I'll start this thread so we can discuss the movie amongst ourselves without ruining it for someone that hasn't seen it yet.

I'll move some of the posts over here now.

So how about that magic pencil trick...

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Just saw it again for the second time,the first time was in IMAX

and i also have to admit that im a tiny bit dissapointed,I read some review somewhere that pretty much summed this movie up perfectly that the Dark Knight is a mix of Batman/The Departed/& Heat put together which makes for a really darn good movie but maybe not the ideal Batman movie for my tastes

*semi-spoiler alert*
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About 15-20mins of too much dialoge,could have used that time for another big action scene,of all the main characters it seems that Batman and Joker have the least amount of screen time,no real explantion on the jokers past or how he became smart enough to pull off all his stunts(Maybe something they were saving for the next movie,oh well) and no Batcave which is totally understandable b/c of how the last one ended but it still takes alittle bit away
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spoilers over

I know I am nitpicking because the Dark Knight is still a awesome movie,Ledger does steal the show,the rest of the cast is great(just maybe alittle too big though).But coming from a huge batman fan I think still perfer Begins over the Dark Knight

Moved Reply:

I saw it last night and I can't recommend this movie highly enough. Easily the best movie I've seen this year. I was a little concerned when I heard the buzz starting regarding an Oscar for Heath Ledger. I thought it might be just because he had died. But I can't imagine anyone deserving the award more. Easily the best portrayal villain, comic or otherwise, that I've ever seen in a movie.

Possible spoiler

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I was glad that they didn't try to explain the origin of the Joker or why he's as smart as he is. I think the Joker is better when his origins are kept cloudy. He's more like a force of nature that way. For that reason I especially liked how he kept making up different stories to explain how he'd gotten his scars.

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****Spolier Alert****


I also liked how they kept his past clouded. Unlike the common thug with a bit of psychosis Nicholson played, Ledger was truly an avatar of chaos.

I also liked the way things played in the middle, very Donaldson-esque. We saw Gordon shot, assumed dead (although it wasn't a surprise to hardly anyone that he was still alive, I would guess) and makes the bust on the Joker. This after it appeared Joker was coming out on top of this particular encounter. Then, it turns out Joker wanted to be captured to pull off his trick. The intertwining schemes were fun.


*****End spoiler*****

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quote:

Originally posted by Herschel:
****Spolier Alert****


I also liked how they kept his past clouded. Unlike the common thug with a bit of psychosis Nicholson played, Ledger was truly an avatar of chaos.


*****End spoiler*****

I thought Nicholson's Joker was merely eccentric. Ledger's was a psychopath and his psychosis was more than believable. His brilliance was palpable.

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quote:

Originally posted by Phoenix138:
Possible spoiler

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I was glad that they didn't try to explain the origin of the Joker or why he's as smart as he is. I think the Joker is better when his origins are kept cloudy. He's more like a force of nature that way. For that reason I especially liked how he kept making up different stories to explain how he'd gotten his scars.

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****SPOILER*****

Yeah I really liked that. When I heard him give his second explanation for his scars, I was like HOLY CRAP, THATS BRILLIANT! I thought his scene with Batman in the interogation room was one of the finest pieces of acting I've ever seen. I couldn't tell if he was BS'ing Batman or that was his real motivation.

I'm not Batman/Joker expert but I don't think they've ever really got into the Jokers background in the comics, other than some of his recent history.

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quote:

Originally posted by Grave Digger:
****SPOILER*****

Yeah I really liked that. When I heard him give his second explanation for his scars, I was like HOLY CRAP, THATS BRILLIANT! I thought his scene with Batman in the interogation room was one of the finest pieces of acting I've ever seen. I couldn't tell if he was BS'ing Batman or that was his real motivation.

I'm not Batman/Joker expert but I don't think they've ever really got into the Jokers background in the comics, other than some of his recent history.

***** More spoilers. Or at the very least a geek tangent. ***********

As far as I know there has never been a definitive telling of the Jokers origins. In The Killing Joke the Joker states that even he doesn't remember his own past; sometimes he remembers it one way another sometimes he remembers it another and that's how he prefers it. I think this is intentional on the part of DC as again to give a definite reason to why the Joker is he way that he is would cheapen the character.

