So... I caved and saw THE DARK KNIGHT.
It was a good movie. However, it wasn't good enough to justify getting the bump to the #1 movie of all time on IMDB like it has been. I imagine that once the hype on this dies down, that ranking will drop down. Don't get me wrong, TDK is a really good movie and deserves to be on that list. But #1? C'mon.
Here are my random and disjointed thoughts on the movie...
Bale's Batman voice seemed "off" to me in this one. Too much growling or whatever. Even when he's just talking to Gordon it sounds like he's auditioning to do the voice of THE HULK.
In some ways, Batman takes a bit of a backseat in this one to the Joker, and in the second half of the film, to Two Face. I have mixed feelings on this, since I would've liked more of the titular character in the movie, but I also felt that the movie ran a bit too long as it is.
It was a good movie. However, it wasn't good enough to justify getting the bump to the #1 movie of all time on IMDB like it has been. I imagine that once the hype on this dies down, that ranking will drop down. Don't get me wrong, TDK is a really good movie and deserves to be on that list. But #1? C'mon.
Here are my random and disjointed thoughts on the movie...
Bale's Batman voice seemed "off" to me in this one. Too much growling or whatever. Even when he's just talking to Gordon it sounds like he's auditioning to do the voice of THE HULK.
In some ways, Batman takes a bit of a backseat in this one to the Joker, and in the second half of the film, to Two Face. I have mixed feelings on this, since I would've liked more of the titular character in the movie, but I also felt that the movie ran a bit too long as it is.
I did like how Batman's eyes were covered and looked like white slits (like in the comics) for a small portion of the movie. The mask having lenses that cover the eyes always seemed like something that they could've done easily in the movies and made it work. Don't give me that covering the eyes limits the expressiveness of the actor. It worked fine in the SPIDER-MAN flicks. Well, until they decided to have his mask ripped off every ten seconds so they could remind you that Tobey Maguire is playing Spider-Man. Ugh.
There's nothing I can say here that hasn't already been said about Heath Ledger's performance. It was as good as everybody else on the planet has already said. I do find it interesting that Ledger, who had a reasonably deep voice, did the stereotypical Brit and Aussie actor American accent. The one that sounds like Urkel to me. It's a very similar voice to the one that black American comedians do when making fun of nerdy white people. (Is that what Americans sound like to you guys over in those countries?) In this case though, that voice perfectly suits the Joker.
Gary Oldman is still the best screen Jim Gordon ever.
There wasn't enough Michael Caine in this one. His interplay with Bale really made the first one work for me.
Lucias Fox serving the role of Q to Batman is an interesting change. In the comics he never knew the secret, and was at best a minor supporting character.
Personally, I prefer the comic book version of the Joker's origin where we know that Batman is directly responsible for disfiguring the Joker and driving him insane. The idea that we know nothing about who he was before that happened, and are told multiple versions of his pre-chemical accident rebirth, makes that work. In the movie the Batman is still responsible for the Joker to the extent that having a man running around in an outlandish costume fighting crime has created an opposite, but it's not quite the same. (Plus I prefer the idea that the Joker ALWAYS looks like he does, not that he's just got a scarred mouth and some makeup. Honestly, the scarred mouth would've worked just fine without it being makeup, make it a complication of surgery from when they attempted to fix his face ala the '89 movie.)
I did like that they didn't bother with an origin for the Joker. I also like that they didn't tie him into Batman's origin. That's a mistake that the '89 movie made, and most superhero movies made since have followed.
I also liked the contrast in fates for the Joker between the '89 movie and this one.
This is just me, but I have a hard time watching Aaron Eckhart and not immediately associating him in my mind with his awesome performance as Nick Naylor in THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. So the first half of the film I kept thinking about that everytime he was on screen giving a speech.
Spoilers: The ending doesn't make as much sense as the movie would like you to believe. Why bother having the Batman take the blame for killing all of the corrupt cops to clear Two Face? Why not just blame the Joker? They all worked for Joker and/or the various underworld gangs. The Joker clearly demonstatrated several times in the movie he'll kill his own people on a whim. So why not just blame him for the cop killings and death of Dent?
