In 2008, The Dark Knight, a sequel to Batman Begins, released, which was the best film in The Dark Knight Trilogy. Over a decade later, Joker came out, which was a movie that showed a different version of Batman’s greatest enemy.
Both of these movies were phenomenal, but which one is the better of the two? There are five main reasons why The Dark Knight is better than Joker and five reasons why Joker is better than The Dark Knight.
10 The Dark Knight: The Opening Scene Was Epic
There are few movies that gain people’s undivided attention in the very first scene. Joker wasn’t one of them but The Dark Knight was. In the opening scene of the 2008 film, a small group of criminals wearing clown masks were sent by the Joker to rob a bank.
The Joker also instructed them to kill each other, causing each criminal to betray one another so they’d have more money. The last criminal turned out to be the Joker himself, showing how he set everything up and got exactly what he wanted. From that moment, fans knew that they were in for a great experience.
9 Joker: It’s Not Like Most Movies Based On Comics
Though The Dark Knight is one of the best movies based on a comic, it has a lot in common with almost every film focusing on superheroes, including ones that aren’t nearly as good. Joker, on the other hand, is completely unique. In fact, if the names of some of the characters and settings were changed, even the biggest Batman fans would have no clue that it’s inspired by the comics.
Joker is much more of a crime thriller, proving that superhero movies can have different formulas and still be entertaining.
8 The Dark Knight: The Fight Scenes Are Better
Because The Dark Knight is exactly what people would expect from a phenomenal superhero film, it’s obvious that there are great action scenes.
Whether it be an awesome fight against the Joker or beating up more common criminals that are shooting at him, the battles that Batman gets into in this movie are exciting to watch, especially when he does some dangerous stunt that anyone besides him would probably die doing.
7 Joker: The Violence Is More Realistic
Though there isn’t as much action in Joker, the scenes that do contain violence are more realistic than anything in The Dark Knight. They’re much simpler, as instead of having dozens of people fighting at once or having tools that aren’t easily obtainable in real life, only the titular character does most of the fighting, with the exception of a few times where he was beaten up.
The only weapons in the film are knives and guns, and there is more blood when someone dies. Due to how realistic it is, some fans may even want to look away during the scenes that contain the most gore.
6 The Dark Knight: A More Iconic Joker
There have been different versions of the Joker over the years and most of them share a lot of similarities with each other. Heath Ledger’s role of the villain takes the things that fans like the most about him and improves them, making him the best live-action version of the character based on what people would expect.
From his dialogue and laugh to his mannerisms and looks, it’s no wonder why Heath Ledger has the most memorable performance as the Joker.
5 Joker: A More Unique Joker
Joaquin Phoenix, the star of Joker, portrayed the titular character in a way that has never seen before. Arthur Fleck, the actual name of Joker in the movie, was a much more realistic character. He worked as a clown and wanted to be a comedian. He lived in a small apartment with his mother and looked after her. He was mentally ill and people around him treated him terribly for it.
He was someone that some fans of the film could easily relate to, while much fewer people would be able to personally connect to other portrayals of the Joker, including Heath Ledger’s. Even though Arthur Fleck’s actions aren’t justified, some may understand why he turned into the Joker, which makes this version of the character so unique.
4 The Dark Knight: It Was Fun
As the title suggests, The Dark Knight is a dark movie, but it has a lot of fun moments. The fights are exciting, the characters are amusing, and the plot twists are enjoyable. There are also a lot of scenes in the movie that are funny.
Fans watch The Dark Knight to have a good time with an engaging story and even during its darkest and saddest moments, they know that “the night is darkest just before the dawn,” like Harvey Dent said when he lied to Gotham about being Batman.
3 Joker: It Was Scary
Though Joker may not be considered a horror movie, there are a lot of scary moments. From the first to the last scene, this film does an amazing job at making audiences feel uncomfortable, knowing that something terrible can happen at any moment. The scariest scenes are definitely the ones where Arthur has a gun in his hand, such as when he dropped it while performing his act at a children’s hospital or when he used it to kill three men that harassed him in a subway.
Even in some of the more simplistic scenes, such as when he danced in a bathroom or when he spoke with his therapist after he couldn’t stop laughing, the frightening feeling that fans have doesn’t go away.
2 The Dark Knight: The Ending Shows How Batman Is The Best Superhero
The ending of The Dark Knight was amazing. After Batman defeated the Joker, he had to stop Harvey Dent from hurting Jim Gordon’s family. When Harvey was about to kill Jim’s son, Batman tackled him and was able to save the child, but the final antagonist of the film died in the process. Knowing that they couldn’t hide Harvey’s killings from the world but refusing to let the Joker get what he wanted, Batman told Jim to blame everything on him.
In order to be Gotham’s hero, Batman had to become its villain, proving how much he cared about his city. Sometimes, the best thing to do is something that seems bad, and doing this shows how Batman is better than other superheroes.
1 Joker: The Ending Is Up For Interpretation
Throughout Joker, audiences will discover how something that seems to be real in the movie is actually in Arthur’s mind, and the ending takes this idea to a whole other level. Finally getting the recognition he deserves by a group of Gotham citizens wearing clown masks that praise him, he dances one more time while Bruce’s parents get murdered in one of the best and most surprising moments in the movie.
However, in the last scene, Arthur is talking to a therapist in Arkham and laughs about a joke he had thought of, making some fans think that the entire movie may have been inside of Arthur’s mind, especially since the room he is in is one that appears a couple of other times throughout the film. The idea that everything in Joker was a joke makes the movie brilliant.
About The Author
