The Dark Knight {Spoilers Abound}

This movie gets a perfect rating in my book. The best movie ever made. I can't find anything to critisize about the movie. Everything was PERFECT.

This is my shortest movie review because I don't need to say anything more.

PERFECT.
 
Dr.Strangefate said:
I am not going to lie and say that this is a perfect movie, as much as the version of myself who first walked out of the theater wanted to say... After a solid half-hour letting myself hero-worship the entire experience i sat myself down on the steps of Union Square and tried to think out what my problems were with the movie.

So here's what I think didn't work:

- I don't know what it was, but the Bat-suit in the beginning of the film looked rediculous, and Bale looked like an idiot every time they zoomed in on the cowl. There was something just off about it.

- Scarecrow should have been cut from the film, as well as probably twenty additional minutes from the beginning of the movie. I was worried at first, because it was taking so long to come into place. They should have introduced Harvey faster, and the Bank Heist (while awesome) could have been a couple minutes shorter. Once the rest of the film got into motion I was completely captured by it, but it just dragged a bit at the beginning.

- I wanted to like Maggie Gyllenhaal much more than I did. In the end I think the flaw was simply Rachel Dawes as a character... In Batman Begins, I had trouble taking the Assistant DA Rachel Dawes seriously because Katie Holmes didn't have the oomph she needed. Maggie pulled that aspect of the role off in spades... but once we got into the sensitive Rachel Dawes, she didn't work so well with me.

Now, I'm not going to say this wasn't excellent. I think aside from the slow beginning (the opposite of Batman Begins' problem, methinks), the movie was paced exceptionally well... Aaron Eckhart, Bale, and Oldman made a brilliant team, and the comparisons between Dent and Wayne were poignant and well-done. The relationships built in this film are great, and Gordon having to turn on Batman at the end was brilliant. Someone had spoiled that Dent would die in the movie, and I thought that would upset me, but it was absolutely necessary, and the perfect end to the film.

And the Joker... What can I say? Heath Ledger is the Joker. Perfect. 100% Perfect. I don't think anyone could possibly top what I think I would now consider a cinematic villain on par with Vader and Hannibal Lector. He was utterly, completely, and seductively terrifying. The fact that he was lucidly explaining his thinking and his reasoning (or lack there-of) was exquisite. Leaving the theater I was ANGRY, because this series needed more Heath as The Joker. They establish him as Batman's opposite, his first truly great nemesis, and his equal in many ways... The Joker even states outright that they will be fighting like this until the end of time. And now he's gone. It's just not fair. Not only should he have been in more Batman movies, this really showed that Heath Ledger would have absolutely become one of the greatest actors of his generation. It's just not fair.

Nolan -has- to do one more... At least. The story he is telling is not over just yet... I just don't know where he should go next... I, however, rescind my previous statement that they should recast the Joker, because Ledger was perfect. Any more with the Joker would diminish the series as a whole... We can all talk over the next year or so about what character to do next, but I have utter faith in Nolan's vision of Gotham.

Based on my new system, I officially give The Dark Knight an 8.5/10. Not quite a truly great film, but damn close.
Click to expand...

You've gotta be kidding me.

And, on the contrary to Doc, I believe in one thing. NO SEQUELS. I don't care if Nolan comes back, there's no way a third would be as epic as this, as successful as this, as anything... A third would only ruin it. A third to this film franchise would be like the third Godfather movie. Sure, they'll make it. But it shouldn't be made.

Strangefate's got a laundry list of complaints when I can't really come up with any.

This movie is awesome. Perfect. Awesome. The best movie ever made.
 
Last edited:
No matter what villain they use in the next movie (assuming that there is one, though I bet there is) they are going to look boring compared to the Joker. They really have themselves in a bind. You can't use Joker because Ledger is dead, and the second best villain Two-Face is in all likelihood dead. Probably some sort of combination of Penguin, Riddler, Cat-woman. Black Mask could be interesting.
 
Goodwill said:
You've gotta be kidding me.

Strangefate's got a laundry list of complaints when I can't really come up with any.

This movie is awesome. Perfect. Awesome. The best movie ever made.
Click to expand...


Three complaints are not a laundry list. I mean the three points are bulleted... They are a list... But there are only three of them, and the rest of my post is raving about how awesome the movie is. So I'm definitely getting the feeling you didn't read past the first paragraph.

