Movie Moment Monday - Dark Knight Opening

This is the latest entry in a series in which I present one of my favorite scenes in film history. Each scene will be posted during the first work day of every week thus making it Movie Moment Monday.

There's a little movie coming out this Friday that some people are excited about. Alright, there's a massive movie coming out this Friday that everybody is excited about. And so they should be. The Dark Knight Rises is as anticipated a film has been in a long time.

So, since the third film in the series is being released and since these Christopher Nolan Batman movies are arguably the best superhero movies ever, I thought I would celebrate this by presenting my favorite scene in a Batman movie.

Officially, I'm including the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher films, but, let's face it, those movies didn't stand a chance.

As it turns out, my favorite Batman scene is the opening five minutes of The Dark Knight. As much as we love bad-ass heroes like Batman, there's a part of us that loves great villains even more. And in the Dark Knight beginning we are introduced to the Joker and his thugs as they attempt a quick, but elaborate, bank robbery.

The Players

The Joker - Heath Ledger
Grumpy - Danny Goldring
Chuckles - Matthew O'Neill
Happy - William Smillie
Dopey - Michael Stoyanov
Bank Manager - William Fichtner
Bus Driver - Unknown actor

The Set Up

At the time, this film was the most anticipated sequel I can remember and Nolan and company didn't make us wait for the good stuff. Right off the bat, we see the clown-mask wearing robbers gliding over the Gotham (Chicago) streets. The camera work is sensational in the opening shots. We meet Joker's team of thugs who each have specific jobs in the heist and will each get a cut of the stolen money, or so they think. You can sense Joker in this scene even though we're not sure where he is at first. The robbers criticize the planning of the bank job and even discuss his make-up and reasons for wearing it. The conclusion of this scene involves the vigilante bank manager and, none other than, the Joker himself. As we all know, the great Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar and he actually passed away before the film's release. As I said before, this first scene is ultimately an amazing introduction of the Joker and it really sets the tone for the rest of this magnificent movie.

The best part about the new movie coming out next week is that it would surprise no one if it turns out to be bigger and better than its predecessors. And I'm sure it will be loaded with phenomenal moments like the one you've just scene.

Enjoy Batman this weekend!