Emertorial: Why does every movie have to be The Dark Knight?

I consider myself a movie buff, but in the more casual sense of the phrase. I can’t quote entire movies, I can’t name 10 different actors who played the same part and I’m terrible and the Kevin Bacon game.

One thing I do know is that a trailer has one of the most important jobs in marketing a movie to the public, but lately it seems as if every movie is trying to emulate a certain feeling. Then it hit me after watching the trailer for the film adaptation of The Giver.

Anyone who’s read the giver knows that it’s a somewhat calm book about a boy discovering the previous world that his present leaders have deemed too dangerous despite all the joys that come with it. Obviously a quiet read yet the movies trailer came packed with a spooky villain, conspiracy, heavy drama and a cool action shot of the main character dropping from a waterfall. What I noticed after watching the trailer is that just about every movie is trying to emulate Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

Ever since that movie came out all of its tropes have found their way into other films, the most notable of which being the Marvel cinematic universe. Every movie the popular villain Loki is in sees him captured halfway through the film only for it to be part of his plan all along, sound familiar? How about corrupt good guys? This trope was brought to its apex in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which had people whispering “Hail Hydra” until they realized it was two steps away from parroting Nazis.

Now adapting a movie and using popular tropes found in other films wasn’t created by the Batman film but it is the most recent example of a film being so shocking and well-made that it, in some way, changed real life. You weren’t watching Jim Carrey dance around in a neon green suit spouting riddles at another fictional character; you were watching a psychopathic madman terrorize an entire city, all in the name of chaos.

In the world of cinema there has always been a solid disconnect between fiction and reality but what Nolan accomplished was a breakdown of that fourth wall, bringing these larger than life characters down to earth were they posed a real threat.

With that in mind one could claim that Nolan in some way changed the world, or at least the world of cinema, by telling everyone that just because its fake does not mean it can’t have a real effect. Sure you can still watch a Disney film without batting an eye or rethinking your politics but when movies allow themselves to be more than flashing lights, it makes seeing a movie all the more interesting.

-DBSLAYER7