The Dark Knight - [spoilers ahead, ye be warned]

[CoasterMatt]

Christian Bales' "Bat Growl" isn't menacing, it sounds like he's got strep throat.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I really, really liked this one. I liked it better than Begins.
Heath Ledger was stunningly good in this. Bornieo may not see an Oscar for Ledger, but I do. Truly.

Spoiler:

CP & GD ~ Me me me! I noticed the Catwoman reference. I nudged my friend Stephanie at that point. Yay!

Include my voice in the Hates the Batgrowl Choir. Yikes.

Scarecrow, Two Face and Joker all in the same movie. Neat how it works for this movie and didn't work for Forever and & Robin.

Batman's escape with Lau was brilliant. Loved it.

I wasn't bugged by Gyllenhaal. I like her. There is a natural quality to her that allows her to avoid sounding campy or forced.

I don't know what it is, but something bothers me about Bale's mouth. I think he may have too many teeth... I dunno.

Couple of Bush jabs, pretty good imho.

I liked Eckhart as well. I liked him in Thank You for Smoking and Erin Brokovich as well. The Two Face effect was amazingly well done. Although, I doubt that the normal side of him would have any hair left. Hair burns really, really fast. The precise hair part kinda bugged me.

Okay, Ledger. Man! I was worried that his performance was over-hyped. It wasn't. He earned the praise. He was amazing. One of the best villains in cinema period. Ledger and the director decided not to make the Joker over the top in every scene. They chose certain moments for it to happen. They didn't overuse the laugh which I was worried they were going to do. I'm glad there were no 'feel sorry for the Joker' moments like a flashback or sad story... Like iSm, I'm glad there was really no explaination by him giving so many different origin stories. The best shot in the film, by far, is the shot where the Joker is just standing there while the Batcycle comes tearing at him. The look he gives over his shoulder is awesome! Perfect. His performance, as much as it made me happy, made me profoundly sad. The man's gone, his Joker is gone with him. Such a talent snuffed so soon.

Now, here's something I was trying to say about Indy 4 that was illustrated by this film. There was a plausibility to everything that happened in this movie. The flying... okay, maybe not so much, but it's one of those times that you suspend your disbelief. I suspended a lot during Indy 4 and that unbelievable events just made the whole movie a dung heap for me. Mostly everything that happened in TDK maybe could have happened.

This movie was dang dark. I kinda felt like I needed a shower after seeing it. The movie did remind me of Saw in several places. The phone embedded in the body, the grenade in the bank manager's mouth, the two ferries, the recorded footage of the hostage (Anthony Michael Hall - hahaha)... The Nolans seemed to have been inspired by the Saw films...

I give TDK high marks. It wasn't a perfect film, but it was great. I say it's a tie for best comic book movie with Spiderman 2.

I wonder who the next villain will be? Catwoman? Riddler? Penguin?

Spoiler:

Oh yes. Forgot to say: Ledger is a wicked nurse. Almost as evil as Nurse Ratched.

[innerSpaceman]

I liked this one way better than Batman Begins.

For one thing, I liked that it just took place in the real world. There were no signs of the fantasy Gotham from the last film. Just real city streets and locations. There were no MegaManiac plots by the villians or villains with quasi-super-powers.


It may have been implied that the Joker represented some kind of supernatural force of evil, but he was presented as a criminal psychopath operating in the real world.

I really liked the shift towards reality. Batman Begins took place in a world much more real than Burton's Gotham, but The Dark Knight took that four more steps closer to real reality and I liked it!

* * * * *

Um, I'm pretty sure everyone on the LoT who wanted to see this has now done so. I'm done using spoiler tags. If there are "stragglers" who don't want to be spoiled, why would they be reading this thread? No more tags.

[Gemini Cricket]

I must post that I did not like any of the Batman movies (late 80's, early 90's). I wasn't blown away with the first Batman like everyone else was and I thought Returns was really bad and then they just got worse from there...

[innerSpaceman]

Heheh, I still think Batman Returns is the best Batman movie by far.


I'm so relieved Gemini Cricket and I are miles apart on this. At least something is normal tonight.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I must post that I did not like any of the Batman movies (late 80's, early 90's). I wasn't blown away with the first Batman like everyone else was and I thought Returns was really bad and then they just got worse from there...

I'm with you. They were all crap.

[Stan4dSteph]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Um, I'm pretty sure everyone on the LoT who wanted to see this has now done so. I'm done using spoiler tags. If there are "stragglers" who don't want to be spoiled, why would they be reading this thread? No more tags.

Then change the title of the thread. I don't see how it's that hard to discuss a film without giving away major plot points.

I haven't seen the film and won't physically be able to do so for several more weeks.

[innerSpaceman]

Ok, yes, please change the title of the thread.


I think it goes without saying that a movie thread will not have spoiler tags forever. Yes, at some point the title should be changed. I hope someone who retains the power to do that ... will.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Heheh, I still think Batman Returns is the best Batman movie by far.

This after saying that DK's move towards a more realistic world was a good thing?

I'm still giving the edge to Begins as a far more well constructed movie. There are elements of DK I like better, but the whole package just wasn't as well executed.

Originally Posted by innerspaceman

and instead we got what I found to be a suitable replacement - fantastic attention to the theme of moral dilemma.

See, and I thought that Begins did a FAR superior job of attending to its theme, fear, than DK AND it had a plot.

[innerSpaceman]

I'm not sure that Fantasy Batman is better or worse than Reality Batman. In fact, I'm quite sure that, imo, one style is not better than the other.


But just as I think Burton did Fantasy Batman better in Batman Returns than in Batman, I feel Nolan did Reality Batman better in The Dark Knight than in Batman Begins.


And was Fear the theme of Batman Begins? I honestly wasn't aware of that. So pretty weak theme, in my perception. But, yes, a definite plot. And I appreciated that. It was just way more of a Fantasy Batman plot with Reality Batman trimmings.

I found TDK more cohesive ... just not in the plot department.



I need to see it again.


Next weekend ... IMAX.