I should admit from the onset - I'm not a big superhero movie fan. But I had some hope for this one - it would be darker, more realistic and "adult" than other superhero cinema offerings.
1 out of three. It was very dark. The frame of a comic book universe just doesn't support all of the gravitas, drama and violence they piled on top of it. I was rolling my eyes at Batman's fake gravely voice and the contrived drama of the love-triangle between Bruce, Harvey and Rachel.
Beyond the unrealistic plot, this movie was all about style over substance. Yes, Heath Ledger gave a great performance - but for what? All the gnashing of teeth and displayed psychopathy was interesting but what was it serving? A chaotic series of testosterone stirring explosions, death and angst. Hooray for Hollywood.
I'm a huge science fiction nerd. Part of my problem with this flick was that I couldn't suspend my disbelief sufficiently. a small voice in my head was murmuring "that wouldn't work" about every 30 seconds. When they turned on the "city-wide, cell-phone sonar system" the murmur started screaming.
I'm sick of movies that treat me like an idiot. I'm not an idiot but forced to watch this schlock more than once I could probably become one.
1 out of three. It was very dark. The frame of a comic book universe just doesn't support all of the gravitas, drama and violence they piled on top of it. I was rolling my eyes at Batman's fake gravely voice and the contrived drama of the love-triangle between Bruce, Harvey and Rachel.
Beyond the unrealistic plot, this movie was all about style over substance. Yes, Heath Ledger gave a great performance - but for what? All the gnashing of teeth and displayed psychopathy was interesting but what was it serving? A chaotic series of testosterone stirring explosions, death and angst. Hooray for Hollywood.
I'm a huge science fiction nerd. Part of my problem with this flick was that I couldn't suspend my disbelief sufficiently. a small voice in my head was murmuring "that wouldn't work" about every 30 seconds. When they turned on the "city-wide, cell-phone sonar system" the murmur started screaming.
I'm sick of movies that treat me like an idiot. I'm not an idiot but forced to watch this schlock more than once I could probably become one.
I don't associate the fact that Ledger is dead with the fact that I like his joker.
Ive always liked ledger's acting, and his Joker is brilliant. I think he carries the movie really.
I am inclined to think that any actor can play the batman because he is behind a mask. Its not hard to play a Bruce Wayne, because Bruce is like Bond, there have been many actors to portray him. But the batman is a single stone carved character to play, deep voice dark suit, mask. Pretty easy there. (No I'm not an actor and No I don't even pretend to be able to act. so
Now back to the point, I wanted to see this version of the Joker. I can relate to this kind of joker, in fact I would invite him over for a cup of tea.
It takes a filmmaker with final cut and independence to really create something that is unique and intellectually engaging, Kubrick did this with 2001. That movie was like nothing before or since, no dialog for the start and end, no standardized narrative structure, the entire film was essentially carried by images and sound.
The problem lies with the cost of production, no one wants to spend millions of dollars on something that is smart but doesn't guarantee box office sales, that's why they hit a intellectual mid mark, an example of this I would say is the Matrix. It could have been far more abstract or far more action packed. But it tried to stick to a middle.
I have yet to see a comic book film that really satisfies besides Tim Burtons take on Batman, the story lines always seem so contrived, trying to make everything realistic instead of being really just a superhero movie. I remember watching Spiderman and noting just how shit the whole plot was, how hard they tried to beat down on Peter Parker, how little of that enormous power he gains when he is Spiderman is displayed. How shit the CGI was.
The transformation was missing there for me, Peter Parker is a ordinary person yes, but he ain't a bitch. And they made him a bitch in the films, from the scenes were he is being pushed around campus, to his bubbling ways, to that horrible emo transformation. It was just wrong. It wasn't the spider man I remember reading about. I kept remember how much better the characters and plot line were better in the mid 90s Spiderman cartoon series, I watched them again worried that maybe my memories were rose tainted over time. But no. They weren't the cartoon series understood the character better then the film, they ran with it, they transported the comic book to its own universe and played with it. And it was awesome.
So when he told me this was a great movie - I believe him.
But then I read your post, saying that little voice was chirping up every 30 seconds.
Of course, my voice doesn't doesn't just chirp. It likes to make itself known. Hell, when I was playing Psychonauts - the part at the insane asylum? I kept thinking "How do they eat?"
- so thank you for the warning. Now I know to just wait to see it on a Red Box for $1.
Now the only thing I have to look forward to is "The Happening." Killer bushes. I thought that subject matter was already covered in Teeth.
Indiana Jones on the other hand sucked daggy balls.
I'd say this series is much better than the Raimi Spiderman flicks, but not as good as V for Vendetta or the first two Supermans.
http://www.pajiba.com/dark-knight-the.htm
Burn!
I haven't seen the new film yet; I may go with my son tomorrow. I'll cast the deciding vote on this film's value then. The only vote that matters, really.
Take heart true believers. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen. It was better than Highlander 2.
No hating highlander 2. I loved that movie when I was young, and I won't have you spoil my fond childhood memories!
(Same thing with jaws 2.. then I saw it again and I realised that I used to be an idiot.)
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-07-20-dark-knight-no-kids_N.htm
I'm being a jerk - but mass appeal on the interwebz does not a good movie make.
This is not a great dark movie. 20 years from now people will not be holding this up to compare with Clockwork Orange. Hell - even Dark City will age better than this shallow fare.
>> ^Sarzy:
Aside from having a 94 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes (which is almost unheard of for a big summer action movie), it's already shot up to number one at the IMDB top 250, so I can say this with a good amount of certainty: dag, you are koo-koo crazy.
