You know what they say about opinions, right? Everybody’s got one, and if you aren’t careful, your selfless acts of vigilantism may inspire the biggest threat this city’s ever seen. No, wait, that’s just something that can largely be applied to Batman. At 85, DC”s most iconic non-superhero remains a huge topic of interest, thanks to Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II and James Gunn’s still-uncast Caped Crusader. Also because The Dark Knight remains a pillar of comic book cinema, at least to a large swath of Hollywood voters.
One of the more publicized cinematic surveys looking back at the past 25 years of film, and thus necessarily one of the more contentious, The New York Times’ “100 Best Movies of the 20th Century” polled over 500 filmmakers, actors, and high-profile moviegoers to cast votes for the 10 best movies to hit the zeitgeist after Y2K. (The outlet touted John Turturro, Mikey Madison, Guillormo Del Toro and Sofia Coppola amongst its opinion-sharing entrants.) In the end, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight earned the status of highest-ranking comic book movie.
To be sure, the Batman Begins sequel wasn’t sitting pretty in the Top 10 or anything, where Bong Joon-Ho‘s Parasite reigned supreme. The 2008 blockbuster was slotted in at #28, settled between Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (#29) and Spike Jonze’s Adaptation (#27). But when it was shared on social media as being voted the best comic book movie of the past 25 years, fans had thoughts. Below a post shared by DiscussingFilm, fan reactions ranged from glowing to agog. Let’s take a look at some of the more constructively critical opinons that opposed Dark Knight‘s supremacy.
- Better than Infinity War or Winter Soldier. Nah! – @LightYagami101
- No it’s not, people only say this because Nolan directed it – @driftyfilm
- They obviously didn’t watch Blade 2 – @Flaycreak
- Really goes to show the perception of comic book films if Hollywood thinks the best one is the one that is the least comicbook-y – @HenshinHarrison]
- Spider-Man 2 – @BlessedwitRJ
- Infinity war for me It felt comic book, it brought so many things together and the ending was truly impactful – @Wrestle_G
- Endgame would also be a good shout for this tbh – @slotslv
Unsurprisingly, the MCU drew a lot of compliments that stood against anyone even whispering the possibility of an idea that Dark Knight would be better than one of the Russo Bros.’ Avengers sequels. Or one of several other Marvel releases.
But let’s not count out all of the positive reactions that fans had about Christian Bale and Heath Ledger‘s crime drama being dubbed a genre best for comic book cinema.
- Best comic book movie period and it’s not close – @BazForexFutures
- I’d agree with that. Pretty flawless film. – @Drownomatic5000
- That’s because The Dark Knight is a proper film where the protagonist happens to be Batman. – @tomolesnevich
- I think the only one marvel made that comes close is Civil War. But still nowhere near enough to touch the Dark Knight. – @BritisherPaz49
- As someone who prefers The Batman there’s nothing wrong with thinking The Dark Knight is the golden standard for the genre imo. – @LanternUpdates
Naturally, there are also the dregs of the community opinions, where it’s hard to decipher whether the comments being shared are genuine viewpoints shared by misguided souls, or if they were crafted specifically for the duty of trolling Dark Knight fanatics. Here are a few of those examples:
- Joker (2019) is the top one. The Dark Knight (2008) is second. – @playpal001
- Have they not seen Thor Love & Thunder? – @wrestlefeatures
- Well they’re wrong The Dark Knight Rises definitely clears – @ROTK_
- I beg to differ those falling babies in The Flash looked realistic af – @PhantomsodaJr
They’ve gotta be trolls, right?
Two-Face portrayer Aaron Eckhart credits Heath Ledger and the director for the film’s continued success and beloved status among not just Batman fanatics, but film buffs in general. Plus, new Dark Knight-related merch is still being made and bought, and people are still streaming the movie on a regular basis with a HBO Max subscription. So there’s no doubt that it’ll remain atop the list of acclaimed comic book movies for the rest of time.
