The official Dark Knight (spoiler!) thread

[Grimfate126]

I am pretty sure that was a Murcielago, not a Reventon. Yes, his voice is a little too faked. I thought Heath's performance was good, but definitely not Oscar good. It did the role justice, but I don't think it broke ground or anything. I didn't care for either actress as Rachel, so Maggie was no worse than Mrs Tom Cruise.

meh, it had the reventon color style.

just checked, youre right. the reventon's got some sharp-*** grills.

 

[darien87]

Yeah, Dourif (not really too old) and Oldman might have done it but they DIDN'T do it. Oldman was already busy with a character and Brad was nowhere to be seen, but nevertheless, I thought that was best about the way Ledger played the role was his complete lack of emotion; he pretty much defined the APA definition of psycopathology. It's not easy to do that AND be an over-the-top comic book character at the same time. What was great is that he also didn't overact. Even if you didn't rave over it, "piece of crap" is pretty harsh.

I never said Ledger's performance or the movie itself was a piece of crap. I thought Ledger was GOOD, not great. My comment was more directed to the frustration I have with Hollywood and the American public in general lately. It seems that no matter how bad a movie is, people out there rave about it. I'm just tired of paying good money to see boring, predictable, formulaic movies.

Everyone that thinks Heath Ledger played the best psychopath ever, needs to go back and watch The Silence of The Lambs. IMO, Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Hannibal Lecter will never be topped. Now THAT was a masterful performance of evil, full of menace and subtle nuances.

 

[j_garcia]

Silence of the Lambs definitely has one of the best pshycopathic performances - it is the calmness that is so unnerving. I loved Jack in The Shining also though.

 

[aberkowitz]

Silence of the Lambs definitely has one of the best pshycopathic performances - it is the calmness that is so unnerving. I loved Jack in The Shining also though.

Hopkins is just flat out scary in that movie, and I think it's even more amazing because so much of that movie takes place in the daytime (with the exception of the last Buffalo Bill scene)- they didn't have to resort to using darkness to make him scarier. Hopkins WAS Lechter.

Connecting this back to Batman, I've always been a fan of Bale's performance as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho as a total psychopath. He manages to be psychotic and remain indifferent to his own craziness- what I think is an incredible feat. Lechter knew he was crazy from the start, we got to watch Bateman transform into a psychopath.

 

[j_garcia]

Bale was good in American Psycho, and also he did an amazing job in The Machinist as a character who is has lost touch with reality after not sleeping for a year. I think he is a solid actor, but Batman wouldn't be a good example of it.

 

[skizzerflake]

I never said Ledger's performance or the movie itself was a piece of crap. I thought Ledger was GOOD, not great. My comment was more directed to the frustration I have with Hollywood and the American public in general lately. It seems that no matter how bad a movie is, people out there rave about it. I'm just tired of paying good money to see boring, predictable, formulaic movies.

Everyone that thinks Heath Ledger played the best psychopath ever, needs to go back and watch The Silence of The Lambs. IMO, Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Hannibal Lecter will never be topped. Now THAT was a masterful performance of evil, full of menace and subtle nuances.

I've seen SOTL a number of times and while I do think it's a great movie, Hannibal isn't really a psychopath...he's entirely in a world of his own, a gourmet of death. For the Joker, his goal is to enjoy watching anarchy and death is only a tool to make that happen. The true sociopath uses and destroys people for his own "entertainment" but without any emotional connection to the death. My thought is that the Joker was one of my top 5 villains; Lecter is another of a different sort. What I loved about Ledger's Joker was his twisted voice, strange body language and mannerisms, that all worked together. In each scene, as the event progresses, his makeup gets smeared, he looks more fatigued each moment as the "work" of anarchy begins to wear on him. That's real good subtle acting and it didn't look like it happened by accident.

As for the overeager public, that's always been the way movies work; every new movie is the greatest ever for some dumb schlub. At least for a moment. I may be proven wrong, but my bet is that this performance will be definitive; nobody will do the Joker again. I'm pretty cynical about my love/hate relation to movies and have a time staying awake for many of the 2 hundred or so I see each year, but I am actually thinking I will pay to see this one again before it hits video.

 

[darien87]

I've seen SOTL a number of times and while I do think it's a great movie, Hannibal isn't really a psychopath...he's entirely in a world of his own, a gourmet of death. For the Joker, his goal is to enjoy watching anarchy and death is only a tool to make that happen. The true sociopath uses and destroys people for his own "entertainment" but without any emotional connection to the death. My thought is that the Joker was one of my top 5 villains; Lecter is another of a different sort. What I loved about Ledger's Joker was his twisted voice, strange body language and mannerisms, that all worked together. In each scene, as the event progresses, his makeup gets smeared, he looks more fatigued each moment as the "work" of anarchy begins to wear on him. That's real good subtle acting and it didn't look like it happened by accident.

but I am actually thinking I will pay to see this one again before it hits video.

