REALLY OT: The Dark Knight

[The "Chase"]

Okay, I'm kinda surprised there's no thread on this. But anyway, did anyone saw The Dark Knight? I just did, and I have one word to say on this film...

damn.

The critics and bums weren't lieing. All I going to say is that GO SEE IT. If you don't, go back and watch Batman and Robin until you do.

EDIT: Oh, and Cueball, (ahem) you're wrong, you're SO freaking wrong.

EDIT 2: You too, Thad!

[Thad]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/looneythad/whatthefck.jpg

[speedy fast]

I am not too sure whether I want to see this. I didn't think that Batman Begins was too good. I kept thinking that ti wasn't as good as the other live-action Warner Bros. Batman movies, but then I realsied that I haven't watched any of those in years. The only one that I have a copy of is Batma Forever, which I haven't watched in 7 years. I last saw Batman Returns 4 years ago. I can't remember when I last saw Batman, and I've never even seen all of Batman and Robin (I just saw it at the drive-in, and fell asleep before it ended). Maybe I am wrong.

A few people have asked me if I've seen "Dark Knight", and I've jokingly said "No, I've seen Dark Crystal".

[Mr. Semaj]

Just got back from seeing this.

It's shaping up to be our next overrated film, for the combination of this being the latest Batman feature, and being one of Heath Ledger's final films (with an ongoing push from critics and fans for his posthumous Oscar win).

The only other Batman movie I've seen prior to this was the last half of the 1989 film, so I may need to do some catching up on the whole series. Nevertheless, this was a fun film.

P.S. - Gotham City is in Chicago.

[FleischerFan]

I happen to agree with Thad. I think his point is that a rating for TDK which places ahead of every film ever made is a ridiculous overhype.

TDK was a very good film, but I frankly liked Batman Begins even better.

TDK was about 30 minutes too long and seemed to have some trouble finding a good place to end. There were two false climaxes and, as Joe Bob Briggs would say, "way too much plot getting in the way of the story."

Once again, Harvey Dent's story gets crammed into somebody else's film. What would have been wrong with ending with the Joker and saving Dent's story for the next film?

Also, the film is called "The Dark Knight," yet the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman receives far less on-screen time and script attention than the Joker, Harvey Dent, James Gordon, and Rachel Dawes.. Heck it seemed like Lucius Fox and Alfred got as much or more screen time than Bruce Wayne.

The film is a nicely made action/adventure picture, but had Heath Ledger lived, I think it would be receiving far less adulation.

Alright - go ahead and flame me, fanboys!

[trondmm]

I happen to agree with Thad. I think his point is that a rating for TDK which places ahead of every film ever made is a ridiculous overhype.

I think it's way too early to react to the imdb-ranking of TDK. There's always a higher concentration of high ratings the first couple of weeks after a movie's release, so let's wait a couple of months to see where it settles, OK?

Besides - who cares what its imdb-ranking is? Some people seems to use this as an excuse to not like the movie. It's like they're saying: "Sure, I liked the movie when I saw it, but I started hating it when I realized how much everybody else liked it". It just makes no sense to me.

But, I guess it's only natural. The Jante Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jante) can be pretty strong, and escaping it is not easy.

[Jeffitarian]

I just saw the Dark Knight yesterday. All hype aside, it is a very good, very dark film. Definitely not for the kiddos. The idea of giving Harvey Dent his own movie is intriguing. I've noticed the trend of trying to cram multiple baddies into Batman movies, starting after Burton's Batman. Why? Batman's enemies are complicated and interesting enough to merit a standalone movie, but honestly, having the Joker, Two-Face and a bit of the Scarecrow in the Dark Knight didn't ruin it for me. Heath Ledger's performance is excellent, but I do think his death pushed the hype machine into overdrive. Anyway, where would Hollywood be without hype? It's part of the industry although it can get overblown sometimes.

My humble opinions of course.

[rrfan3267]

Am I the only one who thought that the Scarecrow was a little random/disappointing in this movie? I would have rather had them

A-show the Scarecrow throughout the movie
or
B-not have him in that scene, and have it just be nameless drug dealers.

