WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Triple Feature: The Dark Knight

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

Join Anna, McKenna, and Audrey to review The Dark Knight.

This is Triple Feature with your host, Anna Eddie, Audrey Hunsbet, and McKenna Bambury, where we dive deep into the world of movies, rating, roasting, and raving about the best and worse of cinema. So grab your popcorn and let's get into it. Thank you for tuning into Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. This is Triple Feature with your host, Audrey Hunsbet, McKenna Bamboree, and Anna Eddie, where we dive deep into the world of movies, rating, roasting, and raving about the best and words. of cinema. Today we will be reviewing The Dark Night. So grab your popcorn and let's get into it. We will start with a plot overview, give our general takes, and dive into a bit of the deeper

elements of the movie and wrap up with our overall ratings. The Dark Night released in 2008 and directed by Christopher Nolan is the second film in the Dark Night trilogy and follows Bruce Wayne, who is played by Christian Bale, and his journey as Batman in Gotham City. Batman worked to combat crime and maintain order, but a new criminal mastermind, the Joker, played by Heath Ledger, emerges with a chaotic plan to destroy Gotham and challenge Batman's ideals. The Joker's unpredictable and anarchistic nature pits him directly against Batman, forcing Bruce to confront not only the physical threats he faces, but also deeper moral questions about justice and identity. The film begins with the Joker orchestrating a bank robbery,

revealing his intention to wreak havoc and manipulate Gotham's underworld. He begins targeting key figures in the city, including mobsters, law enforcement, and the city's judicial system. His chaotic tactics forced Batman, along with Gotham's district attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckert, and police officer James Gordon, played by Gary Oldman, to work together in a bid to rid the city of crime. As Batman and his allies pursue the Joker, the villain escalates his plans, including a series of mind games that force Gotham's citizens to make impossible choices. He terrorizes the city by planting bombs and framing innocent people,

while also challenging Batman's moral code, believing that anyone can be corrupted under the right circumstances. The Joker's goal is to prove that Gotham is no different from him, and that anyone, including Batman, can be turned into a villain. The Joker also turns Harvey Dent, Gotham's White Knight, into a vengeful vigilante known as Two-Face, after a tragic incident leaves Dent disfigured and mentally shattered because of the death of his girlfriend. Two-Face embarks on a killing spree, making life-or-death decisions based on the flip of a coin. Batman faces a moral dilemma when the Joker forces him to choose between saving Rachel, a former love interest played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, or Harvey Dent, who Rachel is currently dating. The decision leads to the tragic consequences of her death and dense disfiguration, further pushing Bruce into isolation and questioning his role as Gotham's protector.

At the end of the movie, Batman confronts the Joker who has rigged two ferries with explosives, forcing passengers to choose between blowing up the other ferry to save themselves or waiting to be destroyed. Batman's sacrifice comes when he takes the blame for Two-Face, takes the blame for his crimes, choosing to protect Gotham's hope rather than his own reputation. The film concludes with Batman becoming a fugitive, misunderstood by the city he sought to save. He embraces the darker, more complex role of a hero who is willing to take on the blame to keep the city's faith intact. All right, now that we have gone over at the plot, we're going to get into some general takes.

Audrey, you can start us off if you would like. Sweet. Okay, so I have not seen, previously I had not seen any of the Batman movies. And this, I know, is the second in the trilogy. So I didn't even know that it was the second movie until about halfway through. And I was like, oh, wait, there was one before this. Like, I totally understood it. So, I mean, I think I probably missed maybe like some jokes or some, obviously there was, Batman had a relationship with Rachel before.

But I could pick up on the fact that they were past lovers without having. seen the previous movie. So I thought that was cool. The fact that I really like when you can be thrown in the middle of something and still understand it. It didn't really feel like a superhero movie, kind of like I had expected like, oh, you know, Batman, Superman, all those movies like superhero comic book. Like it didn't feel like that at all. It honestly felt more like a crime thriller, which obviously is my favorite genre. What surprised me, I think, the most, I think one of my biggest takeaways is that the movie really didn't focus a ton on Batman. Like the most of the focus I think was on Joker and Harvey Dent.

