The dark knight trilogy! There isn't any batman fan who has not heard about this film series. This trilogy of Batman has been directed by the famous multi award winning director Christopher Nolan. Yes! That Christopher Nolan who is easily counted as one of the best directors. From making sci fi movies like Interstellar (2014) to history based films like Oppenheimer (2023) to detective drama like Tenet (2020), Christopher Nolan has topped in all. The movie stars Christian Bale as the caped crusader - Batman. Christian Bale is well known for his versatile acting in his filming career, being iconic and notable in the American Psycho (2000), the prestige (2006) and the machinist (2004). You might also know him from his recent films Ford V Ferrari (2019) or Thor : love and thunder (2022). Till date the dark knight trilogy has made an impression of being the best Batman film franchise and also Christian Bale being the best live action Batman of all time.
Batman Begins (2005)
The first movie came on the big screen on 17 June 2005 with the title 'Batman begins'. The film has a 84% score on rotten tomatoes with 8.2/10 rating in IMDb. The film also features the recent Oppenheimer and peaky Blinder star Cillian Murphy as the scarecrow,the famous Micheal Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as commissioner Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucuis fox, Liam Nesson as Ra's al ghul and Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. During the production times, Christian Bale was criticised for being imperfect for Batman's role and the movie even faced backlash of being another bad adaptation of batman. These backlashes occurred due to the previously released batman movie titled batman and robin in 1997 which was directed by Joel Schumacher and featured George Clooney as the batman (who is currently known as the worst live action batman of all time). When Batman begins (2005) was released, it left the hater's jaw dropped. The expert cinematography of Christopher Nolan and the versatile acting of Christian Bale took the movie to the top, making it the second best live action Batman movie of all time after Batman (1989) back in 2005. The movie grossed 37 crore USD in the box office, making the ninth highest grossing movie of 2005, also winning MTV movie award for best hero in 2006.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Christopher Nolan pre-planned the sequel, as the batman begins post credit scene teases the joker. The next movie of the franchise was released on 18 July 2008 titled 'the dark knight'. Christian Bale returns in the role of the caped crusader with an improvised outfit once again with Micheal Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman reprising their roles. Along with Heath ledger as the Joker, Aaron Eckhart as two face and Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. The backlash story repeated once again for this movie as fans were unhappy to know that Health Ledger is playing the role of joker in this movie. When the movie was released, it left the haters speechless once again. Late Health Ledger gave us the best performance as the Joker and till date remains as the best Joker of all time. Speaking of the box office collection, The dark knight (2008) grossed 100 crore USD and was also the no.1 highest grossing movie of 2008. The movie has a rating of 8.4/10 on IMDb and 94% score on rotten tomatoes. The movie is till date marked as the best Batman movie, not just the best Batman movie.... But it is said to be the best superhero movie of all time with the most realistic take on a fictional character. The film wasn't any regular superhero movie, the movie contained lot of life lessons and messages. The movie won multiple Oscars and other awards (more than about 30 awards) in between 2008 and 2009.
The dark knight rises (2012)
It's time to discuss about the final movie of this franchise, titled 'The dark knight rises' which was released on 20 July 2012. The movie is rated 8.4/10 in IMDb and 87% score on Rotten tomatoes. The film grossed 108 crore USD, becoming the third highest grossing movie of 2012. The film won 7 awards aswell. The film features Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Micheal Cane reprising their role. Along with Joseph Gordon Levitt as John Blake, Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, Marrion Cotillard as Talia al Ghul and Tom Hardy as Bane. The film also features the return of Cillian Murphy as scarecrow and Liam Nesson as Ra's al ghul. The movie currently ranked as the 3rd best Batman movie of all time.
The dark knight trilogy Sequel?
Despite the massive success of the franchise, Christopher Nolan announced that he is not interested in making a fourth part of the dark knight franchise. Although multiple times it was rumoured that Christian Bale might return as the batman, it is simply not possible because Christopher Nolan has put a full stop to Bale's batman in the dark knight rises (2012) film. Maybe in future, if Christopher Nolan decides to bring a sequel to the dark knight trilogy, surely it would create a lot of hype.
(Written by Talha Amin)