The Dark Knight [SPOILER THREAD]

[Philly06Cup]

After leaving the theater, I could hear the other movie-goers' comments. Most of them saying what an awesome movie that was, or how great Heath Ledger was. I thought it was a great film, but so horribly, horribly depressing.

For every one person that Batman saves, it seems like three die. Heath Ledger, as the Joker, talking about his drunken abusive father. The female love interest dies halfway through the movie. Even the White Knight, Harvey Dent -- the beacon of salvation in Gotham City -- becomes corrupt at the end. And then Batman is ostracized at the end, while clinging onto the false belief that Rachael loved him and wanted to be with him. I don't think there's a single 'happy' scene in the entire film.

What a depressing movie.

[Yeah_Baby]

And that my friend is why I love it.

[Ozy_Flame]

One of the best moments was Dent / Joker in the hospital, and Dent flips a coin to see if he kills the Joker or not, and the Joker responds "now we're talkin'!", followed by the diabolical laugh. It reminded me of a classic batman villain collaboration, as you would see in the 60's franchise.

Two-Face was VERY well done. The CGI was great, I loved the missing face parts.

[Bertuzzied]

We kind of all knew the joker performance was going to be good before even going in but that 2Face guy was awesome. I've never seen him in movies before.

I'm sure if Nolan has a second chance he would have killed the Joker and not 2 Face. That would have been a pretty awesome 3rd movie.

I gave the movie 9.5 out of 10. It would have been 10 out of 10 except for how they handled Two face after he became disfigured. Fire could not make his face look like that. Only acid and the make up made him look a little unbelievable. Also the ending was kind of a let down. It was from Batman Year 1.

[Antithesis]

I don't think you can take Joker's "My Dad" story seriously - he gave the same exact line, "want to know how I got these scars?" to Rachel but told the story as he did it out of love for his wife, who left him after, and he also delivered a different story to Batman later in the movie.

Fantastic movie, there was so much in it and yet that 2.5 hours flew right by. Definitely set up a sequel as well, and I'm interested to see where it goes. I love how Nolan isn't making a habit of killing too many of his villains though I am disappointed that it looks like Two-Face/Dent is done for.

Very depressing, though, I mean, what's the only ray of hope offered here? That Bruce provided Lucius with a way to destroy that cell-phone thing (how Patriot Act)? That seems like about it to me. Definitely had that Empire Strikes Back feeling in that sense.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

I don't think you can take Joker's "My Dad" story seriously - he gave the same exact line, "want to know how I got these scars?" to Rachel but told the story as he did it out of love for his wife, who left him after, and he also delivered a different story to Batman later in the movie.

Fantastic movie, there was so much in it and yet that 2.5 hours flew right by. Definitely set up a sequel as well, and I'm interested to see where it goes. I love how Nolan isn't making a habit of killing too many of his villains though I am disappointed that it looks like Two-Face/Dent is done for.

Very depressing, though, I mean, what's the only ray of hope offered here? That Bruce provided Lucius with a way to destroy that cell-phone thing (how Patriot Act)? That seems like about it to me. Definitely had that Empire Strikes Back feeling in that sense.

Yeah nice to see Scarecrow again albeit briefly, as much as Aaron Eckhart was awesome as Dent/Two Face I wonder having seen it for a movie and half if he was in another one would get tiresome as far as his enraged love lost motives. And for the sake of a "complete" story for TDK he needed to die so that his image as the white knight could be contrasted to Batman's status at the end of the flick.

[Vena]

It was a really good movie, but I found it disturbing. The Joker plots were so diabolical and disheartening. Usually, there is something to a villain that provokes a tiny bit of sympathy. Not so with the Joker. Heath Ledger did a fantastic job.

The fall of Harvey Dent was also very well done. I wanted so badly for him to stay good even though I knew it wouldn't happen. The scene in the hospital and the voice over at the end were the highlights for me.

Aside from that, the pencil trick was funny in a bad way. I was surprised at how good it was...I thought it was being hyped too much.

[Ozy_Flame]

Actually...best scene in the movie came at the beginning.

"Who wants to see a magic trick?"

[Antithesis]

That's true, the line, the result, everything was awesome there.

[Azure]

It took a good 24 hours for it to sink in just how GREAT it was.

But there was so much I missed, corrupt/good cops, stuff like that, so I need to watch it again.

I have to agree with some here, it was depressing. The Joker freaked me out certain times, and while everyone was laughing in the theater, I was in awe at what kind of performance Ledger had put in.

Hate the story, the plot, hate EVERYTHING, and you could still love this movie because of what Heath Ledger brought to the table.

[Coach]

Just got back from it. Kicked tail! That said, I understand why they killed Dentto preserve his image among the Gotham people, but I wish he didnt have to die. I think he wouldve made a sweet villain for 3. Who do you think will be the next ones? The Riddler? Catwoman? They seem to be the most likely to be able to exist in the 'real' Batman worl that Nolan has created. Guys like Mr Freeze have origins that seem to fantastic to be able to seem real. That said (although Batman Forever wasnt the best movie, but certainly not the worst. I actually like it) it might be tough to find someone who could do the Riddler better than Jim Carrey. What do you guys think?

[Yeah_Baby]

Funny that you mention The Riddler I was thinking today of what Nolan and Goyer could do to the Riddler to make him fit.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Funny that you mention The Riddler I was thinking today of what Nolan and Goyer could do to the Riddler to make him fit.

