The Dark Knight - NO SPOILERS without the spoiler tag!

[Warhawk]

I just wanted to start a discussion about this movie.

I saw it today on a regular screen (non-IMAX).
This movie was amazing. I was completely impressed with Heath's performance - very dark and twisted. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent was excellent as well. A great job by everyone in the film, but especially these two, I think.

Now I do not watch any of the awards shows or anything, but if anyone deserves to receive an award, it is the late Heath Ledger. It has nothing to do with his recent passing, but everything to do with his acting. I have never really formed much of an opinion of him - thought he was OK in whatever I had seen him in previously, but here he just blows me away. Just an AWESOME job.

Possibly the best superhero movie ever?




And please, if anyone does want to discuss plot points, etc, please use the spoiler tag to hide it from those who haven't seen it yet. Thanks.

 

[Prophetess]

Eckhart did a really good job with Dent. The visual effects for him made me a bit squemish(as it should).

Best superhero movie ever? Depends on what your looking for.

Dark, twisted, and more true to the nature of the superhero? Yes.

I <3 Heath's acting.
Especially in this and my other favorite of his 10 Things I Hate About You.
Strongly suggest checking out IMDB for a list of his movies and the awards section.

Preferred Michael Gough to Michael Caine for Alfred though.

 

[Jerryaki]

excellent movie. a lot more thinky than i anticipated (or wanted on a friday night)...i mean how often do you expect to see game theory/prisoners' dilemma in a mainstream movie? eckhart and ledger were excellent, to the point where i thought they actually overshadowed bale.

also, does anyone else think that the title might actually refer to dent, or dent and batman? anything involving dent usually involves double meanings.

aside: i just youtubed the joker laugh from the animated series (voiced by mark hamill), and compared it to heath ledger's laugh. the laugh from the cartoons has become the definitive joker trademark for me, and ledger's version of it was absolutely uncanny.

 

[Löwenherz]

I actually have a complaint with The Dark Knight.

The scope was so huge it was a struggle for them to cram it into 2 and half hours, which is utterly amazing. 2 and a half hours and I actually could have easily seen them stretch it to 3.

For the rest of this, I'll use the spoiler tag, just to be safe:

Spoiler

The Joker is simply incredible, and has been gushed over ad nasuem so no need to go further there. Although I must say, duing many of the well made action scenes, I found myself eager to see them end, just so the Joker would appear on screen again.

I absolutely loved the team-up of Gordon, Dent and Batman and thought the dynamics of the three of them working together and pushing the boundries of the law in the name of justice could have filled that extra half hour, especially when the fall of The White Knight is addressed.

Speaking of which, Harvey Dent/Two Face was done beautifully, and the murder of Rachel combined with the accident was a nice touch in explaining his fall. He is my second favorite batman villain and part of me hopes he makes a miraculous appearnce in the next movie (although I doubt it). And as an added bonus, seeing Two-Face and the Joker in a scene together brought out the underlying fanboy in me.

There was actually more comic relief than I thought going in ... but it mostly belonged to the Joker, as much of the movie did.

But, Lucious Fox actually had my favorite line (pardon me for butcehring it, I don't have it memorized exactly) "You believe Mr. Wayne, one of the richest and most powerful men in Gotham, spends his nights dressed as a bat and beating criminals with his bare hands ... and you want to blackmail this person? Good luck"

UGH! So much more to say, but that's enough for now. Love this movie ... and love the fact that it's on my island

 

[GoGoGadget]

Spoiler

He is my second favorite batman villain and part of me hopes he makes a miraculous appearnce in the next movie (although I doubt it).

Spoiler

Been seeing this conversation elsewhere, and have been discussing it with a few friends -- there's no casket visible during the Dent funeral. Nor is it ever made clear what happens after Batman runs away from the body. Could very well be that, after the comments about making sure that the people of Gotham have the memory of Dent as a savior, the funeral is just a PR move and Two-Face is really locked away in Arkham or some secret prison/holding cell somewhere. The relatively small amount of time dedicated to that villain just felt more like an introduction than it did a full character arc, though.

Heh.

Pretty ridiculous post, no?

 

[venom_7]

Spoiler

Been seeing this conversation elsewhere, and have been discussing it with a few friends -- there's no casket visible during the Dent funeral. Nor is it ever made clear what happens after Batman runs away from the body. Could very well be that, after the comments about making sure that the people of Gotham have the memory of Dent as a savior, the funeral is just a PR move and Two-Face is really locked away in Arkham or some secret prison/holding cell somewhere. The relatively small amount of time dedicated to that villain just felt more like an introduction than it did a full character arc, though.

Heh.

Pretty ridiculous post, no?

Spoiler

I hope they didn't 'Venom' two-face. In spiderman, they gave one of the coolest supervillians of all time probably like 20 minutes of screentime combined and then killed him. I've been mad at Raimi ever since. They probably wont do that with Two-Face though. but who knows. I ahte when they ruin a good arc like that.

 

[tradepeja]

Just got back from my second viewing of The Dark Knight and yeah, it was worth seeing again.

Spoiler

A few things that were cloudy in my first viewing are cleared up now, and now I really appreciate Ledger's Joker. Sort of knowing what was coming this time, I really focused on just what he would do with his face, or hands, or eyes, to just pulse of his character's insanity and dimensia.

I completely agree with you Lowen in that the action scenes did quite the opposite for me than what they do in the normal flick, which is just a testament to the characters in the film. I could not wait for the Joker to be on screen again, as everything coming out of his mouth was pure gold.

My favorite scene of him has to be when he is locked up in the jail cell with the fat cop on guard of him. Where he says "I use a knife because guns are too quick. Otherwise, you can't savor all the emotions." His facial expressions and everything is so perfect here, leading up to my favorite line of all of his, which was the paramount of his character's insanity, "Do you want to know which of them were cowards?"

