Thoughts on The Dark Knight, with extras
bryant got there first, but I find my general opinion of The Dark Knight follows his closely. I was thoroughly engaged by the film and enjoyed it very much, but didn't think it was the four star blowout others have made it out to be. My pal Kevin didn't like The Dark Knight nearly as much as I and thought it needed some editing to trim the play time. This is where our conversation got interesting. (The last paragraph of the section behind the cut contains spoilers, so though most of the following commentary is spoiler-light/free, be wary of the last paragraph if you press on and haven't yet seen the film.)
The plot is so dense yet extruded over such a long period of time, it seems to create its own Memento-esque forgetfulness vibe. While I was more engaged by the film than Kevin, we both thought that The Dark Knight seemed to just slip in one neuron and out the other, leaving behind no lasting imprint. This got me to thinking back to Batman Begins and I realized how little I could remember about that film. It seems to me the density of the plots in both films ends up working against each of them leaving a lasting impression, and I think part of the reason people are so thrilled with Heath Ledger's performance in the sequel as The Joker is because it's memorable. The irony there is that The Joker is the character who adds the most density to the plot, thus contributing to the potential forgettability of just about everything else in the film. If you're going to lower the density of the plot in order to shave off some running time, it seems to me the only way to do it would be to take The Joker's ultra-super-genius-multistage plan-that's-supposed-to-be-chaos and make it just a genius-multistage plan-that's-supposed-to-be-chaos. As it is, The Joker, in plot terms, is unnecessarily badass. His badassedness could've been reduced without any harm to the character.
An aside: Hollywood, stop hiring Hans Zimmer. Zimmer's score doesn't help make The Dark Knight (or its predecessor) memorable, as there are no musical hooks to hang any scenes on. I'm not saying I'd want a John Williams (or Danny Elfman!) score for Nolan's Batman films, but something a bit more catchy would've been nice.
And furthermore: TOMMY 'TINY' LISTER FTW!!!!!
I think I know what the hook is for the next Batman film, should there be one. Lucius Fox mentions cats when talking to Bruce Wayne about the Batsuit's armor. With both Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes assuming room temperature near the end of The Dark Knight, it would only stand to reason that Batman's next foe would also be his next romantic interest...
The plot is so dense yet extruded over such a long period of time, it seems to create its own Memento-esque forgetfulness vibe. While I was more engaged by the film than Kevin, we both thought that The Dark Knight seemed to just slip in one neuron and out the other, leaving behind no lasting imprint. This got me to thinking back to Batman Begins and I realized how little I could remember about that film. It seems to me the density of the plots in both films ends up working against each of them leaving a lasting impression, and I think part of the reason people are so thrilled with Heath Ledger's performance in the sequel as The Joker is because it's memorable. The irony there is that The Joker is the character who adds the most density to the plot, thus contributing to the potential forgettability of just about everything else in the film. If you're going to lower the density of the plot in order to shave off some running time, it seems to me the only way to do it would be to take The Joker's ultra-super-genius-multistage plan-that's-supposed-to-be-chaos and make it just a genius-multistage plan-that's-supposed-to-be-chaos. As it is, The Joker, in plot terms, is unnecessarily badass. His badassedness could've been reduced without any harm to the character.
An aside: Hollywood, stop hiring Hans Zimmer. Zimmer's score doesn't help make The Dark Knight (or its predecessor) memorable, as there are no musical hooks to hang any scenes on. I'm not saying I'd want a John Williams (or Danny Elfman!) score for Nolan's Batman films, but something a bit more catchy would've been nice.
And furthermore: TOMMY 'TINY' LISTER FTW!!!!!
I think I know what the hook is for the next Batman film, should there be one. Lucius Fox mentions cats when talking to Bruce Wayne about the Batsuit's armor. With both Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes assuming room temperature near the end of The Dark Knight, it would only stand to reason that Batman's next foe would also be his next romantic interest...