The superhero films that I would like to contrast is the Dark Knight and The Avengers. They are both high grossing movies that had received positive reviews from the viewers. The Dark Knight is a superhero action film based on the DC Comics, the Batman. There are a lot of fantastic action scenes in the movie where the hero fights with the villains. On the other hand, the Avengers is a science fiction action film that was released on 2012 based on the Marvel Comics, the Avengers. The film was directed by Joss Whedon, starring Robert Downey, Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner as the superheroes. The differences between both movies can be compared from three aspects, the heroes, the villains and the focus of storylines.
In the Dark Knight, Batman works with Lieutenant Jim Gordon and the District Attorney, Harvey Dent to wipe out the criminal organizations in Gotham City. Their plans went successfully at first but they soon find themselves becoming preys to a mad criminal mastermind known as the Joker (The Dark Knight, 2008). The Joker then turns Gotham City into chaos and Batman as the silent guardian of Gotham has to fight his enemies to protect the city. However, the Avengers is a movie about six superheroes which consist of Ironman, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeyes who have their own special abilities. They have to team up to defend the Earth from Loki and the Chitauri Army from outer space who plan to invade the Earth.
It is obvious that there will be heroes saving lives in the Dark Knight and the Avengers since they are superhero films. However, there are some differences between the superheroes in term of their working structures and styles....
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... Unlike the Dark Knight, the Avengers emphasizes on the teamwork among the superheroes. After realizing the world crisis caused by Loki that might create mass destruction to humanity, Nick Fury, the director of “S.H.I.E.L.D” immediately assembles the Avengers from great heroes around the world. In the beginning, the team members do not work well with each other thus causing disagreement and dissatisfaction among the team. The situation gets better eventually when the members start to co-operate and tolerate with each other for greater cause.
In conclusion, the Dark Knight and the Avengers have quite a lot of differences in their heroes, villains and focus of storylines. However, these differences are the factors that contribute in the success of these movies. If all superheroes movies are having the similar style, there will be no uniqueness in the movies any more.
...revolutionize a whole new genre of movie, a genre which is fast becoming more and moe popular. 'As filmmaking technology has made it more and more feasible to bring the worlds of the comics to movie theaters, the comics themselves have begun to provide a broader and richer array of material.. from which films might be made' (Booker 2007: Paul Benton, Lecture notes). All the mentioned arguments throughout this essay on top of; the star performances, unique marketing and special effects, help make The Dark Knight a truly great film. Prior to the movies release it was questioned wether the film could sustain the 'increasing moral weight imposed upon it', the movie to date has more than dealt with this pressure, and has become a focal point for many discussions and essays, and finally it is because of the morals and ethics within the movie that I have written this essay.
The Dark Knight is a piece of art and quality entertainment rolled into one, and has set a new standard for the superhero genre. It still has the elements of action that make it such a tense, unpredictable film, as well as the usual superhero film cheesiness, without which the film would be incomplete.
We are currently living in the Golden Age of Superheroes. They dominate our cultural life, and have become seemingly permanent fixtures in modern media. Since X-Men burst onto the screen fifteen years ago, we have witnessed the release of over forty superhero movies. By 2020 we will have seen the release of more than twenty-five more. Today, the much anticipated film Superman vs. Batman has come to theaters. Though a plethora of superhero movies have been released, it is to the dissatisfaction of many, having long been exhausted by the stories of the Hulk, Batman, and Spider-man. Although I must agree that it is quite easy to get bored with the constant action, and flashing colors of these films, if one looks deep enough into the story they will discover universal themes and metaphors. Though they may be fighting off alien invasions, these heroes are also battling with their personal challenges, challenges which we can
In The Dark Knight, the second film of Christopher Nolan's trilogy, Batman (Christian Bale) teams up with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to clean up the streets of Gotham City. However, a wrench is thrown into their plans with the appearance of the incredibly disturbed and sadistic criminal known as The Joker (Heath Ledger), who aims to stop their “war on crime” by causing destruction and havoc. He begins his crime spree with a bank robbery and then uses the money he gets from it to stage a variety of devastating stunts. The movie is regarded most highly for Ledger's performance, but another important factor in the films success was Nolan's more plausible interpretation of Batman and his story. The film brings out a version of the hero that is less camp and kitsch and more gritty and real, at the expense of the franchise's fun, but to the addition of a more relatable story.
