The Dark Knight (a belated post)
I'm... surprised at how little crisicism this film has recieved. I loved the tone and the pace of the film, and the storyline was excellent. It threw oodles of information and plot at the viewer without feeling it was rushed through, for the most part. The way Rachel was handled was unexpected, and opened the door for death - set the stage for not knowing how the situation would turn out between Two Face and Gordon's kidnapped children. This pleased me, because really, how much edge-of-your-seat reaction can one have to whether or not Batman will survive? The morality was grim and grey and very apporpriate for trying to set Gotham City in real life.
However, I found the dialouge to be terrible bland and stale. That conversation between the Joker and Batman on the rooftop should have been spectacular. It wasn't. It certainly wasn't "Killing Joke" comparable, as I've heard suggested. Every scene between Alfred and Bruce was stiff and without spark, which surprised me given Michael Caine's considerable talent. And. This has been mentioned repeatedly, but the gritty Batman voice wasn't only over the top, but gave him a speech impediment, and I groaned every time he spoke. That is a terrible reaction to have while watching my favoritest hero on screen.
The Joker. I don't entirely like the treatment of his character. Not to sound too fanboy about things, but the Joker wearing makeup? Really? Are we to beleive he buys manic panic and tints his hair green? It just didn't jive for me. I don't understand why the Joker needed to be stripped of both his origin, and the constant outpouring of manical laughter, just to make him "scary". I think they made it too easy on themselves and just leapt to a completely different demeanor, instead of figuring out how to keep a madcap giggling maniac seem legitimatly intimidating and plausible to an audience.
As far as Heath Ledger goes, I don't blame him for the faults I see in the Joker - I think he did a fine job. But the perfomances of Eric Roberts and Gary Oldman, minor and understated as they were, shone far brighter to me. Ledger strikes me as a Jonny Depp sort of actor; he has range, insofar as he is willing and able to change his body language and voice to suit the role, but it's all... external. It's acting on the skin. Whereas Gary Oldman is the sort that devours his character entirely and exudes it from the inside out. Like just about everyone else has wished, I wish we saw more of Gordon.
There, I've said my peace.
However, I found the dialouge to be terrible bland and stale. That conversation between the Joker and Batman on the rooftop should have been spectacular. It wasn't. It certainly wasn't "Killing Joke" comparable, as I've heard suggested. Every scene between Alfred and Bruce was stiff and without spark, which surprised me given Michael Caine's considerable talent. And. This has been mentioned repeatedly, but the gritty Batman voice wasn't only over the top, but gave him a speech impediment, and I groaned every time he spoke. That is a terrible reaction to have while watching my favoritest hero on screen.
The Joker. I don't entirely like the treatment of his character. Not to sound too fanboy about things, but the Joker wearing makeup? Really? Are we to beleive he buys manic panic and tints his hair green? It just didn't jive for me. I don't understand why the Joker needed to be stripped of both his origin, and the constant outpouring of manical laughter, just to make him "scary". I think they made it too easy on themselves and just leapt to a completely different demeanor, instead of figuring out how to keep a madcap giggling maniac seem legitimatly intimidating and plausible to an audience.
As far as Heath Ledger goes, I don't blame him for the faults I see in the Joker - I think he did a fine job. But the perfomances of Eric Roberts and Gary Oldman, minor and understated as they were, shone far brighter to me. Ledger strikes me as a Jonny Depp sort of actor; he has range, insofar as he is willing and able to change his body language and voice to suit the role, but it's all... external. It's acting on the skin. Whereas Gary Oldman is the sort that devours his character entirely and exudes it from the inside out. Like just about everyone else has wished, I wish we saw more of Gordon.
There, I've said my peace.