And so it didn't really feel like the movie was about Batman slash the Dark Night, if that makes sense. I mean, obviously he's behind the scenes, but it definitely does feel like Bruce Wayne is in like a side character almost. So I thought that was interesting. But overall, I just really love the movie. I had a dream about it. Like, I keep thinking about it.

That's how you know. That's a good one. Good one. If you keep thinking about it. Great choice, Anna. Yeah. So good. All right, Kenny.

Okay, this is not my first time watching it. I grew up watching this movie on road trips with my family. My sisters and I would watch this. I, yeah, I always remember loving it. My sisters and I would quote lines from the movie. Like, one of us would be Joker and the other one would be Batman because there's just so many iconic lines. Yeah. I would be Batman.

Of course. Obviously. I love what you said, Audrey. It really doesn't feel like a superhero movie. It feels definitely more like a crime, thriller. drama and I think that's what makes this movie so unique and special the real philosophical moral questions that you have to ask and that it forces you to ask yourself that most superhero movies don't like I think of the Avengers it's not like it's not as I

think dark or yeah I think yeah to your point I think it's so different because this one feels a little bit closer to real life even though there is that sense of like Batman's not necessarily like a real character that you would see in real life. But like those other super hero movies. Yeah. Those other like superhero movies like Marvel or the Avengers or any of those. Like those are hard because you there's nothing in life that's like even close to that. Yeah.

Like would be close to that. But like you can actually set yourself in in that setting a little bit more, I feel like. Yeah. Well, yeah. That's the interesting thing is that none of them have superpowers. He just has really nice technology. and it has a good brain and it's strong. But yeah, all that to say,

it's every time I watch it, there's new things. Yeah, like with any Christopher Nolan movie. So I think he was the perfect director for this movie. I think all the actors were the perfect actors for their roles. Gosh, yes.

Especially Joker. Just phenomenal. And Christian Bale always delivers an amazing acting performance because he also, I think, kind of does method acting too. Like what he does is how to do with. Also, have he seen? like his um physique changes in movies like how extreme those are he's like very known for that

yeah that's why i think he was just perfect for batman too is that he had to like really take on the role and be able to show emotionally the problems of making those choices that the driver like forced him to make yeah yep that's my take okay um yeah i agree i've seen this movie quite a few times before and every time it's great. I really love it. Like Kenny was saying, like the acting is exceptional. All the actors that were like chosen are just like people who really, really dive into their craft and are really like work hard to be great and to convey like everything they need to convey and kind of like them as a human being moves to the back so that their character can really like shine, shine through, which is really cool.

And hard. Oh, yeah. Totally. But, like, that's the mark of, like, a really good actor is, like, you don't, it's not about them. It's about them disappearing. And the actual, like, character and other person is, like, shining through. Yeah. So, yeah, I think the casting was, was very, very well done.

We obviously really like Chris Frinal and we've watched quite a few of his movies. Yeah, I really, really enjoy this movie. I love the themes and the questions that it poses and asks. and makes you kind of have to grapple with. And it is pretty dark. Like it definitely deals with some dark themes, which is hard, but I think necessary.

And to your point, like how you were saying that Batman kind of feels as though he's a side character, I feel like that is pretty intentional. Yeah. Because he does work in the shadows. And like he does have to kind of be that like dark night in a sense of like he's not the forefront. You know,

he's doing everything kind of in the back so that other people can take that forefront role. That makes sense. You know. So, yeah, I obviously really like this movie. I picked it. So for us to watch this week. Okay. Now that we've gone through kind of our general takes, I think let's get into some deeper, like,

themes that kind of like stood out to you guys or like questions you had. Yeah. Audrey, you want to take us away? yeah um let's see i think one of the unfortunately i'm going to jump to the end of the movie just because i think that's where the biggest plot twist happens yeah um so in your summer you talked about how at the end of the movie bruce wayne takes responsibility in some sense for harvey dent's actions yeah which movie really does explore the concept of morality yeah and i think that also it touches on what the responsibility is of someone who takes on the duties of protecting a city

slash what the responsibility is of a quote, good person. Because it can be a really sticky situation when you're not only working behind the scenes like Batman does, but also you are responsible then. You're putting yourself in a position where you're responsible for taking care of crimes. you're relied upon in many ways to protect the city. But then is he being dishonest by taking on that responsibility for the damage that Harvey, that Harvey Dent has caused? Like, I don't know.

