The Dark Knight
HEADLINE: ** Some Emotional Moments **
Title: THE DARK KNIGHT
Quality: * * * Acceptability: -2
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: LL
Violence: VVV
Sex: S
Nudity: N
RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: July 18, 2008
TIME: 152 minutes
STARRING: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Anthony Michael Hall, Cin Han, and Eric Roberts
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan
PRODUCERS: Christopehr Nolan, Charles Roven and Emma Thomas
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy, and Thomas Tull
WRITERS: Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
BASED ON THE COMIC BOOK SERIES CREATED BY: Bob Kane
DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures/Time Warner
CONTENT: (PaPa, FR, BB, C, RoRo, LL, VVV, S, N, AA, M) Very confused and eclectic, or mixed pagan, philosophical perspectives ending on a relativistic, deconstructionist "truth does not matter" sentiment, with some references to good versus evil, justice and crime fighting, a reference to we need God now, references to Jesus, many Romantic refutations of order and discipline, some extolling of vigilante activity, and not a very cohesive worldview; eight mostly light obscenities such as use of the "h" word and four profanities, three of which are exclamatory; very strong and intense action violence and threats of violence, but very little blood or gore actually shown except for a few notable exceptions, thus people are constantly beat up, people are shot through the head, Joker takes a knife to threaten to cut people's mouths open, people are blown up, people thrown off buildings, people burned alive, but the camera cuts away from most of these instances, but the almost skeletal scary side of the face of Two Face is shown and the scars of Joker are shown, plus chase scenes and fight scenes; fairly mild discussions of sex, though one person is remembered for being interrupted while having sexual relations, and another mostly dressed couple is interrupted in a bedroom; upper partial male nudity; lots of alcohol use, one man drinks to get drunk and avoid responsibility; no smoking; and, criminal activity and hero decides to lie to solve plot problem and police commissioner agrees with him.
GENRE: Crime Thriller
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Teenagers and adults
REVIEWER: Dr. Ted Baehr
Please address your comments to:
Jeffrey L. Bewkes, CEO, Time Warner
Barry M. Meyer, Chairman/CEO
Alan Horn, President/COO
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (New Line Cinema)
(A Time Warner company)
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522-0001
Phone: (818) 954-6000
Website: www.movies.warnerbros.com
SUMMARY: THE DARK KNIGHT, the new Batman, shows Batman dealing with two villains, the psychotic Joker and Two-Face Harvey Dent, who becomes a tragic villain due to the Joker's evil machinations. DARK KNIGHT is full of emotional moments, but its plot, characters and dialogue fail to make a cohesive whole and its dark, mixed content and worldview are ultimately not inspiring nor appropriate for children and young teenagers.
IN BRIEF:
THE DARK KNIGHT, the new Batman, is full of emotional moments, but its plot, characters and dialogue fail to make a cohesive whole. The story starts off with much promise. There's a new criminal in Gotham City challenging the mobs. The Joker is ruthless, senseless and chaotic, a true psychopath. At the same time, there's a new good guy on the scene, Harvey Dent, the District Attorney. With Batman and Detective Gordon's help, he indicts a courthouse full of mobsters. The Joker, however, has a deadly plan that will bring tragic consequences for Harvey Dent, Batman aka Bruce Wayne and Rachel, the love of Bruce Wayne's life who has fallen for Harvey Dent.
Some interactions between the characters in DARK KNIGHT are brilliant emotional moments, but they don't hang together cohesively. Because of this and other problems, the movie's last 20 minutes are tedious. Also, the Joker character does not change, so it becomes monotonous watching him on the screen. The movie's worldview also lacks cohesion. It's a mixed one that ends on a morally relative, deconstructionist note. It suggests a hero can be a liar without tarnishing his heroic qualities.
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine. For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, atwww.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.