Many subtle battles between good and evil have been waged since the beginning of time. Whether it be wars between cultures or countries in real life, great battles in literature, or final fights in films, the conflict never ends. This fact is evident in the movie, The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon. As a group of heroes brought together to save the world, the Avengers obviously represent good. Loki and his army of aliens represent evil as they try to take over the Earth. Throughout the movie, the Avengers are constantly battling against Loki in order to keep the power over the Earth. They meet Loki in a final battle against him and his alien army where they fight for control of the world. Following the pattern led by history, the Avengers,
The Dark Knight borrowed elements from Batman: The Killing Joke, a 1988 DC Comics graphic novel, which provides an origin story for the Joker. The connection between the two leads to a similar origin story of the creation of the Joker through the influence of Batman. Batman's interference in The Killing Joke causes the Joker to leap into a chemical vat, which severely disfigures him. In The Dark Knight, the Joker himself also has multiple testimonies on how he came to be. He sometimes blames his abusive and alcoholic father for creating his mutilated smile while in a drunken rage one night. The Joker also claims that after his wife’s face was mutilated, he pulled a razor on his own to comfort her by showing that her damaged appearance didn’t bother him. After carving his own cheeks, he says that, “she couldn’t stand the sight of (him).” This disturbing attempt to make her feel better makes causes worse, resulting in his wife leaving him, furthering his mental instability. Although the scars are present on The Dark Knight version of the Joker, the rest of his appearance is cosmetic in contrast to the physiological image of the Joker from the 1989 Batman film. The Joker in The Dark Knight applies chalk white makeup to his face and dark products to blacken the spaces around his eyes. He also dyes his greasy hair green rather than having the chemically bleached green hair follicles of the 1989 Joker who fell into the bubbling green substance. Their personalities differ mainly by the 1989 Joker being more comical while The Dark Knight Joker being more psychotic. The Joker from The Dark Knight calls himself an “agent of chaos” and wishes to drag everyone down to his level of insanity and corruption rather than just kill them
The terms "hero" and "villain" are as distinct as the terms "good" and "evil." They are mutually exclusive; the hero is courageous, popular, strong, morally, and willing to save the people at whatever cost, while the villain is despicable, hated, and heinous to his core. However, when we turn away from the archetypal world of comic books, this distinction is no longer as clear. When we look at real human beings we do not see a hero as a hero or a villain as a villain, but rather individuals composed of varying degrees of both extremes. No hero is perfect, and no villain is completely heinous. The most recent film adaptation of the DC Comic series Batman presents this truth of human nature. The Dark Knight Rises effectively communicates the
Somebody who had established higher power in their community. Somebody who tried to run from fate, and has the moment of recognition and understanding of their destiny. Batman. Even though he is considered the strong and powerful superhero of Gotham City, Batman's characteristic features show that he relates strongly to that of a "tragic" hero. In the beginning, the Batman is presented at a higher state of appreciation, even though the police see him as a vigilante. Despite his wealth, Batman, otherwise known as Bruce Wayne, is easily relatable to audiences, which makes it easy to sympathize and empathize with the character. Batman is in a constant battle within himself, trying to be the good guy, while defeating the bad guys. His morals prove true when he admits that he won't kill any of the many villians that cause destruction for Gotham City. But, because of this moral, sometimes the villians end up escaping and doing more harm then good. In the end, this interal chaos and internal battle is seen interally and externally through Batman. At the end of the most recent Batman series, The Dark Knight, his exit at the end of the movie is, in essence, his figurative death. Bruce Wayne wants to keep Gotham City safe. And with the "Batman" gone, villians will be least likely to continue to destroy and conquer. As an audience, we cling to the edge of our seats and feel dismay for our beloved superhero and what is to become of
In their graphic novel Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons establish their story during the Cold War period, when a group of superheroes tackle the task to save humanity from a potential World War III caused by tensions among governmental powers. Managed by the intelligence of Adrian Veidt, the worst was avoided after the attack of alien forces causes the death of millions of New Yorkers that leads to a temporary world peace. The representations of the Watchmen superheroes of Moore and Gibbons, particularly Rorschach, display the concept of heroism being a part of the real world, among the regular public of our society.