Spoilers: There was also an easy out for the whole, "scummy Waynetech employee figures out who Batman is," subplot. Have Wayne come out and claim that he funds the Batman but doesn't know the real name of the man in the suit. It makes more sense that a man as rich as Bruce Wayne, who lost his parents the way he did, would finance a vigilante. It's a perfectly reasonable out to anybody uncovering the connection.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It's a worthy followup to the previous movie and a good movie in it's own right. That having been said, it's just vastly over-hyped in my opinion.
There's nothing I can say here that hasn't already been said about Heath Ledger's performance. It was as good as everybody else on the planet has already said. I do find it interesting that Ledger, who had a reasonably deep voice, did the stereotypical Brit and Aussie actor American accent. The one that sounds like Urkel to me. It's a very similar voice to the one that black American comedians do when making fun of nerdy white people. (Is that what Americans sound like to you guys over in those countries?) In this case though, that voice perfectly suits the Joker.
Gary Oldman is still the best screen Jim Gordon ever.
There wasn't enough Michael Caine in this one. His interplay with Bale really made the first one work for me.
Lucias Fox serving the role of Q to Batman is an interesting change. In the comics he never knew the secret, and was at best a minor supporting character.
Personally, I prefer the comic book version of the Joker's origin where we know that Batman is directly responsible for disfiguring the Joker and driving him insane. The idea that we know nothing about who he was before that happened, and are told multiple versions of his pre-chemical accident rebirth, makes that work. In the movie the Batman is still responsible for the Joker to the extent that having a man running around in an outlandish costume fighting crime has created an opposite, but it's not quite the same. (Plus I prefer the idea that the Joker ALWAYS looks like he does, not that he's just got a scarred mouth and some makeup. Honestly, the scarred mouth would've worked just fine without it being makeup, make it a complication of surgery from when they attempted to fix his face ala the '89 movie.)
I did like that they didn't bother with an origin for the Joker. I also like that they didn't tie him into Batman's origin. That's a mistake that the '89 movie made, and most superhero movies made since have followed.
I also liked the contrast in fates for the Joker between the '89 movie and this one.
This is just me, but I have a hard time watching Aaron Eckhart and not immediately associating him in my mind with his awesome performance as Nick Naylor in THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. So the first half of the film I kept thinking about that everytime he was on screen giving a speech.
Spoilers: The ending doesn't make as much sense as the movie would like you to believe. Why bother having the Batman take the blame for killing all of the corrupt cops to clear Two Face? Why not just blame the Joker? They all worked for Joker and/or the various underworld gangs. The Joker clearly demonstatrated several times in the movie he'll kill his own people on a whim. So why not just blame him for the cop killings and death of Dent?
Spoilers: There was also an easy out for the whole, "scummy Waynetech employee figures out who Batman is," subplot. Have Wayne come out and claim that he funds the Batman but doesn't know the real name of the man in the suit. It makes more sense that a man as rich as Bruce Wayne, who lost his parents the way he did, would finance a vigilante. It's a perfectly reasonable out to anybody uncovering the connection.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It's a worthy followup to the previous movie and a good movie in it's own right. That having been said, it's just vastly over-hyped in my opinion.
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2 comments:
I just didn't understand why they would leave the joker alive since we all know that .. well the actor isn't.
I did enjoy seeing Jonathan Crane back in bit parts.
I agree about Oldman.. he makes an awesome Gordon.
Well, I'm pretty sure the movie was mostly in the can by the time Ledger died. I suppose a throwaway ADRed line about him being given the chair would've worked. I imagine though, that they want the option to recast down the road for a future sequels. (The biggest mistake the '89 movie made was killing off the Joker and closing the door on the best Batman villain returning.)
The thing is, I've always thought one of the more unrealistic* aspects about the Batman comics is that the state or even federal government in the DC Universe hasn't simply had the Joker executed yet. He's killed more people than cancer, yet they just keep locking him up and hoping he won't get away. Again. And Again. And again. I think they did do a storyline where they were going to do just that, but it turned out to be for a crime that he didn't commit. So Batman actually helped him to get off. Ridiculous. He still committed multiple homicides he should've gone down for. I realize the logic of not offing him is exactly what I said before, you don't want to kill off the best villain you have.
* Well, unrealistic even when you consider it's a universe where you have people who can juggle planets.
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