I loved this movie intensely, but it's rediculous to say that its a perfect film.

That said, it's the second-best movie I've seen all year, after Wall-E, and Ledger gives absolutely the best performance of the year.
 
Last edited:
I'd like to ask you Strange fate. Would you have rather had Mrs. Tom Cruise in the film? I thought Maggie did a much better Rachel than she did...
 
I think Maggie did a much much better job for the first half of the film... The bit where we hear her read the letter, and some of her more romantic moments fell flat for me. As I said, I don't think that's a flaw in Maggie, I think Rachel Dawes has just never really worked as a character for me.

I didn't hate Katie Holmes in the role, and I do think that Maggie did better, but I still don't think Rachel Dawes was a valuable addition to the batman franchise.
 
Langsta said:
My favorite part was when the Joker put that guy's head onto the pencil.
Click to expand...

That was brilliant.

Gemini said:
I just got back from seeing it again, and I swear i could see Harvey breathing
Click to expand...

I honestly thought I noticed the same thing, but I'm wondering if I was either seeing things or if it might've been accidental. Though I doubt the latter.

I'd prefer not to see Dent in a third movie. His story is done.




This movie was incredible. I left work early today to see it. After viewing it I wish I'd taken the day off so I could've watched it a second or even third time (by the time I left the theater around 7pm, lines were around the corner to see The Dark Knight).

The plot was great. Started off a bit slow, but after the first 15 minutes the pacing balanced out and the plot flowed along. Loved the symbolism, character parallels, and foreshadowing in this movie. All were deftly handled.

Really enjoyed the White Knight/Dark Knight dichotomy to Dent and Wayne. Also loved that Joker's ultimate goal was merely to test Dent's "heroism". Dent's evolution into Two-Face was quick, but made sense. Eckhart's portrayal of Dent was noteworthy. Overshadowed by Ledger's Joker, sure, but still a nice job done.

And here's the basic point to the Rachel Dawes character...her death helped turn Dent into Two-Face, and keep Wayne as Batman...forever. I'm glad she was given some justification in this mythose besides merely a love interest/damsel in distress. Gyllenhall pulled off the role much better, but I just can't get past her "but-her-face". She's an ugly woman, and trying to believe she'd be the focal point of a love triangle between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent was tough. However, getting past bad looks, she's an incredible actress and did a worthy job in the role. Brought a lot more to it than Holmes did, anyway.

Bale, Oldman, and Caine all did great in their respective roles (as expected). But of course, Ledger's performance as the Joker outshines just about every other brilliant aspect of this truly brilliant film. His performance will go down in cinema history as one of the great film villains, and I'd honestly be surprised if his influence on the character doesn't leak into the comics themselves some. Loved how at the end, as it looks like he's falling to his death (before Batman saves him), he's laughing his *** off. Thats the Joker in a nutshell. The guy truly made that role his own. It should NOT be recast for a sequel. Ledger is the Joker, he owns it, and no one else can have it.

The ending...beautiful. A perfect ending for this movie: dark, brooding, suspenseful (we're all looking forward to a third)...Batman making the ultimate sacrifice, becoming a villain in the eyes of the public to preserve the lie of Dent's heroism was perfect. It showed his true motivation is whats best for his city. That is Batman. Lucius no longer works for and supplies him, and the police are hunting the Dark Knight, and Bruce lost his one chance at a normal life (Rachel). In that sense, this movie set his path as Batman more than Begins did.




And now...we can all focus on the one question everyone wonders about:

When the sequel is made (its not been said officially, but we all know there will be one), which villain will get the Nolan treatment?

I like the idea being tossed around about Bane possibly being a villain in the third. I would like to see Catwoman, Riddler, or Penguin be given a chance also, though juggling multiple villains might cause a third to go the way of Spider-Man 3 (though The Dark Knight had just as many villains and handled it brilliantly, so go figure).

I would like to see a small mention of Joker in a third movie, but nothing big (not even as big as Scarecrow's cameo in this one). Merely mention on a newscast that the Joker (real name still unknown) was executed through lethal injection and died laughing all the way. I'm sure they can use unused footage from this film if they needed to show him in the newscast for a few seconds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top