You wanna hear how I got my scars?
Thanks to Logan, I saw The Dark Knight last night. And it's good. (Albeit, ultraviolent for a PG-13, and a little long, but good.)
Overall, it's a fitting follow up to Batman Begins. Much like the first movie, it's a little bloated by character and procedural subplots. (Although it doesn't drag nearly as much.)
But then the Joker shows up. Every moment he's on the screen is dynamic and entertaining. And, yet, somewhat disturbing. Hedging elements from some of the better sociopaths in film history (A Clockwork Orange and Joker in the 1989 Batman, to name just two), Nolan creates what has to be the most creative villain I've seen in a movie in a long time. Creative in plot. Creative in character. Creative in execution.
What you end up with is a character that will not sit well with the average movie viewer. (No clear origin story. No motive. No clear ending. No clear begining.) But you'll love him anyway.
(Sidenote: Is it an Oscar worthy for the deceased Ledger? Perhaps. Although, I'm remiss to say I doubt he'd get the attention if he were still alive.)
Overall, it's a fitting follow up to Batman Begins. Much like the first movie, it's a little bloated by character and procedural subplots. (Although it doesn't drag nearly as much.)
But then the Joker shows up. Every moment he's on the screen is dynamic and entertaining. And, yet, somewhat disturbing. Hedging elements from some of the better sociopaths in film history (A Clockwork Orange and Joker in the 1989 Batman, to name just two), Nolan creates what has to be the most creative villain I've seen in a movie in a long time. Creative in plot. Creative in character. Creative in execution.
What you end up with is a character that will not sit well with the average movie viewer. (No clear origin story. No motive. No clear ending. No clear begining.) But you'll love him anyway.
(Sidenote: Is it an Oscar worthy for the deceased Ledger? Perhaps. Although, I'm remiss to say I doubt he'd get the attention if he were still alive.)
Labels: Mark
posted by M S Martinez at 7/16/2008 08:41:00 AM
5 Comments:
Cool... I am glad you went! Did you see my brother by any chance? I am insanely jealous.
Was it worth it seeing it on the IMAX screen? I am trying to gather a Portland crew, but people are dragging their feet a bit because we have to travel to a crappy suburban mall (not unlike Jordan commons) to catch it 70mm.
I didn't see your Bro. Although I did see Ian.
The IMAX adds to it, but perhaps not that much. Only the action scenes are in IMAX format. And, at Jordan Commons, the bass wasn't well balanced, so it totally washed out the dialogue a few times.
saw it today at a sold out noon show.
the movie was exceptionally crafted, i was impressed with the constraint and subtlety in foreshadowing, usually a problem for me in superhero movies. and. as mark pointed out, heath ledger as the joker was amazing.
the weakest link was maggie however you spell her last name, and she was a far cry better than katie holmes.
i went into the theater expecting the movie to be great and it was still surprisingly good.
The movie was awesome. I didn't think the foreshadowing was very subtle, but I thought the less obvious nuances of Batman's role in Gotham was handled very well - some struggles I never would have considered.
I agree that Maggie Gyllenhaal was a bit stale, but I agree with one review that said she wasn't really given a whole lot to do. She's usually a very good actor.
Thanks Logan for the heads up about the tickets. Brad - we tried to call you because we had two extras but you were busy.
I enjoyed the IMAX but couldn't hear the last 10 lines or so of the movie because of the sound, so I plan on seeing it again. I liked it so much I would see it again anyway.
Major kudos to Christopher Nolan.
Any further criticisms of Maggie Gyllenhaal are going to be deleted from this blog.
CHINA HAS SPOKEN.
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