Overall though, this was one of the best movies I've ever seen. Heath Ledger was amazing as the Joker, and Christian Bale continued to be amazing as Batman/Bruce as well.

[Glowworm]

I let my boyfriend take me last Friday-he already saw it and wanted me to see it as well. I made myself go-although I knew that I was going to be disturbed by it. It was quite good but also very dark and disturbing. I told a classmate not to take her 5 year old son to see it.

Also-you are going to wind up laughing at things that normally are horrifying. I could not stop laughing at the Joker's "disapearing pencil" trick!
Also-no joke-I have a friend who looks uncaniningly like Harvey Dent!(before the accident)

I'm not generally someone who watches such dark movies-and needed a lot of comfort from my boyfriend afterwards.

Also-my dad thinks that even if Ledger was not dead-this movie would still be a success.

I wouldn't be surprised if people become scared of clowns after watching this movie!

[Thad]

I happen to agree with Thad. I think his point is that a rating for TDK which places ahead of every film ever made is a ridiculous overhype.

IMDB has no credibility anyway. Just by cursory glance, Wall-E is ahead of North By Northwest, Sunset Boulevard, It's a Wonderful Life, and Citizen Kane.

I'm not saying TDK is a bad movie. I probably won't see it, as my friends aren't. Just that its ranking is very WTF.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

I wouldn't be surprised if people become scared of clowns after watching this movie!
Aren't people already afraid of clowns? Was there ever a child who laughed out loud at a clown's antics instead of crying in horror?

[J. J. Hunsecker]

I'm not saying TDK is not a bad movie.
Don't you mean that you're "not saying TDK is a bad movie?" By adding the second not in your sentence, you are saying it's a bad movie. (You know, because of that whole double negatives thing.)

[Thad]

Don't you mean that you're "not saying TDK is a bad movie?" By adding the second not in your sentence, you are saying it's a bad movie. (You know, because of that whole double negatives thing.)

Yeah I realized that and edited it.

[mikematei]

Oh my god. Everyone shut up about this movie. It was a Batman movie. Enough is enough. It's not the best movie ever made. Also, this is a cartoon forum, bring this Batman crap to IworshipSuperHeroJunk.fart

[pablo]

I loved Ledger's Joker, I feel he could be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor, and not just because that was his last role (well, last complete role), but the movie I didn't like much. It was okay, like Batman Begins was okay. It was too realistic. Tim Burton's Batman movies were excellent, they were fantasy, Gotham City felt like Gotham City, not New York City. Batman and his gadgets felt real enough but totally fun, whereas the new stuff just looks real. I dunno, maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but the best is still Batman (1989) and looks like it always will be that.

[John Pannozzi]

I'm not the hugest Batman fan (in fact, I admit to reading very few of the comics), but I still thought TDK was a fantastic film, and certainly the best live-action Batman movie to date. It did some gusty things that most Hollywood movies don't ususally do these days.

[FleischerFan]

Am I the only one who thought that the Scarecrow was a little random/disappointing in this movie? I would have rather had them

A-show the Scarecrow throughout the movie
or
B-not have him in that scene, and have it just be nameless drug dealers. You do realize that it was NOT Scarecrow in the movie?

It was one of the look-alike wannabes that were plaguing Gotham, dressing up like Batman and Scarecrow?

[Pieless]

You know I thought that myself about Scarecrow, then I saw Cillian Murphy's name in the credits listed as Scarecrow, and now I'm not sure. Wikipedia's summary says "That night, Batman impersonators attempt to interrupt a meeting of various mobsters and the Scarecrow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarecrow_%28comics%29).", but being Wikipedia that doesn't mean much. I agree with rrfan, Scarecrow being at one scene at the very beginning then vanishing from the movie was slightly disappointing. I mean, with Joker and Dent, they didn't really need a third villain. I guess it was more of a reminder that he's still kicking around. Maybe he'll be in the next one more.

