[movie] Batman: The Dark Knight

[SonicTempest]

Kind of surprised that we don't have a thread for this yet.

I just got back from seeing it. I quite enjoyed it - the only thing that bugged me throughout was Batman's raspy voice (as some people noted in the Batman Begins review thread). I really never got used to it, and it made it really hard to hear what he was saying a lot of the time.

[Eczema]

Agreed. Great movie, but Batman's voice was ugh. Bruce Wayne's voice was fine tho.

[Gojira]

Bad, bad, bad Bat-voice, way too long, boring ending, and whoever played the girl this time was terrible. Otherwise it was okay, mostly because of the characters of Joker and Harvey Dent. That's more than I can say for the first one. And Gotham looked a lot cleaner this time; I don't know if that was intentional or they just didn't have the budget to make it look more gritty.

[Gunsmith]

I quite enjoyed it

my fav stunt was

the truck flipping over

yeah i thought the voice was dumb too

joker was great!

who was that girl, damn she was ugly, imo, not worth fighting over I guess Bruce got tired of brainless bimbos

[Anti-K']

Agreed. Great movie, but Batman's voice was ugh. Bruce Wayne's voice was fine tho.

Yes. I agree with everything.

[Apathy Wind]

I saw this last night and was deeply impressed. I had doubts about Heath Ledger playing the Joker but man was I wrong - he did a fantastic job with the character. I even thought the secondary villain was exceptionally well done - and that's saying something since I've always hated that character,

I really liked the way the writers handled the storyline too. Prior to this film my favorite superhero movie (and with the possible exception of Iron Man the only one I thought worthwhile) was Spiderman 2 - and that was mostly due to the fact it focused more on Peter Parker and his troubles then superhero hijinks. I feel that TDK succeeded in the same area - it really explored the ramifications and consequences someone would face if they actually opted to live the sort of life Bruce Wayne chose to life. The story never felt forced or hackneyed - I initially was disappointed with Batman's decision at the end of the movie but I shortly came to terms with it since it was consistant with the theme the movie developed throughout.

And on the other hand, I really really loved the way they handled the Joker. [spoil]No actual identity, no backstory, origin, or complicated motive - stripping these traditional elements away just let the viewer focus on what the character had become; almost a purity of essence that really fit this version of the character.[/spoil] They crafted a fascinating 'logic' to their Joker - his actions all made sense in terms of the character and it never felt campy or juvenile. Previously the only rendition of the Joker I liked was the Mark Hamill BtAS version but I think TDK's blew even that away.

If I had a compliant it'd also be Batman's voice. Not that I found it that out of character or hard to understand - I just don't see how a person could maintain such a forced tone throughout everything Batman went through (e.g. getting beat with a steel pipe - remember to moan in deep voice..).

With it's excellent plot and strong characterizations I think TDK would have been equally impressive even if it didn't have the superhero elements - and for a genre that usually relies on the weight of the property I really think that's saying something. Easily one of the best movies I've seen in a long long while.

---

Incidently, anyone see the Watchman trailer before the movie? If so, what did you think?

[Gojira]

They did sort of give Joker some backstory, but since he's the one talking about it you don't know if it's a joke or not. I guess that's the point, though.

Watchmen looked weird. I never read it though, so I know nothing about what I was seeing.

[AcidicEnema]

Agree with most of the stuff said on this thread but I didn't have that much of a problem with the raspy voice.

My only real problem was that Joker seemed pretty much omnipotent. For someone with no real super power things pretty much went his way for most of the movie with no real explanation of how he was able to achieve all that he needed to do.

For example:

[spoil] How does somebody who burns money and regularly offs people who work for him still continuously have the material and human resources to pull off convulted set up after convoluted set up?[/spoil]

It kinda made the whole 'suspension of disbelief' a bit harder, and spoiled the otherwise grittier/realistic feel that the rebooted franchise has had.

[Apathy Wind]

They did sort of give Joker some backstory, but since he's the one talking about it you don't know if it's a joke or not. I guess that's the point, though.

Watchmen looked weird. I never read it though, so I know nothing about what I was seeing.

Are you referring to:

[spoil]The story about his father and the story he told Rachael about the woman? If so, I just took those to be rambling lies (particularly since they contradicted each other) - it just seems in character for TDK's Joker to make stuff like that up. Plus he seemed to like to tell people stories about how he got his scars - he tried to do so on at least two other occasions[/spoil]

As for Watchmen - the graphic novel is really really good. So much so that Time magazine actually named it one of the 100 greatest books of all time. Considering the general populace's opinion of comic books that's pretty impressive (it's the only comic on the list IIRC). Read it if you get a chance.

I thought the trailer looked good but this is a pretty ambitious project they're attempting - not sure they can pull it off.

[Foxhole]

They did sort of give Joker some backstory, but since he's the one talking about it you don't know if it's a joke or not. I guess that's the point, though.

Watchmen looked weird. I never read it though, so I know nothing about what I was seeing.

Are you referring to:

[spoil]The story about his father and the story he told Rachael about the woman? If so, I just took those to be rambling lies (particularly since they contradicted each other) - it just seems in character for TDK's Joker to make stuff like that up. Plus he seemed to like to tell people stories about how he got his scars - he tried to do so on at least two other occasions[/spoil]

As for Watchmen - the graphic novel is really really good. So much so that Time magazine actually named it one of the 100 greatest books of all time. Considering the general populace's opinion of comic books that's pretty impressive (it's the only comic on the list IIRC). Read it if you get a chance.

I thought the trailer looked good but this is a pretty ambitious project they're attempting - not sure they can pull it off.

After watching the Watchmen trailer a few weeks ago, I felt compelled to read the Watchmen limited series. And while it was good, it's a story for a different time and place (ie the 80's where it was conceived). All the deeper themes and symbols felt obsolete and inappropriate for 2008 and it really ruined the experience for me.

[Bugle/Hawk'M]

After watching the Watchmen trailer a few weeks ago, I felt compelled to read the Watchmen limited series. And while it was good, it's a story for a different time and place (ie the 80's where it was conceived). All the deeper themes and symbols felt obsolete and inappropriate for 2008 and it really ruined the experience for me.

I don't think obsolete is the right word. I think it is just less relevant than it was in the 80s. That said, I think that it is a great story with well defined characters and it is the most meaningful thing to ever have come out of comics. Though society doesn't seem to be as concerned with the possible end of the world, a Watchmen movie could get people to think about it and realize that even without the Cold War, the situation isn't all that different.

[Demon_Mexican]

Great Movie enjoyed it alot.

[Foxhole]

After watching the Watchmen trailer a few weeks ago, I felt compelled to read the Watchmen limited series. And while it was good, it's a story for a different time and place (ie the 80's where it was conceived). All the deeper themes and symbols felt obsolete and inappropriate for 2008 and it really ruined the experience for me.

I don't think obsolete is the right word. I think it is just less relevant than it was in the 80s. That said, I think that it is a great story with well defined characters and it is the most meaningful thing to ever have come out of comics. Though society doesn't seem to be as concerned with the possible end of the world, a Watchmen movie could get people to think about it and realize that even without the Cold War, the situation isn't all that different.

It isn't all that different?

[hebretto]

I like Oro's new avatar

Anyone hear Christian Bale's f-bombs on the set of Terminator Salvation>!>?!

[giga_d]

the only thing that bugged me throughout was Batman's raspy voice. . .

have you ever felt embarrased for someone? Well when I saw him do that I was like "Noooo!" .