I loathe the Lord of the Rings. The three movies are a perfect representation of everything that I hate about the majority of fantasy based films. It’s the same thing over and over again. The typical battle between good and evil. There are usually no grey areas. Everything is black and white. You have your good guys on one side, and your bad guys on the other side. And of course the good guys always win in the end. And then you have the stupid magical shit. The search for the mystical orb, ring, chalice, book, gem, Ect. And last but not least, the movies are too damn long. I suppose that the typical battle between good and evil is just art imitating reality. Most people are raised to see the world in black and white. The social programming begins with comic book characters, cartoons, and movies. And when we become adults it continues through the news media. I am not going to waste my time mentioning all of the flaws that I noticed in the film because you would probably respond by saying something like, “It’s a superhero movie. You shouldn’t care about those things.” I enjoy good scripts, realism, and believable science fiction. Batman (1989) and Batman Begins were very realistic when you compare them to some of the other Marvel or DC movies. I have my personal preferences and I just can’t give a fantasy based movie a high rating if it is not realistic or at least believable. I saw three other superhero movies this summer. The Hulk, Hancock, and Iron Man. The Hulk was horrible, but I enjoyed Iron Man and Hancock. I wasn’t expecting to see realism in any of the three movies. Iron man was unrealistic but believable. And I didn’t care if Hancock was realistic because it was portrayed as a comedy. The high critic ratings combined with the realism of Batman Begins made me believe that the Dark Knight was going to be a realistic movie. Everyone was saying that the movie is better than Batman Begins. I was expecting to see a movie that was worthy of a 9 out 10 rating. I can give you a few more examples of some of the things that I would have liked to see in the movie. I already mentioned that I hated the PG-13 violence. There are some television shows that do a better job of creating realistic PG-13 violence. I would have been happy if they made a rated R version for the millions of adults around the world that went to see the movie without children. I mentioned the fact that Batman’s entire face should be covered. And I mentioned that it would be impossible for Batman to do the things that he does in the movie without using the stealth technology from the Predator movies. (Active Camouflage) Voice Modulator Batman should be using voice modulating technology instead of speaking in a deep voice. It is obvious that it is Christian Bale under the mask. They should have got an actor with a deep voice to speak for him. Gecko Gloves There is no doubt that Batman would have to be using gecko tape technology to climb buildings. The MythBusters already proved that Batman’s tools would be useless for climbing buildings. His cloves and the tips of his gas propelled grappling hooks would have to be equipped with gecko tape. Nanotech enhancements From Batman Beyond Batman would definitely need a strength enhancing suit. The suit that he wears already slows him down. I don’t care how fast or strong you are. One man can’t defeat an entire army of villains without some kind technological advantage. The Batwing I would have liked to see the batwing in the movie. I think it should be his only method of travel. The bat tank was a ridiculous idea because there is no way that he could evade the police in that thing. It wouldn’t even matter if the car was equipped with active camouflage technology. He would have a hard time driving a large vehicle around the city without being scene. The batwing should be equipped with a silent anti-gravitational propulsion system. Alien technology does exist in the DC universe. It would not be difficult to imagine Wayne Industries working on a top secrete project with the U.S government. The Joker I would have changed a few things about the joker. The joker is supposed to be an intelligent psychopath. He was too destructive in the movie. I can’t enjoy watching a human character that is pure evil. It is unrealistic. This joker reminded me of the clown / violator from Spawn. The character that Christian Bale played in Psycho is a better representation of a Psychopath in the real world. I also would have liked to learn more about the Joker’s past. What happened to him during his childhood? Was he abused or molested? I wanted the writers to take me into the mind of a killer. I wanted to see the writing that you would see on television shows like Dexter, OZ, or the Sopranos.
While this type of fantasy may seem childish. I think it is healthy to escape into it occasionally. Life can wear you down and you need to escape. It is better than embracing religion/paranormal as truth or having a nervous breakdown. Stories of heroes and good versus evil go back to the beginning of civilisation. Look at the Iliad and the Odyssey. People love heroes whether they are sportsmen, politicians or fictional. The fictional hero needs some type of challenge to define him and that is where evil comes in. You may see it as simplistic but it clearly strikes a chord with people. The batman story is actually more interesting than say Superman because he actually has a dark side. I would have rated it an 8. I may have enjoyed the first more. The problem with sequels is the tendency to try and outdo everything that happened in the first. This is a movie based on a comic book which young kids read. A rated R version could cause the studio problems. Having spent millions on the movie they wouldn’t risk it. Yes there are lots of things which could have been used but there is a need to keep the character close to the one in the comics. If you introduce too many new concepts it no longer resembles the original and the fans turn against you. Isn’t that set in the future? Alien technology? Oh please no. There are a lot of things in the DC universe that would really ruin the stories of batman and gotham. There were already many characters in the movie. There simply isn’t time to start dissecting the joker like in Dexter. Once again, the joker had to be similar to the original. I really liked this joker. He was how I remembered the joker from the comics. A violent, malevolent genius.
