The Dark Knight (since I finally got to see it)
The Dark Knight gets kudos for a few things. I am grateful to everyone for not spoiling it for me in any way (I can't believe I made it a week without hearing anything about it!), and in appreciation, I'm going to hide my comments for those of you who are even lamer than I am, and haven't seen it yet.
Kudos #1 goes to killing off Rachel Dawes, whom I disliked a lot. Usually the people I dislike, live, and the people I like, die. In this case, Batman lived, Commissioner Gordon, lived (lucky for them, because I would have thrown stuff, LOL), and Lucius Fox and Alfred, lived. Rachel Dawes died. Joker, of course, had to die, and I wasn't too sad to see him go even though I applaud everything he stands for and many of the decisions Heath Ledger made.
Kudos #2, then, goes to Heath Ledger, for an excellent portrayal of Joker. It seemed to me he made an attempt to keep some of the mannerisms and traits of Jack Nicholson's portrayal, which I was pleased about, while still making the role his own. Kudos go, too, to just plain good acting, which I always love to see. Gary Oldman would get to share those kudos, too, then, for what I think was the strongest performance in the movie, Heath-Ledger-Oscar-talk and all.
Kudos #3 goes to the Joker himself. You all surely know how much I love the idea of a person whose sole cause is to bring chaos to EVERYthing, and he even gets bonus points for putting a philosophical twist on it.
Kudos #4 goes to the writers for actually using The Prisoner's Dilemma. It's my favorite scenario of all time, and to see it used made me very happy (Joker gets part kudos for that). A prevalent theme was the idea of being the hero by being the villain that no one else is brave enough to be, a favorite theme of mine, so kudos for that. Kudos for playing with the idea that no one is any better than anyone else deep down. Kudos for the three or four different philosophical themes they intertwined. After you're all done looking up the Prisoner's Dilemma, look up philosophical theories regarding doing v. allowing harm (particularly the examples involving people on train tracks, and a switch you can pull), and you'll understand the second reason the boats made me so very happy.
Overall, I thought it was good but not great. The writing was so-so, the themes somewhat discombobulated, and the ending sorta drawn out past its prime. But I have enough fodder for contemplation to keep me busy for awhile, so I'm happy.
Kudos #1 goes to killing off Rachel Dawes, whom I disliked a lot. Usually the people I dislike, live, and the people I like, die. In this case, Batman lived, Commissioner Gordon, lived (lucky for them, because I would have thrown stuff, LOL), and Lucius Fox and Alfred, lived. Rachel Dawes died. Joker, of course, had to die, and I wasn't too sad to see him go even though I applaud everything he stands for and many of the decisions Heath Ledger made.
Kudos #2, then, goes to Heath Ledger, for an excellent portrayal of Joker. It seemed to me he made an attempt to keep some of the mannerisms and traits of Jack Nicholson's portrayal, which I was pleased about, while still making the role his own. Kudos go, too, to just plain good acting, which I always love to see. Gary Oldman would get to share those kudos, too, then, for what I think was the strongest performance in the movie, Heath-Ledger-Oscar-talk and all.
Kudos #3 goes to the Joker himself. You all surely know how much I love the idea of a person whose sole cause is to bring chaos to EVERYthing, and he even gets bonus points for putting a philosophical twist on it.
Kudos #4 goes to the writers for actually using The Prisoner's Dilemma. It's my favorite scenario of all time, and to see it used made me very happy (Joker gets part kudos for that). A prevalent theme was the idea of being the hero by being the villain that no one else is brave enough to be, a favorite theme of mine, so kudos for that. Kudos for playing with the idea that no one is any better than anyone else deep down. Kudos for the three or four different philosophical themes they intertwined. After you're all done looking up the Prisoner's Dilemma, look up philosophical theories regarding doing v. allowing harm (particularly the examples involving people on train tracks, and a switch you can pull), and you'll understand the second reason the boats made me so very happy.
Overall, I thought it was good but not great. The writing was so-so, the themes somewhat discombobulated, and the ending sorta drawn out past its prime. But I have enough fodder for contemplation to keep me busy for awhile, so I'm happy.