 

[Warhawk]

There were a couple things that annoyed me about the movie, but nothing too major.

Spoiler

When Batman jumps out the window to save Rachel, the Joker is still in the room and Harvey (who the Joker is looking for) is in the closet. Did the Joker just leave? Call it a day? Have a beer and do the Chicken Dance? What happened there with Batman on the street below?

There were a couple parts in the movie like that, but I think that was the most blatant instance.

Is Harvey Dent really dead? It appears so, but we never see a casket....

The fight scenes, like many nowadays, are filmed too closely and quickly to actually see what is happening in totality. It's like they want to remove the fight choreography and focus on individual body parts instead.

 

[Jerryaki]

Spoiler

a couple of people here have mentioned the casket thing and whether or not two-face is gone. i think that the movie's screwed either way it goes. if he's dead, then that's really too short a screen time for a major series villain (and not true to the series). but then, if he is alive and squirreled away at another arkham, then the whole ending of the movie is sort of pointless (i.e. if he comes back, i'm fairly certain people will know it's harvey dent, and there goes all the hope they were trying to preserve).

 

[Löwenherz]

Spoiler

Been seeing this conversation elsewhere, and have been discussing it with a few friends -- there's no casket visible during the Dent funeral. Nor is it ever made clear what happens after Batman runs away from the body. Could very well be that, after the comments about making sure that the people of Gotham have the memory of Dent as a savior, the funeral is just a PR move and Two-Face is really locked away in Arkham or some secret prison/holding cell somewhere. The relatively small amount of time dedicated to that villain just felt more like an introduction than it did a full character arc, though.

Heh.

Pretty ridiculous post, no?

Spoiler

See, that's another thing that makes me think Two-Face could have just got up and ran off when the audience wasn't looking (because the city would have held the "funeral" for Dent either way.)

If you remember, the height he fell from is the exact same height Batman dropped the Mobster from earlier when he specifically said "Know who you're dealing with ... you couldn't possibly kill me from this height."

And I agree that the movie kind of painted itself into a corner with Two-Face, but I don't think it would be an "oh come on!” moment if we saw Two-Face appear from the shadows in the next one.

 

[Löwenherz]

There were a couple things that annoyed me about the movie, but nothing too major.

Spoiler

When Batman jumps out the window to save Rachel, the Joker is still in the room and Harvey (who the Joker is looking for) is in the closet. Did the Joker just leave? Call it a day? Have a beer and do the Chicken Dance? What happened there with Batman on the street below?

There were a couple parts in the movie like that, but I think that was the most blatant instance.

Is Harvey Dent really dead? It appears so, but we never see a casket....

The fight scenes, like many nowadays, are filmed too closely and quickly to actually see what is happening in totality. It's like they want to remove the fight choreography and focus on individual body parts instead.

Spoiler

Totally agree about that scene. Thanks for saving tonight's damsel in distress Bats ... let's call it a night and pick it up again tomorrow eh? Wait, what I come here for again, Harvey Who? I thought I was just terrorize some party guest at Wayne Manor.

And normally I would agree about fight/action scenes in modern movies, where directors are obsessed with the zoom lense and what I call the "nostrel cam" and has never worked, but they still believe it gets the audience "right into the middle of the action"

However, I thought the action scenes in the Dark Knight were relatively devoid of this and I could actually keep up with what was going on.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Would you consider this appropriate fare for two eleven year-olds and a nine year-old?

 

[Prophetess]

my 11yr old daughter watched it and liked it. thought two faces makeup job was cool. but she does watch horror movies with her dad.
depends on the child i would say.

from: http://blog.chadcluff.com/2008/07/movie-review-dark-knight.html

"This movie is brilliant, but be aware that it is darker, more twisted, and scarier than the first Batman. This is one movie where I would highly recommend the 13 year old age limit in the PG-13 rating."

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Well, my son (11) could probably handle it, but I don't think my nephew (9) could, and I'm not sure about my cousin (11) at all... There's sure to be hard feelings if me and my pops go by ourselves, though.

 

[Jerryaki]

lots of explosions/action, but also lots of random, gratuitous killing. i don't think 11 year olds would appreciate/care for the actual psychology that dominates the movie, so i wouldn't take my kids. even if i had any.

 

[Prophetess]

Well, my son (11) could probably handle it, but I don't think my nephew (9) could, and I'm not sure about my cousin (11) at all... There's sure to be hard feelings if me and my pops go by ourselves, though.

I would ask these questions:
Any of them on the squeamish side?
Do they get scared easily?
Is it likely to give them nightmares?
Are they upset easily?

answer yes to any of these, don't take them.

probably would not recommend it for the 9 yr old unless really mature for age.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I'll have to ask pops; the only one I can answer those questions about is CJ.

 

[kingsnation]

Would you consider this appropriate fare for two eleven year-olds and a nine year-old?

Consider checking this:

www.kidsinmind.com

warning: contains spoilers.

But worth it if you're screening movies.

 

[est.1999]

Heath ledgers performance was unbelievable!

 

[Warhawk]

Would you consider this appropriate fare for two eleven year-olds and a nine year-old?

Obviously depends on the child, but I vote no. Very violent, with lots of killing and the like.

 

[Superman]

Well, my son (11) could probably handle it, but I don't think my nephew (9) could, and I'm not sure about my cousin (11) at all... There's sure to be hard feelings if me and my pops go by ourselves, though.

I took my 12 year old nephew who's not necessarily the toughest kid, but not a punk either, and he loved it. Wants to see it again.

That having been said, I could have seen this movie being rated R, just because of the darkness of it. It definitely walked the line. A nine year old might not be game enough to handle it.