If you’re reading this, then chances are you’ve already seen The Dark Knight, with Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film scoring huge numbers at the box office and earning a level of acclaim from the critics that you rarely see for the superhero genre. But if you’d care to judge for yourself whether the movie is still as great as everyone said it was, the second installment in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy is now available on Netflix.
Back in 2008, The Dark Knight was the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time on a global level, and even after years of inflation and further world-conquering blockbusters, it’s still hanging in there at number thirty-six. Meanwhile, on a domestic level, the feature currently sits at number five in the superhero movie rankings, sandwiched just below Incredibles 2 and above Avengers: Age of Ultron.
But box office figures aside, the film continues to hold a prominent presence in our pop culture, with Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker proving particularly influential on our current screen psychopaths, from Pennywise in the new It movies, to Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in the upcoming Joker flick.
At the same time, ever since Nolan finished his run with the Caped Crusader, Bruce Wayne’s subsequent projects have struggled to replicate the character’s former success, both commercially and critically. And after 2017’s Justice League underperformed, it looks like Ben Affleck is already hanging up the cape, with a younger actor reportedly filling his slot for Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
It’s been slow progress so far for Bruce Wayne’s soft reboot, but while we can only hope that this new year will bring further news on Batman’s future, The Dark Knight awaits on Netflix as an ongoing reminder of what it looked like when the DC hero was just about the biggest thing in cinema.