I was trying to say that they could have made two versions. A PG-13 version for the kids, and an R rated version for adults. It would have definitely increased their profits. Some people would be taking their kids to see the PG-13 version one day, and going to see the R rated version another day. I know a lot of people that saw the movie twice just because they wanted to see it on Imax. That is where I defer from a lot of people read comic books. I think most film adaptations of comic books and cartoons are stupid. The comic book world doesn’t have to make sense, but films are different. I don’t like when movies defy the laws of physics. Any action that occurs in a fantasy based movie should be believable. Everything should be explained in way that makes sense. Writers should be adding a believable fantasy to reality instead of trying to add a little reality to a fantasy. I shouldn’t be able to watch a film like Batman and say “there is no way that he could do that”. I don’t think a studio should even begin a production on a Sci-Fi or fantasy based film before they sit down with a group of writers and physicists, and make sure that every little detail about the film is believable. Batman Beyond is set in the future but nanotechnology exists in the present. The strength enhancing suit may not exist but the technology is believable. Aliens or no aliens, Batman should be able to fly silently through the night. The scene in China would also have looked much cooler if he was flying the batwing. I didn’t have a problem with his violent behaviour. I had a problem with his irrational behaviour. The fact that he didn’t care about money didn’t make any sense to me. I can understand how a person could enjoy making other people suffer, but a genius would be thinking self-preservation. The Joker was just asking to be killed by the mobsters, Batman, and the police. Perhaps that is what he wanted, but that is not my definition of an evil genius.
I agree. While watching the movie, I assumed that the joker had lied about the detonators. I figured each boat actually had it's own detonator rather than the detonator for the other boat. So whoever decided to kill to save himself would actually be commiting suicide.
So you're a hard line moral relativist. Also a communist? Do you think Bill Gate's wealth has the potential to last generations? What was his crime? You think these criminals really want to become the legitimate government? Bullshit, they just want to make some money. Wow, an analysis that turns the joker into the "good guy". Interesting interpretaton, anyway. Agreed
I've seen it three times. Saw it on the IMAX last night. I also saw it on opening night, which was crazy. All of the theatres were packed, and there were, like, at least 20 people cosplaying as the Joker. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! IMHO, it is the single greatest movie of all time.
OK!!! that's it for you!!! 3 times? I think you should stop now and save the extra money and just buy the movie when it comes out on DVD or Just download and burn it in a few months. You are cut off too. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
No amount of saving is going to buy me an IMAX screen. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! And that post was on the 2nd, I had my 4th viewing on the 9th.
http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2008/08/dark-knight.html I have to agree with him. The rich symbolism in this spectacle represents the tenor of contemporary America as something a few notches worse than whatever the Nazis were heading toward around 1933... ...Finally there is the derivation of all this sadomasochistic nihilism out of a comic book. How appropriate, since we have become a cartoon of a society living on a cartoon of a North American landscape, that the deepest source of our mythos comes from cartoons. We're so far gone that real human emotion is beyond us. We're too far gone -- and even without shame -- to care how this odious movie portrays us to the rest of the world. It is already making a fortune out there.
Christian Bale was the worst part of the movie for me. Like the Dark Knight minus the dark part. This is in context to the over-all feel of the film. But I felt the same about his performance in Begins.
I couldn't watch a movie no matter how good that many times in such a short span of time. I would get bored. I have movies I watch over and over but maybe I watch them once every yr. For instance I have watched the Rocky movies I don't know how many times.
I like Christian Bale. Did you like Micheal Keaton as Bat Man better? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Before this movie, I would've said the same thing. In fact, with some of my favorite movies which I think are definitely better than the Dark Knight, I can't do more than one viewing. But for some reason I can with DK, and it's fun every time. It's like a roller coaster ride or something. I'm sure I'll get sick of it eventually though.
Do you keep going with different ppl all the time? going alone? Or are your friends just as crazy Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! as you watching it over and over.
I think the problem is there just wasn't enough of the real Bruce Wayne in the film, and even then the real Bruce Wayne was too... normal. Bale's definitely a great actor, and his Wayne was confident and good, but there was still something lacking.
