Continuing in the theme of uselessness...
Wow I haven't posted in a long time.
Just wanted to say- The Dark Knight was a wonderful, extremely intense film. There was such a high level of suspense throughout most of it that when more "normal" scenes played out I kept expecting something horrible to happen. This made the pacing seem a little weird in places but overall it was just an incredible film. Batman himself was really sort of sidelined for this one. He was a presence in the movie but it was by far overshadowed by Heath Ledger as the Joker and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. They were the real main characters in the movie and both turned in incredibly strong performances. This version of the Joker is absolutely iconic. I was always put off by the Nicholson Joker, who was a bit too much of a ham for me and wouldn't fit into the Nolan universe at all. This Joker was far more unpredictable and genuinely scary. "You know how I got these scars?" "You wanna see a magic trick?" "Why so serious?" All quotable lines from a memorable character. Harvey Dent was also a great character, and Eckhart made his transformation over the course of the movie very believable. I actually cared about the character, which usually doesn't happen with upstanding all-american handsome types for me. The other characters operate in necessary but less prominent roles compared to these two. Batman gets his share of screen time but it never seems like the focus is on him.
The overall theme of the film is sort of a dualistic one, although far more complex than the standard good versus evil. It's Anarchy vs. Order, Chaos vs. Conscience, Joker vs. Batman, Dent vs. Wayne. There are a few instances of a choice being made between two things, and often neither of them are right or wrong. That's the sort of uneasiness that the Joker introduces, where the characters cannot be sure of their choices. There is no right way to go and the seeds of doubt spread just the sort of anarchic terror that the Joker so enjoys. That's another theme in this film- terrorism. (I've never really understood terrorism for whatever reason. I'm just not terrified by it, I guess. Horrified, sickened, and appalled, maybe, but "acts of terrorism" isn't exactly a gut-clenching phrase for me. As I see it, hundreds of thousands of horrible things can happen to you without people dropping bombs on your head, and a few of them are perfectly legal under our government.) Anyway, the Joker is a true terrorist and I can see what that means now. He instills fear, uncertainty, and even viciousness in so many of his victims that it creates even more trouble than he could have done directly. Hardly anyone can keep a cool head, and when they work harder to act rationally and "according to plan" the Joker is always several steps ahead. I think that would terrify anyone.
This is not really a comic book movie. It's a crime movie and an action movie, but it doesn't really have too much of that whiz-bang-pow blockbuster feeling. It's not Iron Man, and it's not for everybody. Instead it's a graphic novel of a movie- dedicated to a larger purpose and darker by far than anything we've seen from the Batman franchise. There are some laughs, but they're usually semi-horrified ones. There are some truly great explosions, crashes, and chase scenes. There's a lot more to this movie, though, and those who would dismiss it as too mainstream for true artistic status would do well to watch it with an open mind.
This is a great film and a must for DVD. This MUST be seen in theaters, pirating it is not an option! Torrents of crappy cam recordings do not cut it for this film and it's worth every penny of admission.
Also seen: The trailer for "Watchmen", viewable here in HD. I was pretty darned excited when this popped up in front of Dark Knight; for some reason I'd forgotten it would be shown even though I had prior knowledge of it. The first time I watched it in the theatre I loved the tone of it and the characters looked amazing. I was really struck with Dr. Manhattan, who looks incredible in the trailer (Looks like they stuck with the full monty version of his appearance) and the others looked great. The crystal palace was a good touch for the end of the trailer as well. A lot of things appeared to be taken frame-by-frame from the graphic novel. The audience cheered loudly at the end of it and the emotion was high until we got shot down by the subsequent Mummy trailer. (uuuggh why can't you pick a good script, Michelle Yeoh?!?!)
However, in later viewings of the trailer I had more misgivings. Zack Snyder is directing this? Mr. Sppaaaaaaaartaaaa slo-mo? I started noticing more of those obnoxious slow motion shots in the trailer and now I'm sort of horrified that this will be more of the same. He might just ruin it for me with those shots. Some of them might be fine, but in general I want my movies fast! I DO NOT NEED TO SEE EVERY WATER DROPLET. DO NOT MAKE THAT KISS SLOW MOTION TOO!! AUUUGH!