As for the movie itself, it was as good as I was hoping it'd be, but the hype is absurd. It being #1 on IMDb is just so silly that it's not even worth complaining about. I read the voting stats, approx 160k people have voted for the movie, and 110k gave it a 10. Approx 5k gave it 1 star, and about 2k gave it between 2-5. As for Ledger, again, really enjoyed him, he might even deserve an Oscar nomination, but unless the fall movie season is a barren wasteland, I can't imagine he'll be the most deserving candidate.

[Glowworm]

Aren't people already afraid of clowns? Was there ever a child who laughed out loud at a clown's antics instead of crying in horror?

True-but it will make more people afraid of clowns-or at least convert those who don't find clowns scary.

[FleischerFan]

Was there ever a child who laughed out loud at a clown's antics instead of crying in horror? That would be me.

My mother took us to the circus and the clowns were always my favorite part.

In fact, in my early 20's, I even worked for Ringling Brothers briefly as a clown. (Yeah, I know, that explains a lot.)

[rrfan3267]

No, the Scarecrow was real. The Batmen were fake, but that was definately Scarecrow. The bearded guy with the accent drags out this paranoid, babbling guy and says something like "look what your drugs did to my customer!" and the Scarecrow said "I said my compound would take you places. I never said they'd be places you wanted to go." That was his fear drug. Besides, when his mask is off he looks exactly like Murphy, minus the glasses.

[millsie]

Oh my god. Everyone shut up about this movie. It was a Batman movie. Enough is enough. It's not the best movie ever made. Also, this is a cartoon forum, bring this Batman crap to IworshipSuperHeroJunk.fart

But Batman does qualify as being almost on topic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHHqz084ZYE Yes, I know that the 1968 Batman cartoon was awful.

As for the Dark Knight, it was Ok, and certainly the best Batman movie made so far, but I was disappointed that in a few areas it strayed too far away from the comic books.

[David Gerstein]

Aren't people already afraid of clowns? Was there ever a child who laughed out loud at a clown's antics instead of crying in horror?When I was a kid, Circus Vargas came to my area (Santa Barbara) once a year. I'll admit to having laughed at their clowns, but perhaps because they generally kept to pantomime, Keystone Kop-like behavior rather than "heeyyyy, kids!"-type directly confronting their audience.

Other clowns, including Ronald McDonald and 99% of clowns on TV rarely struck me as scary—condescending is more the word that comes to mind. Clowns were a symbol of the idea that adults thought children should be easily entertained by a mixture of bright colors, intentionally stupid-sounding voices and lowest common denominator humor. It's no surprise that when ABC's "Little Clowns of Happytown" SatAM show launched in 1987, it was hailed by some marketing types as literally the most appropriate show ever produced for children. (It featured a villain named Awful McBad.)

In reality, clown humor is like a lot of low-rent video babysitters: it exists to fill the role of "product that out-of-touch parents will think is appropriate for someone other than themselves." No quality necessary, and as sad a commentary on the parents as on the products.

[rrfan3267]

I was disappointed that in a few areas it strayed too far away from the comic books.


I don't know what you're referring to. In the comic books, Gordon's wife was always named Barbara, not his daughter. Ironically, Barbara Gordon cheated on Jim Gordon with the Joker when she thought he was dead. That's why she was so upset to see that he was alive. But after Two-Face threatened the family, she left Jim and joined with her "puddin", the Joker, and took on the identity of...Poison Ivy. It's all in the comics.;)

[Duck Dodgers]

I don't know what you're referring to. In the comic books, Gordon's wife was always named Barbara, not his daughter. Ironically, Barbara Gordon cheated on Jim Gordon with the Joker when she thought he was dead. That's why she was so upset to see that he was alive. But after Two-Face threatened the family, she left Jim and joined with her "puddin", the Joker, and took on the identity of...Poison Ivy. It's all in the comics.;)

Oh, thanks for the infos.
I like the Timm/Dini TV series and what is in there is all I know about super heroes (I never touched a super hero comic in all my life).
In it Barbara was Gordon's daughter and would later become Batgirl and Posion Ivy happened to be Dent's girlfriend while she already was a "vegetable vamp":D and him was still a good guy.


