the star, she looks at his reaction on the screen, he is upset and looks nervous and scared, at this point there is soft music playing, this makes me feel sympathy for the Nazi because it is what she is feeling and she now seems not to be any better then him.
When she turns him around he shoots her, a close up of his face where you can see his expression, it made me believe he didn’t want to do it but thought it as immoral to be killed by a Jew, when she falls to floor there is a long shot from a high angle which shows space between the two, this shows neither are better than the other and the way I see it is he was so close…but yet so far.

Inglorious Bastards Film analysis Bullet points

Inglorious Bastards Film analysis Bullet points

• Crossfade on Shosanna to show importance and relevance, • Background is dark (guy behind stage) so therefor is hard to judge what is about to happen
• Guy behind stage lights a cigarette foreshadowing the burning of the cinema,
• Nazi walking up the stairs from the darkness towards the light,
• Colour red worn by Shosanna shows danger,
• Nazi was wearing white but has a black collar, medals and parts on sleeve,
could show his struggle to attempt to reclaim to be morally good again, • Doorway shows the two on opposite sides,
• When in the doorway Nazi was in the light and Shosanna was in the dark, this was foreshadowing what she was planning,
• Nazi’s reaction when she says “lock the door” shows he was surprised she was willing,
• Music is soft when Shosanna shoots the Nazi (unknown name) could show regret and sympathy that she is now no better than him,
• Slo-motion shot when Shosanna is shot, makes the moment more dramatic because she was a main character,
• High angle camera shot shows they are now as bad as each other when he kill’s her,
• When the Nazi is shot he falls half into shadow and half not, shows he’s not really dead, • When the Nazi gets shot in the back, he falls between the clips of him killing the jews,
• After she shoots him, she turns and watches the film, she see's him on the film looking upset and scared, she turns and looks at him lying on the floor and feels sympathy

Dark Knight background analysis

Dark Knight
My choice of favourite film would have to easily be Batman dark knight, the film was released in 2008, the budget for the film was an estimated $185,000,000 and grossed an amazing $1,001,921,825 worldwide as of the 1st of December 2010. the Dark Knight starred Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Heath Ledger (Joker), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face), Gary Oldman (Gordon) The double Oscar winning blockbuster was directed by Christopher Nolan. On IMDB the film got a 9 out of 10 rating and also reached #8 out of #250 top films on IMDB voted by Movie viewers.
The film in my eyes is possibly one of the best modern day films, the acting in the film was brilliant, Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker is to this day the most memorable piece of acting I have actually ever seen in a movie, Christian Bale as the Batman as per usual Christian adapted to the role and made it memorable. There has always been a debate going on about the voice of the Batman that you can’t hear/understand anything he’s actually saying, people to this day still blame Christian Bale for the voice when it has nothing to do with him at all, Christian practiced and practiced for months to perfect the voice of the Batman while Christopher Nolan edited it via post production.
The story behind the dark Knight is: Batman tries to wipe crime completely from Gotham with help from District Attorney Harvey Dent and Lieutenant James Gordon, after doing so a new threat shows up ..The Joker.. Proving to be a challenge the Joker pushes Batman, using his heart against him after taking Harvey and Rachael (who Bruce Wayne loves and also who Harvey Dent loves) hostage, giving him a choice of what he needed or what he wanted, while thinking he was about to go save Rachael it turned out the Joker gave him mixed addresses so he saved Harvey instead..while Gordon was too late saving Rachael, due to Harvey having petrol on his face after an explosion he was left in hospital with one side of his face burnt, the Joker had visited him in hospital and ‘corrupted’ Harvey Dent now making him Two – Face, after the batman taking Joker down he learnt about the now Two – Face who took Gordon and his family hostage claiming it was his fault Rachael had died and wants him to tell his family things are gonna be okay when he knows there not, so he knew how it felt, Batman arrived on the scene, both him and two face had fell off a ledge two face now being dead, Batman had came to the conclusion he didn’t want people knowing of Harvey’s outburst and wanted people to know him as the crime fighter hero they all knew him as..
I particularly enjoyed how there was little references towards the original comics, for example: the original story of how Harvey’s face got burnt was; in court he was trying to convict a mob boss who then threw acid on his face, in the film while Harvey was trying to convict the same mob boss he pulled out a gun instead, I know its completely different but it was like a little nod towards to original comic series.