Wow. Sorry, but I didn't find that ground-breaking at all. All he did was talk in a goofy voice and lick his lips a lot. But whatever, we obviously have DRASTICALLY different views of what good acting is.

Not only will I NOT be going back to the theater for this one, I'm not even planning on buying the Blu-ray. I have the HD-DVD and Blu-ray of Batman Begins and I didn't even like that one that much. But I think it was definitely better than this one.

 

[Seth=L]

ITT: defensive behavior revolving around a movie no one here owns.

 

[Audioholics]

Nurse joker was my favorite where he was "clopping" along, trying to walk in the high heel nurse shoes all bow legged lookin.

Especially with the "Vote for Harvey Dent" sticker on his shirt. That was priceless.

the part where the prison inmate throws out the detonator? Weak. Like that's going to happen in real life?

I thought that was one of the most thought-provoking scenes in the movie. It's attention-grabbing when those who recognize their depravity will come around and do the right thing.

Nolan said in an interview Catwoman will definitely be in the new Batman along with the Riddler most likely. He is trying to keep the characters believable so those two would be a good fit.

I would have thought that Eric Roberts was being set up as the Penguin actually. He dropped out of the conglomerate and has that cane and a limp now.

Me and some buddies saw it last night. We thought it was pretty weak. I was bored for half of the movie.

You are entitled to your opinion. Even if it's completely wrong.

Maggie Gyllenhall was certainly nothing to look at , however. I felt that was an odd choice. It looked like she had snacked out on candy bars for a few months before the film.

I was amazed at his voice and physical acting and his ability to portray a completely frozen heart.

The technical term is sociopath. If people who don't believe in a higher moral authority take things to their logical conclusion then the joker wasn't "wrong" in anything that he did. He simply didn't choose to follow the man-made rules instituted by Gotham. Now THAT'S some thought-provoking material to chew on.

 

[darien87]

You are entitled to your opinion. Even if it's completely wrong.

I'm not wrong. Everyone else is; including you.

 

[j_garcia]

Even if you were right D ), the movie is still making money hand over fist. The movie is flawed for sure, but it is entertaining and that is all that it really needs to be. I don't think they presumed to change movies or the genre or to put out an intelligent thriller. It is a good popcorn flick that hits the mark with the general public.

 

[gus6464]

Out of everyone here I wonder who have actually read the Batman comic? It seems like all the naysayers just peg it as another comic book movie when it's really so much more than that. The whole point of this movie is that comic books are not just for kids anymore and this movie takes that concept to the next level. And for the guys who say the ending is crap and whatnot don't seem to understand that the whole movie is about escalation and corruption. The whole time Joker is trying to prove that everyone is corruptible including Batman. Even though he didn't succeed Nolan was setting it up for when Batman does start to blur the lines between right and wrong. BTW there is a character who makes Batman completely blur the lines between right and wrong, and her name is Selina Kyle (Catwoman).

I can't wait for some of you guys to say the same thing about Watchmen next year. Zack Snyder already said that the movie will be 100% true to the comic/graphic novel. And for those who have no idea what Watchmen is about you should buy the graphic novel. It is truely one of the best (if not best) written comics of all time.

 

[darien87]

Out of everyone here I wonder who have actually read the Batman comic? It seems like all the naysayers just peg it as another comic book movie when it's really so much more than that. The whole point of this movie is that comic books are not just for kids anymore and this movie takes that concept to the next level. And for the guys who say the ending is crap and whatnot don't seem to understand that the whole movie is about escalation and corruption. The whole time Joker is trying to prove that everyone is corruptible including Batman. Even though he didn't succeed Nolan was setting it up for when Batman does start to blur the lines between right and wrong. BTW there is a character who makes Batman completely blur the lines between right and wrong, and her name is Selina Kyle (Catwoman).

I can't wait for some of you guys to say the same thing about Watchmen next year. Zack Snyder already said that the movie will be 100% true to the comic/graphic novel. And for those who have no idea what Watchmen is about you should buy the graphic novel. It is truely one of the best (if not best) written comics of all time.

Yeah, the Watchmen trailer was awesome. I haven't read it, but I'm sure I will before the movie came out.