I didn't like Batman's voice, and I don't think Maggie Gyllenhall is hot enough to be wanted by two rich and powerful men, but at least Arnold or George Clooney weren't involved.
Oh, and I think Heath Ledger should receive the Best Supporting Actor award. And it is based purely on merit, in my mind. I've seen some of his movies where he can't act out of a wet paper bag, but in this he broke through and was mesmerizing.
There. I've had my say.
I think IMDB suffers from Critic heat, where people vote up movies not on their personal view of it but on some critical understanding that it is great. 2001 is one such movie, I talked to people that couldn't tell me what was great about that film but said it was AWESOME still.
ba-ah ba-ah Batman. Cry the sheeple. Seriously, what do you think the skew of comicbook loving fanboys is on IMDB and RT?
True enough as far as the IMDB goes, but as for Rotten Tomatoes, that's a listing of professional reviewers only -- I don't know if I'd call people like Roger Ebert and Kirk Honeycutt comic book loving fanboys.
Christian Bale lacks something as Batman. He's basically a safe pair of hands while I always felt that Liam Neeson should be playing the role. He's big like Batman would be and reasonably scary.
Iron Man was the absolute pits for me, a film that was so resolutely conservative and yet made for 18-24 year olds. I caught a showing of Ang Lee's Hulk the other day and I was quite impressed with the script - at least they tried to do something more than put together some special effects.
I hope Nolan goes and does something else now, he had a lot of potential after Memento and he should try to make something great.
As of right now, its score is 82, which for movies falls under the "universal acclaim" category (highest ranking).
Joker is very cool and the "pencil-trick" is not nearly as gory as my mind's eye pictured it. I love the little touches, where he feels very human, like when his remote doesn't work right.
Batman's gravely voice annoys me, but I can accept that he wants to shield his identity somewhat. The gadgets weren't that many, which is a good thing, but that sonar idea was just retarded.
The film dared some things that you didn't expect and copped out on some other stuff. If you enjoyed the first one, this is better. If you hated the first one, you're probably not going to like this one either.
Two-Face was very well done, both the cg and acting. He wouldn't be able to speak properly with half his lip missing, but I'll suspend that disbelief.
Suspension of disbelief is a relative mechanic which cannot be applied liberally. In college I studied mythology, which suspends disbelief in favor of super-human acts and moral decisions rather than justifying, or describing in any believable way, their actions. Superheroes are mythological archetypes which fall into a similar category that embraces super-human behavior and "justice over evil" above all else.
For me The Dark Knight was TOO realistic at times. The sonar/phone bullshit was an attempt at making a superpower, or in Batman's case, a gadget, "realistic"; it didn't break any sort of suspension of disbelief, rather the opposite: It tried too hard to justify the power.
Now, I'm a man that anticipates the future. For me the evolution of superhero movies is more fascinating than the movies themselves. All you suspension of disbelief fanboys just wait til the big push for cross-superhero movies comes. Marvel has the boulder rolling with the set up for the Avengers, so it's only a matter of time before Superman and Batman cross paths. Once that happens, kiss all suspension good bye cuz your mind will be fucked if you embrace it.
Original Avengers? Thor, Iron Man, Wasp, the Hulk and Ant Man. Explain that to your suspension of disbelief.
Original Justice League? Batman, Superman, the Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern. Again, suspension of disbelief really has no place. Especially working off of preconceived ideas whose merit is best judged in the accurate retelling of the stories.
People can't fly, Superman's full of crap, but suspending that disbelief and accepting that "people from krypton can fly down here for no good reason" makes that movie world fit together.
I don't think people should go into the theater thinking they are going to see a comic book movie. It's more crime noir than anything else, not the common and imaginary "good vs. bad" comic book fantasy. I think its entirety spoke to something greater: fear, control, uncertainty, sacrifice.
Yes, Rachel Dawes part in the story line is very limited, but it's because she serves as a foil for the men, because in the end, the movie is about the relationships between these men, their struggle uphold good despite deep self-sacrifice, while constantly being tempted by the ecstasy of chaos offered by the joker.
It was violent, but I believe it was tactful. There was barely any blood on the screen. No beads of blood splattering on the camera lens.
And if we are going to judge any movies by violence then Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan, and Kill Bill would be terrible films in comparison.
votes/percentage/rating in stars for the Dark Knight
98,885 73.0% 10
18,337 13.5% 9
8,215 6.1% 8
2,989 2.2% 7
1,141 0.8% 6
648 0.5% 5
339 0.3% 4
298 0.2% 3
420 0.3% 2
4,171 3.1% 1
It seems like the fans (10 stars voters) are trying to claim the no. 1 position, just like during the Lord of the Rings, but in the end this flick will go down in ranking with the Godfather and the like reigning again.
I voted 6 stars, as this movie will not be etched in people's minds - only when you haven't seen anything better..
Maybe the face and acting of The Joker will survive but this roller coaster ride through an exploding bombastic (visual and auditive) dark Gotham without any real suspense arcs is out of balance..as part of the Batman series it may be seen as a terror chapter but I expect an entertaining movie (especially in a story about heroes/villains) to have a full story told where I also - to some degree - have some compassion with the (extremely terrorized/scared) characters and objects/surroundings. Nolan did not succeed in this.
edit: a day later, the downward trend is already clearly visible
104,980 71.8% 10
20,501 14.0% 9
9,443 6.5% 8
3,408 2.3% 7
1,301 0.9% 6
753 0.5% 5
383 0.3% 4
336 0.2% 3
465 0.3% 2
4,610 3.2% 1