The Dark Knight is a superhero film that both subverts and conforms to the genre.
The Dark Knight conforms to the Superhero genre in several ways : It’s set in a city (meaning several shots of the cityscape – a staple in many movies of this genre); Batman’s alter ego is secret, and we see conflict of whether or not Batman should reveal himself; he has an arch nemesis, his opposite who is able to target his weaknesses very effectively.
The Dark Knight also subverts the genre is many ways : the Joker has no origin story, therefore no clear motivations – a rarity for the genre; Batman also fails to save ‘the girl’ (Rachel), she also chooses Harvey Dent over him; Batman is a morally grey character, he breaks international law by kidnapping someone in Hong Kong and at the end he becomes a criminal (by taking on Dent’s crimes at the end).
Genre Study – The Dark Knight
The Corpus → The Repertoire of Elements↓ |
Film1: Superman (1978) Donner |
Film 2: Spider-man (2002) Raimi |
Film 3: Wonder Woman (2017) Jenkins |
Typical Locations |
New York, mythical places, big cities, urban location, usually America… or space. |
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Characters / Groups |
Typical hero with ‘powers’, group of heroes in conflict, dead family members, orphans, extremists, antagonist, sidekick – tech guys, love interest – the damsel in distress |
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Conflicts & Themes |
Good overcoming evil, overcoming adversity, origin story, internal conflict, |
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Filmic Technique |
Kaboom, CGI, big action sequences, cars chase, flashbacks, training montage, explosions, special effects, aerial shots, voiceovers, the costume reveal |
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Iconography / Mise-en-Scene |
Cityscape, primary coloured superhero suits, vehicles, specific weapons, power prop, superpower, |
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Shape of the story |
Opening action setting – origin story explained – characters introduced |
Superhero is put in challenging situations – their arch nemesis tries to destroy the world. Achilles heel is tested |
Superhero wins / saves the world – and the girl |