Ya me too. The reason I think him is that he has a plausible origin story (like the joker) to make him beleivable in a real environment. But he might be a bit too close to the joker is character to do right after. I'm not very well educated on all the Batman villains but I do think now would be a good time to bring in Catwoman now that Rachel is gone to give him some moral boundries to ponder. (not that he doesnt have them already)

Who do you think could play the riddler?

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Ya me too. The reason I think him is that he has a plausible origin story (like the joker) to make him beleivable in a real environment. But he might be a bit too close to the joker is character to do right after. I'm not very well educated on all the Batman villains but I do think now would be a good time to bring in Catwoman now that Rachel is gone to give him some moral boundries to ponder. (not that he doesnt have them already)

Who do you think could play the riddler?

Your totally on with bringing up Catwomen, but I know there is sure be another Nolan Batman movie after this one but part of me wants to leave it as is. Is that horrible?

[jammies]

Meh, the movie had some great scenes, but as usual, the scriptwriters have to take the "suspension of reality" a little too far. I'm all for blowing things up, but how the hell do you NOT notice a whole engine room full of explosive barrels - did Fed-Ex just show up and say "Geez man I got like a hundred barrels here and a detonator - where do you want 'em? Engine room? You got it!"

Not to mention the hospital just chock full of explosives which nobody manages to find, or the "cell phone sonar" thing which was both utterly ridiculous and completely unnecessary....

Things that were done well included just about every scene featuring the Joker - my favorite was him sending Batman to save the wrong person by giving him the opposite address for Dent and Rachel, especially as the director didn't then hammer you over the head with it. Ledger was fantastic, no question, he pulled the movie out of mediocrity all by himself. Even when he wasn't speaking, his shambling walk and mannerisms were dead-on creepy, just absolutely brilliant.

That's why the movie would have been MUCH better if they had not bothered with the whole Dent/Two-Face story - while I understand that his transformation was central to the movie as it currently exists, trying to focus on two different stories meant neither was adequately served. If he had had a smaller part, they could have used him next film as the villain, as I agree he was very good - it's just that the movie was far too crowded with plots and subplots and therefore lacked pace. Maybe the director's cut (I understand it was cut down from 3 hours) would fix that, but as it stands I thought it deserved maybe 6.5 out of 10, with at least 3 of that owing to Ledger's epic performance.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by jammies

Meh, the movie had some great scenes, but as usual, the scriptwriters have to take the "suspension of reality" a little too far. I'm all for blowing things up, but how the hell do you NOT notice a whole engine room full of explosive barrels - did Fed-Ex just show up and say "Geez man I got like a hundred barrels here and a detonator - where do you want 'em? Engine room? You got it!"

Not to mention the hospital just chock full of explosives which nobody manages to find, or the "cell phone sonar" thing which was both utterly ridiculous and completely unnecessary....

Things that were done well included just about every scene featuring the Joker - my favorite was him sending Batman to save the wrong person by giving him the opposite address for Dent and Rachel, especially as the director didn't then hammer you over the head with it. Ledger was fantastic, no question, he pulled the movie out of mediocrity all by himself. Even when he wasn't speaking, his shambling walk and mannerisms were dead-on creepy, just absolutely brilliant.

That's why the movie would have been MUCH better if they had not bothered with the whole Dent/Two-Face story - while I understand that his transformation was central to the movie as it currently exists, trying to focus on two different stories meant neither was adequately served. If he had had a smaller part, they could have used him next film as the villain, as I agree he was very good - it's just that the movie was far too crowded with plots and subplots and therefore lacked pace. Maybe the director's cut (I understand it was cut down from 3 hours) would fix that, but as it stands I thought it deserved maybe 6.5 out of 10, with at least 3 of that owing to Ledger's epic performance.

ouch thanks Debbie Downer

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Your totally on with bringing up Catwomen, but I know there is sure be another Nolan Batman movie after this one but part of me wants to leave it as is. Is that horrible?

Not horrible, but in the Interviews i saw they seemed to mention making a third quite a bit. Bale says he wont be involved in any Batman that includes Robin (which I'm sure will please some people). Personally I think if they did it properly Robin wouldnt be a bad addition. He's an important part of the Batman legend whether people like it or not. But if it means no Bale leaving it alone would be best

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Not horrible, but in the Interviews i saw they seemed to mention making a third quite a bit. Bale says he wont be involved in any Batman that includes Robin (which I'm sure will please some people). Personally I think if they did it properly Robin wouldnt be a bad addition. He's an important part of the Batman legend whether people like it or not. But if it means no Bale leaving it alone would be best

Oh I'm sure there will be two, but maybe spidy 3 has left me shell shocked.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Oh I'm sure there will be two, but maybe spidy 3 has left me shell shocked.

Oh dude Im with you. I saw that in the theatres and I had only seen it that one time....so I had it burnt on a DVD and thought I would sit down pay more attention too it and give it a second chance and it might turn out to be better than I remembered. Wow....that was a mistake. I could barely get through it and once I did I realized that I had just wasted 1/4 of a rare day off watching a crap movie. It makes me sad because I really like spiderman..but man....what a massacre

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Not horrible, but in the Interviews i saw they seemed to mention making a third quite a bit. Bale says he wont be involved in any Batman that includes Robin (which I'm sure will please some people). Personally I think if they did it properly Robin wouldnt be a bad addition. He's an important part of the Batman legend whether people like it or not. But if it means no Bale leaving it alone would be best

Robin would be good if he has his own movie. Only having Batman in as a cameo. It would be better then Spiderman 1 for sure.