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This topic comprises 9 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Topic: The Dark Knight
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Allison Parsons
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 630
From: East Peoria, IL
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 07-17-2008 12:09 PM
I hate hyped up movies like you wouldn't believe. 99% of the time I just end up disliking them because of the hype, but this was an exception. Probably the best 3 hours I've spent in a theater in a LONG time. Great all the way around. There was a few reviews I read where they were comparing it to crime-dramas like Heat. It is more like a crime movie, that just happens to have a dude in a bat costume and a guy in clown make-up.
I'm going to have to disagree with everyone on the Ledger/Oscar thing. His performance was one of the best comic book characters I have ever seen, but just because he's dead doesn't mean they need to hand an Oscar over to him. Plus, if he was still alive, I'd bet there would be no Oscar talk. Hell, I liked Ron Perlman as Hellboy quite a bit, but there's no way he deserves and Oscar either.
SPOILER!!!
I wasn't expecting them to get into Harvey Dent as Two Face. I thought they would leave that to another movie. Absolutly fantastic way of doing his half face. And he had more screen time than Ledger did, which was surprising.
END SPOILER
Oh, and the BIGGEST PET PEEVE of mine of all time is when I screen a movie with employees that like to talk through the whole damn thing. One of the perks of screening movies early is that I don't have to deal with the chatty public. But I seem to always get stuck in the theater with the talkative employees...Just had to get that off my chest haha.
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 07-17-2008 01:55 PM
I hate Batman movies. I hate, hate, hate them. They are stupid and offer no enjoyment value to me.
That being said, the last Batman movie was at least decent. Not great, but decent.
This Batman movie was very good. Not once did I look at my watch during this and not once was I bored with the movie. That's not to say this movie isn't without problems...but they were pretty much due to Christian Bale and the occasional line of dialog being buried in the sound mix.
Christian Bale's performance as Batman was ok, but it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. My biggest issue was how every time he was in the bat suit and had a line of dialogue to deliver I had to roll my eyes at how stupid he sounded. Was he trying to impersonate Darth Vader? I mean seriously, it was ridiculously overdone.
Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman's performances were well done all around. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were their usual excellent selves. The rest of the cast did very good as well. The only bad acting in this came from Batman himself.
Now in regards to Heath Ledger, I am in the camp of "just because he died and this is his last film doesn't mean he deserves an oscar". Yes I know he was in Brokeback Mountain, and had he not been in that movie playing a gay man he would never have achieved such a fanbase, but in this movie as the Joker...WOW! For once I have to side with the masses here. His performance was fantastic! Definitely the best protrayal of a comic book character ever. Although the entire movie is good, Heath Ledger is the reason to see this movie.
The movie overall...4 out of 5.
Any scene with Heath Ledger...5 out of 5.
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Mike Schindler
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1039
From: Oak Park, IL, USA
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 07-18-2008 10:43 AM
It doesn't really get much better than THE DARK KNIGHT. Usually if you want to see something this well written, you have to stay home and watch TV. But this thing combines all the spectacle of a summer blockbuster with what may be the best screenplay of the decade.
This is everything an adaptation should be. Christopher Nolan obviously has a strong understanding of the source material's essence, and he knows how to maintain that while simultaneously morphing elements of the mythology into something which suits his needs.
Where Tim Burton's movies built a world in which the character could exist, Nolan's movies find a way to fit that character into our world. The result is a story with much more emotional resonance and social relevance.
The performances were good all around. Heath Ledger was obviously great, and their take on the Joker was interesting. It feels like they built that character around his motives in Alan Moore's THE KILLING JOKE, which is probably my single favorite comic book of all time.
But even more interesting was the Harvey Dent storyline. That character has always been way more interesting than the Joker, and this movie's handling of him, while straight-forward, was very effective.
And that leads to another thing, which is the fact that Harvey Dent's storyline was even dealt with. This movie covers so much ground, and it's all woven together so seamlessly. It has a gazillion elements taken from a gazillion different stories, but it feels like if any one were missing, the whole thing would fall apart. It's air-tight.
From a technical standpoint, the photography was simple, yet effective. The movie has a very clean look, with superb use of color and movement.
The editing is also simple, yet effective. My only complaint is that it felt like choices were made in the editing room in order to get a PG-13. There are some scenes where a series of shots seem to lead in a certain direction, and then the payoff is something that doesn't really make any sense.
The sound is amazing. It really takes full advantage of the low end, and the music does a great job of creating a tone for the movie.
TINY SPOILER
And like with WANTED, it was fun to see locations that I regularly frequent up on the big screen. For example the building that blows up near the end of the film is (or at least was) within walking distance of my house. In fact, I was on a train that passed it while firefighters were still trying to put out the flames. Last summer, I'd go Downtown, and see stuff like a truck flipped over in the middle of the street, and think, "What's the story behind that?" Now I know.
So altogether, pretty good. I can't wait to see where they go from here.
quote: Galen Murphy-Fahlgren
Do you have a source? This is very cool, but wasn't Indy 4 supposedly done without a digital intermediate? It didn't look any better than any other release print, at least to me.
I think INDY IV did have a DI. But for comparison's sake, a recent anamorphic movie which didn't was THERE WILL BE BLOOD Personally, I think that movies which use a DI tend to look better than those that don't. While resolution is lost, the fact that fewer generations are required to get to a release print seems to outweigh that.
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