But not staying true to the comic book is EXACTLY why I haven't liked any of the X-men movies. I had a subscription to X-men for years as a kid and it killed me to see how much they bastardized just about everyone's back stories.

Don't even get me started on how bad the Fantastic Four movies were.

 

[gus6464]

Yeah, the Watchmen trailer was awesome. I haven't read it, but I'm sure I will before the movie came out.

But not staying true to the comic book is EXACTLY why I haven't liked any of the X-men movies. I had a subscription to X-men for years as a kid and it killed me to see how much they bastardized just about everyone's back stories.

Don't even get me started on how bad the Fantastic Four movies were.

That's the whole point The Dark Knight is trying to change. X-Men and Fantastic Four were made by people that though they were just kiddie comics. Even Spider-Man was tainted somewhat and personally it would have been a lot better to introduce Gwen Stacey into the first movie before even introducing Mary Jane. For those that don't know Gwen Stacey was actually Peter Parker's first girlfriend and Green Goblin killed her. In the comic Spider-Man killed Green Goblin in cold blood after this. It would have set a totally difference pace for the other two movies and Spider-Man 3 wouldn't have probably been so crappy.

Consider this, If you take The Dark Knight and get rid of the Batman costume and just have a regular guy would you think the movie was a lot better?

 

[j_garcia]

But not staying true to the comic book is EXACTLY why I haven't liked any of the X-men movies. I had a subscription to X-men for years as a kid and it killed me to see how much they bastardized just about everyone's back stories.

I was very disappointed with the number of changes they made to the X-men stories, however I still enjoyed the movies (with the exception of the third).

The Wolverine movie is apparently in the works, slated for 2009. Hopefully they don't blow that, since IMO, THAT is one excellent story (from the miniseries). They already damaged it with some of the things they changed, in the former movies, but it could still be a good one if done right.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458525/

Marvel has the right idea, in that they have taken control over the movies and stories rather than licensing the material. The more recent movies are done better than the former licensed ones.

Don't even get me started on how bad the Fantastic Four movies were.

I liked the first one somewhat, but it is more like watching a Sat. morning cartoon than a movie. I didn't bother with the second.

The Spiderman movies were a disappointment.

 

[gus6464]

The Wolverine movie is apparently in the works, slated for 2009. Hopefully they don't blow that, since IMO, THAT is one excellent story (from the miniseries). They already damaged it with some of the things they changed, in the former movies, but it could still be a good one if done right.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458525/

Marvel has the right idea, in that they have taken control over the movies and stories rather than licensing the material. The more recent movies are done better than the former licensed ones.

Wolverine will be tying in to the Avenger Initiative. Apparently Spider-Man is still licensed to Sony so the odds of that tying into Avenger Initiative are very slim. Although Thor and Captain American will tie-in to Avenger Initiative as well.

 

[darien87]

Consider this, If you take The Dark Knight and get rid of the Batman costume and just have a regular guy would you think the movie was a lot better?

Probably not.

 

[darien87]

I was very disappointed with the number of changes they made to the X-men stories, however I still enjoyed the movies (with the exception of the third).

The Wolverine movie is apparently in the works, slated for 2009. Hopefully they don't blow that, since IMO, THAT is one excellent story (from the miniseries). They already damaged it with some of the things they changed, in the former movies, but it could still be a good one if done right.

The Spiderman movies were a disappointment.

I'm a little skeptical about Wolverine, based on the casting.

Liev Schreiber is a good actor, but how is he going to be Sabretooth? Are they going to put him in a big-*** furry suit?

I know Deadpool is a goofball, but Ryan Reynolds???

I don't know anything about the guy playing Gambit, but hopefully he doesn't suck.

Wolverine is my favorite comic book character, so I really hope they don't screw this one up.


I actually liked Spiderman 2.

 

[j_garcia]

If I had to choose, Spidey 2 is the best of the three easily.

They already did Sabertooth and he didn't look terrible, so it can be pulled off. Whether or not they can make them move like they should is a different story.

Ryan Reynolds....should stick to comedy, although I thought he was not too bad in Ammityville.

I am curious how big of a part Will I Am will have

 

[darien87]

If I had to choose, Spidey 2 is the best of the three easily.

They already did Sabertooth and he didn't look terrible, so it can be pulled off. Whether or not they can make them move like they should is a different story.

Ryan Reynolds....should stick to comedy, although I thought he was not too bad in Ammityville.

I am curious how big of a part Will I Am will have

Yeah, but the guy playing Sabertooth in the first X-men movie looked like he was about 6' 5". What's Liev, 5' 10" standing on his tippie-toes maybe?