I'll probably still see it.
Just wanted to say- The Dark Knight was a wonderful, extremely intense film. There was such a high level of suspense throughout most of it that when more "normal" scenes played out I kept expecting something horrible to happen. This made the pacing seem a little weird in places but overall it was just an incredible film. Batman himself was really sort of sidelined for this one. He was a presence in the movie but it was by far overshadowed by Heath Ledger as the Joker and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. They were the real main characters in the movie and both turned in incredibly strong performances. This version of the Joker is absolutely iconic. I was always put off by the Nicholson Joker, who was a bit too much of a ham for me and wouldn't fit into the Nolan universe at all. This Joker was far more unpredictable and genuinely scary. "You know how I got these scars?" "You wanna see a magic trick?" "Why so serious?" All quotable lines from a memorable character. Harvey Dent was also a great character, and Eckhart made his transformation over the course of the movie very believable. I actually cared about the character, which usually doesn't happen with upstanding all-american handsome types for me. The other characters operate in necessary but less prominent roles compared to these two. Batman gets his share of screen time but it never seems like the focus is on him.
The overall theme of the film is sort of a dualistic one, although far more complex than the standard good versus evil. It's Anarchy vs. Order, Chaos vs. Conscience, Joker vs. Batman, Dent vs. Wayne. There are a few instances of a choice being made between two things, and often neither of them are right or wrong. That's the sort of uneasiness that the Joker introduces, where the characters cannot be sure of their choices. There is no right way to go and the seeds of doubt spread just the sort of anarchic terror that the Joker so enjoys. That's another theme in this film- terrorism. (I've never really understood terrorism for whatever reason. I'm just not terrified by it, I guess. Horrified, sickened, and appalled, maybe, but "acts of terrorism" isn't exactly a gut-clenching phrase for me. As I see it, hundreds of thousands of horrible things can happen to you without people dropping bombs on your head, and a few of them are perfectly legal under our government.) Anyway, the Joker is a true terrorist and I can see what that means now. He instills fear, uncertainty, and even viciousness in so many of his victims that it creates even more trouble than he could have done directly. Hardly anyone can keep a cool head, and when they work harder to act rationally and "according to plan" the Joker is always several steps ahead. I think that would terrify anyone.
This is not really a comic book movie. It's a crime movie and an action movie, but it doesn't really have too much of that whiz-bang-pow blockbuster feeling. It's not Iron Man, and it's not for everybody. Instead it's a graphic novel of a movie- dedicated to a larger purpose and darker by far than anything we've seen from the Batman franchise. There are some laughs, but they're usually semi-horrified ones. There are some truly great explosions, crashes, and chase scenes. There's a lot more to this movie, though, and those who would dismiss it as too mainstream for true artistic status would do well to watch it with an open mind.
This is a great film and a must for DVD. This MUST be seen in theaters, pirating it is not an option! Torrents of crappy cam recordings do not cut it for this film and it's worth every penny of admission.
Also seen: The trailer for "Watchmen", viewable here in HD. I was pretty darned excited when this popped up in front of Dark Knight; for some reason I'd forgotten it would be shown even though I had prior knowledge of it. The first time I watched it in the theatre I loved the tone of it and the characters looked amazing. I was really struck with Dr. Manhattan, who looks incredible in the trailer (Looks like they stuck with the full monty version of his appearance) and the others looked great. The crystal palace was a good touch for the end of the trailer as well. A lot of things appeared to be taken frame-by-frame from the graphic novel. The audience cheered loudly at the end of it and the emotion was high until we got shot down by the subsequent Mummy trailer. (uuuggh why can't you pick a good script, Michelle Yeoh?!?!)
However, in later viewings of the trailer I had more misgivings. Zack Snyder is directing this? Mr. Sppaaaaaaaartaaaa slo-mo? I started noticing more of those obnoxious slow motion shots in the trailer and now I'm sort of horrified that this will be more of the same. He might just ruin it for me with those shots. Some of them might be fine, but in general I want my movies fast! I DO NOT NEED TO SEE EVERY WATER DROPLET. DO NOT MAKE THAT KISS SLOW MOTION TOO!! AUUUGH!
I'll probably still see it.