I've seen the movie. Pretty cool. However only an idiot would rate it 9 out of ten or 10.
It's a movie made to entertain, of the kind you say "Cool" while watching some scenes, it's not "Witness for the Prosecution" or "Sunset Boulevard". Ledger would really deserve an Oscar though. His' a magnificent interpretation of a complex character.

Wouldn't you have loved Two Face to sing at one moment "Half of me wants to be good"?:D :D

[jonmayo15]

Pamela Lillian Isley was a botanist who became Poison Ivy when Dr. Jason Woodrue expiremented on her. Gordon's wife Barbara left him, taking their son, James Jr. Poison Ivy and Barbara Gordon are two unrelated characters. Also, Gordon's wife and adopted daughter were BOTH named Barbara. rrfan is incorrect. Andrea, your knowledge is correct.

[Mac]

I went to see Batman today. I'd been looking forward to it, but I didn't really like it that much. I thought it was ok, but some of it was boring and I didn't care about any of the characters. The music got on my nerves too. I'm obviously in the minority though. Loads of people are raving about it and some of my friends are going back to see it for a third time tonight. For some reason it just didn't do anything for me.

As for clowns – I didn't like them as a kid. I was never scared of them, I just didn't see what was supposed to be funny. Much like the new Batman film now, I was indifferent to them. Then one day I went to the circus and saw a clown that was really funny and entertaining. I can't even remember what he did, but I remember me and my friends kept calling out for more. Unfortunately none of my family were very impressed with the way the elephant was treated, we all felt slightly sad about it and we never went to the circus again!

[thornhill]

This was a mediocre movie. It's only gotten so much money because every kid 12 to 20 (like the teenagers in my family who have even less interest in Batman than I do) went immediately to see it to spill over Heath Ledger. If he was still alive, it wouldn't have made nearly as much. Nobody will ever top Jack Nicholson anyway.

Then again, I don't like superheroes, and think Frank Miller's cynic marketing ploys are even stupider than the actual concept of superheroes... Maybe I should have just stayed home?

[oceansoul]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/looneythad/whatthefck.jpg

+1

Disgraceful for such great movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfathers, Citizen Kane, Wizard of Oz etc. :befuddled :shame:

[ThePeterNetwork]

I would just like to say that The Dark Knight movie is an affirmation of my fear of police vs. criminals and "crossing the line". I don't know whether it's the violence or Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker as a pyschotic, but that movie really put fear into me. :eek:

[FleischerFan]

Then again, I don't like superheroes, and think Frank Miller's cynic marketing ploys are even stupider than the actual concept of superheroes... Maybe I should have just stayed home?
???????

What marketing ploys of Miller's would you be referring to and how does that relate to The Dark Knight? Miller had no direct connection with the film.

[thornhill]

Sorry, I am referring to my disdain for Frank Miller in general, and his fortune making off appealing to adult superhero comic book readers with 'sophisticated' writing. Which has a connection with this new movie, obviously.

[Vdubdavid]

I would just like to say that The Dark Knight movie is an affirmation of my fear of police vs. criminals and "crossing the line". I don't know whether it's the violence or Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker as a pyschotic, but that movie really put fear into me. :eek:

You ought to see the letter to the editor I saw in an alternative paper published in my area about this movie and it's "right-wing" ideas.

[ThePeterNetwork]

You ought to see the letter to the editor I saw in an alternative paper published in my area about this movie and it's "right-wing" ideas.
Does this alternative paper have a website? Is there a link?

[Vdubdavid]

Does this alternative paper have a website? Is there a link?

Okay, but don't forget, you asked for it!

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/columns/story.asp?id=12518

[trondmm]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/looneythad/whatthefck.jpg

The Dark Knight is now number 3 on the IMDB-ranking, and its rating is down to 9.1. It'll probably continue sliding down the charts, and I expect it to be out of top 10 within a month or two.