I think that's, that sort of just came up in my head where I was like, I don't know what the right thing to do is there because Batman sort of stands as the symbol of greatness in a sense. But is he really doing the right thing by taking on Harvey's destruction? Yeah, I see what you're saying. I think that's kind of something that they talk about in the end as well is like, it may not be the like quote unquote, like good decision, but like because he's Batman, like because he is not like the white knight or the like good guy because he is like the vigilante

and he is the dark night. Like he can do the dirty work or like he can do the things that may not seem as though they're good. They're not glamorous. They may not be good. But like he can take on that sin. be that. Whether that's good or not, he like, because he's more in the shadows, I think he perceives that he is the ability to be like whatever the city needs in that moment. Right. Yeah, which makes

sense. It does make sense. It's just interesting to think about that. Totally. Yeah. Definitely portrayed as the good guy. But then for the good guy to do the dirty work is like, is that do you get, do you get your hands dirty being the good person? And that's like, at what point? At what point? is getting your hands dirty appropriate okay. That's something that we talk about a lot in our leadership classes here too. It's like there's a point at which leaders have this crossroads where they need to decide if they're going to remain completely moral or maybe get their hands dirty for a greater good. I don't know.

It's hard to decide where you draw that line. Is his moral code that he won't kill anyone? Yeah, I think it's like he won't kill anyone and he does everything he can to like stay within those bounds. Yeah. That's what I thought. Well, Kenny, what did you think? I know there's so much to say.

Like, my question was, like, is good corruptible? Like, is it truly good if it can be corrupted? And, like, it's so philosophical. Kind of what, there's so much that goes into that question. Because I think that's a huge thing that the Joker, like, his goal is to corrupt Batman.

His goal is to corrupt the good because he sees that, like, humanity is like if they're put in a hard situation, they will not choose the good. Yeah. Like they will choose what's easy and what's selfish. So his like whole motive throughout the movie

is like how can I corrupt these people because his view of human nature is so like, like everybody's like me. Like in the right situations, they can be turned for bad. Yeah. Or for evil or whatever. Yeah.

So hard. I know. I hate how movies pose these questions and never answer them for us. But I think that's like, yeah, he is trying to get you to grapple with like you said morality and like good and like can you have a moral code or is everything just chaos is everything just like anarchy or like is there an order to life is there a true set principle for what is what is moral sorry no you're good what i feel like i can tackle

that question of looking at human nature and seeing whether or not people will always be good or if they have to make that choice if they will like choose bad when chaos enters and almost every man for themselves like I just think of the fairy scene yeah which was very I think impactful um because you have one fairy full of civilians and their children and then the other one is full of inmates who they kept saying on the ferry with the civilians you know like they chose this life. They had their chance and they chose wrong

that hence why they're in jail and their criminals but yet neither fairy could pull the trigger. Yeah. And I mean that was the Joker's whole plan

was to prove that people aren't always going to the selfless thing I guess. So I just thought that is super interesting. That just got me thinking a lot more just about society and maybe like what I would do in that position because did those individuals have their chance and choose to do wrong? Yes,

that is true. And I think just like looking at it, black and white, like one group is technically better than the other. But then you think a little bit more about human equality and you understand there's value in each individual despite the choices that they might have made in the mistakes that they may have made. Yeah. And I guess like we always bring our faith into this, but looking at it as like a Christian perspective, like I see that. And I'm like, okay, Jesus died for like both the inmates and the civilians that are innocent,

the innocent civilian aircraft. Exactly. So yeah, it's just super. But then you're putting, sorry. No, go ahead. I was just going to say, like once you make that decision about. like someone being worse than you slash having made their decision, you're also putting yourself in a position of God. Like you are judged. Like that, that's sticky too. Because when you say like,

oh, they made their choice, like, okay, but we have all. They just were caught. Yeah. That was another question I had is like kind of in that same vein like is justice ours to seek? Like can, like is that our role? Can we like in a sense, yes, but also we are not the judge, you know? That is like the difference between, I think the juxtaposition between Batman and Harvey Dent is that there is one way doing it through the law and there's one way just doing it from. Exactly. Yeah. A lawless perspective, which is Batman's and like he doesn't really follow the rules but still has some sort of moral code. Who do you guys think one in the end?