My preferred portrayal of the Joker is that of the antithesis of Batman in almost every way other than them both having brilliant minds. Just as Batman's origins are needed to show why he has dedicated his life to bringing order to the world, the Joker should have no reason in wanting to inflict chaos. This meshes with my preferred portrayal of Batman-- that of a borderline sociopath who's past traumas have caused him to cut himself off from his emotions with Bruce Wayne just being the mask he wears to try to blend into society. On the same note I like the idea of the Joker actually being incredibly sane, in a way too sane-- someone who sees the world exactly for what it is and is unable to ignore the evil and chaos that he sees. So rather than filtering it out like normal people do he goes with it by wearing a mask of insanity.

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By the way, my only complaint with the two movies is also that stupid whisper/growl that Bale does as Batman. Does Christian Bale has some kind of real life speech impediment? It's almost like a lisp; as if his tongue is too short to reach his front teeth. It seemed really pronounced in this last movie.

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quote:

Originally posted by Phoenix138:
On the same note I like the idea of the Joker actually being incredibly sane, in a way too sane-- someone who sees the world exactly for what it is and is unable to ignore the evil and chaos that he sees. So rather than filtering it out like normal people do he goes with it by wearing a mask of insanity.

Yeah I feel the exact same way. I think just portraying him as just another psycho only smarter is too easy and actually kind of a cheat. Having him be, as you say, too sane or as he says in the movie, "ahead of the curve", is a fascinating way to look at him, especially the way Ledger portrayed him. You hear about super smart kids having trouble in school because they get bored, that's kind of the impression I got from the movie with The Joker. He's too sane and is bored with life as it is so he creates chaos and anarchy to have fun. He doesn't care about money or power, he just wants something to do.

The other thing they did with him, that I'd never seen before, was in the very beginning of the movie in the bank robbery part. The guy on the roof tells the other guy The Joker wears make-up to scare people, like war paint. You always see him depicted as a crazy guy who where's make-up because he's crazy and it's funny and so he can stand out but to depict him as a perfectly sane person who wears war paint to scare people is brilliant.

When they crashed the Lamorghini, it was pretty quiet afterward & I said "DAMNIT!"

That got a few chuckles out of the crowd

quote:

Originally posted by Boris:
When they crashed the Lamorghini, it was pretty quiet afterward & I said "DAMNIT!"

That got a few chuckles out of the crowd

The scene where Dent is in the hospital and Gordon comes to visit him, there's a part where it gets really quiet and everyone is anticipating seeing Two Face and all the sudden, some guy OPENS A CAN OF COKE....it's deathly quiet at an extremely serious part of the movie and then "TSSST...CRACK, POP".

Everyone started laughing including myself because it was beautiful timing. The thing was, I think he was trying to be really quiet about it because he seemed embarassed. It lightened the mood definitely.

I saw it too ( i was one of those bad parents who took a younger daughter, however, she "got it"). Good movie. A little too long, and at times a little to hacked together that some stuff just didn't seem to flow. Other than that, one of the best times spent watching a movie.

Ledger was brilliant. I can't see anyone wanting to attempt this roll for at least another 7 to 10 years. It was iconic. It was so true to the beginings and to the Dark Horse that really made it special.

You PAID attention everytime he was on screen because you didn't know or suspect what the Joker was/wanted to do. His speech/his thoughts and pecadillo's (tongue licking) were great.

The evil that men do, isn't always by evil men. Sometimes just too sane.

I was a little surprised they killed Dent/Two-Face. He was a big villian in some of the better Batman stories I have read, and it's sad they can't build off him now. Sort of like when Tim Butrin killed the Joker in the first Batman--WTF??? You can't kill off Batman's #1 rival!

Even though Two-Face wasn't Batman's major enemy, I think they should have kept him alive.

In the first scene where they robbed the bank, did anyone notice the voice of the one guy? It sounded a lot like Stan Lee. Since he usually puts himself in those movies in some shape or form I'm fairly certain it was him.

quote:

Originally posted by TheFavreRules:
In the first scene where they robbed the bank, did anyone notice the voice of the one guy? It sounded a lot like Stan Lee. Since he usually puts himself in those movies in some shape or form I'm fairly certain it was him.

Batman is DC comics, Stan Lee is Marvel.

