There were not many audience members who left midway; the remaining viewers still had to undergo a baptism in the theater.
The Joker escaped from prison, Rachel died, and he even left Bruce Wayne a letter. Harvey Dent fell and became Two-Face.
During a publicly recorded television program, the Joker announced that he was going to blow up a hospital.
At this critical moment, in order to give the audience a brief moment of relaxation, the film even played with a bit of subtle humor.
"Are you going to ride the Batpod, sir?"
"In broad daylight, Alfred, that's too eye-catching."
"Then drive the Lamborghini. That's low-key enough!"
With just these few lines, Lamborghini was overjoyed. Even before the film was released, Lamborghini had already gifted Gilbert and Christian Bale one latest limited-edition supercar each.
Gilbert had no particular fondness for supercars and promptly passed his on to Ivanka.
What followed was a scene of the Lamborghini racing wildly down the road. For the sake of this sequence, Lamborghini not only waived all vehicle-related production costs for the crew, but also paid an additional five million dollars in sponsorship.
Incidentally, The Dark Knight had a total investment of 200 million dollars, but even before filming began, it had already secured 45 million dollars in sponsorship fees.
These sponsors also promised that if the film's box office reached certain benchmarks, there would be additional bonuses. There were rewards for surpassing five hundred million dollars worldwide, eight hundred million dollars, and even one billion dollars at the global box office.
It had to be said that Gilbert's return to the summer season was not only highly anticipated by movie fans, but also by advertisers. Apple contributed the most, paying a full eight million dollars in sponsorship.
All the phones, computers, and other devices that appeared in the film were exclusively Apple products.
In addition, Dior sponsored Bruce Wayne's suits and invited Christian Bale to serve as the brand ambassador for Dior suits, also paying one million dollars in sponsorship.
The next scene was even crazier. The madness here did not refer to the Joker blowing up the hospital in the story, but rather to the fact that the crew actually blew up a real hospital to film this explosion scene.
Scarlett quietly explained to Avril Lavigne, "Gilbert really blew up an entire hospital to shoot this scene."
Avril Lavigne covered her mouth and said, "I've heard about it, but was that really necessary?"
A trace of fanaticism appeared on Scarlett's face. "Yes. Whenever it comes to making movies, he always does things that many people think are unnecessary."
Scarlett couldn't help recalling when she was five years old, when Sophia took her to visit the filming site of Gilbert's Speed, and how shocking it was to see Gilbert blow up an entire building on set.
That was the first time she truly understood what Gilbert meant when he said that explosions were art. Even now, times had changed, but the phrase "explosions are art" was still very much valid.
Those who could attend the premiere were basically veteran viewers and were also familiar with the early promotional news surrounding The Dark Knight.
Most of the audience naturally knew that the hospital explosion scene was shot practically, which was why they marveled that not only was the film itself insane, but the crew behind it was equally insane.
Perhaps only in this way did The Dark Knight deserve to be called a classic by Gilbert himself!
Oppression, fear, and anger—these were the emotions filling the Chicago Kodak Theatre. The Dark Knight delivered a different kind of sensory stimulation, constantly testing the audience throughout the film.
Soon, the most explosive test in the entire movie arrived. There were bombs on two ferries, and each side held the detonator for the bomb on the other ferry.
This could be described as the ultimate test of human nature. The few film critics in the theater were ecstatic; this scenario hit their sweet spot perfectly.
Based on the previous development of the plot, it seemed inevitable that someone would press the detonator; otherwise, it wouldn't fully demonstrate the evil side of human nature.
Many audience members closed their eyes in despair, while others began discussing it.
"This shouldn't be happening. Is there really no good side to human nature?"
"I can't accept this. If the ship explodes, I'm leaving."
"Are there any normal people left in Gotham? It can't be all lunatics like the Joker, right?"
Judging from the audience's reactions, if the ferry really exploded, the viewers themselves might explode as well.
So of course, the ferry did not explode. On the criminals' ferry, a vicious-looking criminal threw the detonator away. On the civilians' ferry, no one pressed the detonator either.
The Joker's test failed. Kindness ultimately triumphed over the evil of human nature, and the people of Gotham seemed to have emerged from the Joker's manipulation.
At this moment, applause rang out in the theater for the first time.
The audience applauded and cheered for the film. Without a doubt, this scene moved everyone present, choosing not to go to an extreme.
Peter, a very well-known online mainstream film critic, felt his heart rise and fall along with the plot. The outcome of this human trial on the two ferries also made Peter applaud and cheer together with everyone else.
However, after the applause, Peter began to think about the film's theme and inner core.
Without a doubt, the theme of The Dark Knight was very simple: the confrontation between justice and evil. The theme itself was not complicated, but its inner core was extremely complex.
In the eyes of most people, justice is naturally better the stronger it is.
But in reality, evil is constrained by the law and the moral forces of society. Justice, however, because it naturally stands on the same side as the law and social morality, loses restraint from both.
When unrestrained justice runs rampant, its destructive power is even greater than that of restrained evil.
At such times, what can restrain justice itself may only be morality, which also represents justice. Batman was one such figure. He won the personal battle against the Joker.
But the Joker used Harvey Dent as a card to win the battle for Gotham's soul. When Batman saved Commissioner Gordon's son and took upon himself the task of killing Harvey Dent as well as five police officers, he became the Dark Knight.
Batman won, but the price was becoming a criminal despised by Gotham's citizens and hunted by the police from that day onward.
"Dad, why is he running away?"
"Because we have to chase him."
"Why? He didn't do anything wrong."
Hearing these words spoken by a child shattered Lewis, shattered Peter, and shattered everyone in the theater.
Children usually represent innocence, unlike adults who are far more complicated.
Some scholars believe that children represent the most original and beautiful aspects of humanity. Therefore, hearing these words from a child, combined with the preceding plot, delivered an overwhelming emotional impact to the audience.
Commissioner Gordon watched Batman limp away from the scene with mixed emotions. He knew Batman had done nothing wrong, yet he still had to do this.
"Because he is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the hero Gotham needs right now. So we must hunt him.
Because he can endure it, because he is not our hero.
He is a silent guardian, a watchful protector. He is the Dark Knight."
As Batman mounted the Batpod and sped away, the giant screen faded into darkness, and then the title The Dark Knight appeared.
All the audience members were utterly shaken by this ending. The theater seemed to fall silent for several minutes, as if half a century had passed.
Sarati Merton, who was waiting outside in the lobby, felt puzzled. Judging by the timing, the movie should have ended already, so why hadn't anyone come out yet?
Curious, she went back to take a look and happened to see the entire audience rise to their feet in applause. The clapping went on endlessly, offered to The Dark Knight and its creators.
Gilbert led the main creative team onto the stage to take bows a full five times before the applause gradually subsided.
Sarati Merton couldn't help complaining, "Such a hard-to-watch movie, and they're all applauding?"
She had no idea what kind of baptism the audience inside the theater had gone through while she was away…
..
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