Do you think the Joker one or do you think that Batman and the good guys won? I think that depends because like Harvey Dent, which was someone who the Joker was trying to corrupt, like was able to be corrupted. So I think in that sense, like you could say that the Joker won that aspect of the fight. But I think in other aspects he lost because with that fairy example, like they didn't, they didn't choose to kill the other people. Like they chose to be good and choose the right thing. And then like Batman, I would say he wasn't corrupted because like he didn't fold on his moral code. Like he didn't allow the Joker to die. He didn't allow these other people to die.

So I don't know. Yeah, it's hard to say. What do you think, Audrey? I agree with Anna that in a sense the Joker definitely did, quote, win because like Harvey. because Harvey Dent was corrupted. Yeah. Like he became, he compromised his morals. He went after the wrong things.

And what's also interesting is that part of that was a result of his physical appearance being altered, which is a whole other can of worms to open up, which we won't. But I do think that in a sense, the Joker won. However, the fact that the people on the boats that the Joker intentionally put, he intentionally put people on these boats and gave them bombs to destruct each other, neither one decided to kill the other one. So in a sense, in that way, I think good prevails. Let's get into some potential criticisms and changes you guys would have.

Oh, gosh. Okay. I would love to have seen Rachel's character developed a little bit more. I think that she acted a lot as, like, a side encouragement slash anchor for both Harvey and Bruce and so her death wasn't her death was just kind of a result of the situation not really a result of her actions but I wish she had been like more

provocative in like how she was like trying to like help things or like maybe had done something and then her death was a result of her own actions as opposed to just like a tragic plot device. Okay what about you Kenny? I don't think I would change anything. Yeah honestly I kind of agree I really enjoy like the themes in this movie and the characters, the plot,

I think it's a very, like, well-thought-out movie, and I think that what he utilized is very deliberate. Let's get into our overall reviews. We're going to be going through plot, cinematography, acting, and then we're also going to be rating the score. Okay, Audrey, let's start with you. Okay, with the plot, I would definitely rate it a 10. I'm, like, I can't.

There's no way I don't push back. I don't push back. I agree. plot is also 10. 10. Beautiful. I'm going to say it 10, too. Hey! Triple 10s. Let's go.

That's awesome. Okay, cinematography. I also thought it was really good, especially for 2008. Yeah. I think, yeah, especially the angles when Harvey becomes two-face, like, so freaky. Joker, the cinematography on Joker's face. Just so good. On everything.

I don't want to give another 10, but there's one scene where the Joker has just been captured and they're like. interrogating him and he's in the interrogation room. And the cinematography was so interesting because his face is like basically like stark white. And like all you can see is his head.

And everything else is like pitch black. And I thought that was so like so interesting. I don't know. Yeah. Well anyways McKenna, what do you write the cinematography? I'm going to give it a tie. Oh yes. It's getting a lot of tens. Yeah. I mean

this movie is so great. Yeah. Yeah. It is. I, unfortunately, I'm also going to give it a 10. Unfortunately. Okay. Acting. I'm feeling like we're going to get some tens again. Yeah, it's a 10. Is it going to be a 10 for you, McKenna? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. They did such a good job. Keith Ledger is insane and amazing. And like, I think he won a lot of awards or like this movie is basically iconic because of his portrayal of the Joker.

Okay, and finally, we're going to rate the score by Hans Zimmer. Ten. Ten. Yes. Let's go. Honestly, I think, I don't think the movie would have gotten all tens if it wasn't for the score. I actually agree.

Interesting. Yeah, that's actually a really good point. I would really agree. That, I think, was just the cherry on top that, like, moved everything. Yeah. And provoked those emotions. that you needed to feel. Totally. During that.

Yeah. I was anxious. No, same. There were so many moments where I could just like, I could feel the score building. And it's like, oh my gosh. I, I'm a nerd. So I just listen to the scores. All right. Well, with that, thank you for listening to Triple Feature on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7. We will see you next week.