I went and viewed it on Sunday. I thought that it was a great movie. It was not perfect. I have to agree that Bale had too many lines as the Batman and his voice did become somewhat annoying. I am just glad that I was not the only one that thought so. I have not read enough of the comics, but I may have to check out some of them now. I would especially like to check out the ones that this series is based off of. I was surprised even though I knew that Two-Face was going to be in this. I have to wonder if there was really that much that they could do with him. All of the other Batman movies are cartoons and comics compared to this one it is more along the lines of a graphic novel. All of the roles have been so much better than in the other ones. This Joker is flat out scary. Not someone that I would ever want to run into. These movies have been less over the top and more realistic. I think that the only role that will still be able to stand up from the last series is Jim Carey as the Riddler. They had some great actors in those movies that they made in the Nineties, but these have been so much better. I can not wait for the next one. I almost should not because this one will be hard to top. It ended with a very somber tone and that was well done too. I will say that this is the best funny book movie that I have ever seen.

quote:

Originally posted by Maynard:
I was a little surprised they killed Dent/Two-Face. He was a big villian in some of the better Batman stories I have read, and it's sad they can't build off him now. Sort of like when Tim Butrin killed the Joker in the first Batman--WTF??? You can't kill off Batman's #1 rival!

Even though Two-Face wasn't Batman's major enemy, I think they should have kept him alive.

Yeah I thought it was kind of weak the way they killed him off. I thought Eckhart did a great job as Two-Face for the short amount of time we got to see him. I would like to hold out some hope that he somehow isn't dead but uh, he fell pretty damn far to the ground and besides having half his faced burned he's only human. I don't see how he could have survived that

I didn't think Bale's voice when he was Batman was annoying at all. I thought it was dark & mean they way it's intended to be.

Like in the 1st movie when Batman has the thug on the retractable cable and the thug says, "I don't know where....I swear to god!!" Then batman says "SWEAR TO ME!!!!"

Maybe I'm the only one that thinks "that's fantastic!"

I'm probably going to see the movie again & I NEVER do that.

The voice worked for me, especially in the scene you describe. He needed to do something with it to disguise it.

I wanted to go to the IMAX version but the evening hsow in MSN seems to be sold out pretty far in advance. Was the IMAX version that much better?

I thought it was pretty good but also thought that the story could have been told a little quicker than it was.

but over all

quote:

Originally posted by GOTOFAVRE:
Just saw it again for the second time,the first time was in IMAX

and i also have to admit that im a tiny bit dissapointed,I read some review somewhere that pretty much summed this movie up perfectly that the Dark Knight is a mix of Batman/The Departed/& Heat put together which makes for a really darn good movie but maybe not the ideal Batman movie for my tastes

*semi-spoiler alert*
***
**
*
About 15-20mins of too much dialoge,could have used that time for another big action scene,of all the main characters it seems that Batman and Joker have the least amount of screen time,no real explantion on the jokers past or how he became smart enough to pull off all his stunts(Maybe something they were saving for the next movie,oh well) and no Batcave which is totally understandable b/c of how the last one ended but it still takes alittle bit away
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spoilers over

I know I am nitpicking because the Dark Knight is still a awesome movie,Ledger does steal the show,the rest of the cast is great(just maybe alittle too big though).But coming from a huge batman fan I think still perfer Begins over the Dark Knight

quote:

Originally posted by vikeincheeseland:
I wanted to go to the IMAX version but the evening hsow in MSN seems to be sold out pretty far in advance. Was the IMAX version that much better?

I thought it was pretty good but also thought that the story could have been told a little quicker than it was.

but over all

Yeah I felt they could have removed about 15 minutes of the movie. Especially since they left it wide open for the next one.

quote:

Originally posted by Boris:
I didn't think Bale's voice when he was Batman was annoying at all. I thought it was dark & mean they way it's intended to be.

Like in the 1st movie when Batman has the thug on the retractable cable and the thug says, "I don't know where....I swear to god!!" Then batman says "SWEAR TO ME!!!!"

Maybe I'm the only one that thinks "that's fantastic!"

I'm probably going to see the movie again & I NEVER do that.

It was not that big of a deal. It was just something that I had noticed. It did not bother me during the first one. I know that he has to disguise his voice even if he is just talking to Gordon. Due to the plot he was in that role so much more in this one. I think that I just have to get used to it. I think that I will as I try to see it over and over again in the Theaters. I want to try to go and see it at least five more times. Twice in Imax if I can swing it. I just can not think back to any of the others that played Batman as it being that noticeable when they were playing the Dark Knight. I think that if I remember correctly Keaton tried to have his voice altered. I don't remember Clooney even trying to. I can barely remember Kilmer at all. West does not really count. He seems like a decent guy off screen though. Bale is the best as Wayne/Batman and that is all that matters. The example that you gave when he said "Swear to me" that did kick a lot of ass.

Wanna see a pencil disappear?



TA-DA!!

Fantastic...