The Dark Knight Returns Part Two, is an animated film released on January 29, 2013 which is adapted from the 1986 comic book by the same name written by Frank Miller. The story follows a retired Batman who has decided to come out of retirement because he knows that his days are numbered and that it is time to look for a good death. The vigilante’s comeback sparks the comeback of the Joker and gets the attention of the United States government. This all leads to a legendary fight between Batman and Superman, in which one is fighting for a purpose and the other is blindly following authority, and it all ends with Batman dying but not really. The Dark Knight Returns is a romance story that is set on an epic scale, involves a figure of great cosmic importance, and has the Dark Knight go on a
Perceptions of the superhero and supervillain are mainly based on subjective definitions of each concept. These observations often lead to a definitive dichotomy that precisely splits characters into two impermeable divisions. However, this stringent separation is unable to account for the characters that are not at the extreme ends of their respective side. Neither is this rift capable of classifying characters that flirt with both sides of the superhero-supervillain dichotomy. Therefore it is imperative to analyze the established criteria for both superhero and supervillain to derive a more adequate explanation. Most superheroes are not easily characterized, but rather fall somewhere between Superman, the bastion of moral purity, and Doctor Doom, the display of indubitable corruption. This solicits genesis of an entirely new notion about the differences between superheroes and supervillains. A more precise idea is that superheroes and supervillains are lined on a spectrum that spans from pure good to pure evil. Disparities between superheroes and supervillains are not black and white, but rather these characters are on a spectrum that radically changes based on individual cases.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is a superhero epic of a scope hard to explain in a few short paragraphs. It is the third film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. This film takes place over the course several months, primarily in the fictional Gotham City, an American city which had until recently been rife with crime and corruption which had made great progress in these areas due to the events in the previous films. The protagonist is Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), the eponymous Dark Knight, who has retired his Batman alter ego after taking the fall for the crimes of Harvey Dent at the close of The Dark Knight.
Every child in the United States has heard or read the Marvel and DC comics books. If you have not then you have probably have heard of their characters like the famous star spangled hero, Captain America, or the Dark Knight himself, Batman. Both Marvel and DC has influenced the children and adults of American in its darkest times. The great wars affected many by its poisonous grasps, and its victims sought comfort with the antidote provided by the marvelous illustrators and writers of comic books. Now their cinematic counterparts are here to inspire the 21st century. The Marvel and DC cinematic universes have similar content, they both have unique characteristics that set them apart.
Collapsing to his knees, Batman admits defeat at the hand of comic book legend, Spider-man. Throughout the years, many people have argued about whom of these two super heroes is better. Both Spider-man and Batman have their own unique stories, abilities, and set of super villains and no one can argue that both aren't exceptional super heroes. However, through proven facts, statistics, comic books, television shows, and movie references determine for all who the better super hero is between these two. If were to ever happen, in a fight to the death, Spider-man would destroy Batman with his marvelous super powers, courage, and intelligence.
Batman Begins has an incredible amount of struggles that not only Bruce Wayne must face but all of Gotham must face. The first of many of these was Thomas and Martha Wayne's sudden death at the beginning. This left both the people of Gotham and Bruce Wayne to struggle along without them “Their deaths galvanized the city into saving itself and Gotham has limped on ever since.” (Batman Begins, Ras Al Ghul, Scene 31) This also created much anger and rage in Bruce Wayne that he released as Batman. There is also the struggle with the crime rate in Gotham and keeping alive the cities slowly falling government. These things differ from the Dark Knight where the struggles are with mainly the Joker and his actions. Many more unexpected and out of control struggles occur in The Dark Knight. The Joker (mastermind terrorist) creates many series of problems and difficulties for Batman, Gordon, Dent, and all of Gotham in general. Another big problem, quite different from the first one is the capturing of Joker. Unlike the first film, the struggles of The Dark Knight are much more external while the first one was fixing what was on Gotham’s internal problems. An example was after Rachel’s death it changed Harvey into an evil person therefore changing the whole ending of the movie, and a lot of the next one. Another big difference between the two films is The Dark Knight has a lot more violence and explosions,