lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I think Oldman's 2 best perfs were Dracula and Beethoven, both posted above. It's a crime he wasn't nominated for the former.
The Dark Knight review thread
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LMP
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joyfulgirl
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I don't even remember seeing Dracula. Surely I must have. Better add it to the queue and have another look.
No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
You should, for his performance alone.....also, lots of old school film tricks used by Coppola. On the negative side, Keanu is in it.
The scene where Keanu first discovers just how....vampiric....Oldman is.....with the three woman and the baby.....yeesh.
Saw this with a friend a few nights ago, and we both really enjoyed it.
Admittedly the superhero/action genre isn't my favourite. There's a limit to how much I will probably ever enjoy any movie where there is an unkillable action hero who routinely pulls off the impossible or improbable ie. not just Spiderman or Batman but also franchises such as James Bond and Die Hard. Suspension of disbelief is just too much to ask - not saying that's the way that it should or shouldn't be, that's just my own taste. However The Dark Knight is flush against that upper limit of enjoyability for this sort of movie - I think it was brilliantly done, and IMO the quibbles that most folks have mentioned are easy to overlook. Everything that the Nolan brothers touch seems to turn to gold.. 8/10
Admittedly the superhero/action genre isn't my favourite. There's a limit to how much I will probably ever enjoy any movie where there is an unkillable action hero who routinely pulls off the impossible or improbable ie. not just Spiderman or Batman but also franchises such as James Bond and Die Hard. Suspension of disbelief is just too much to ask - not saying that's the way that it should or shouldn't be, that's just my own taste. However The Dark Knight is flush against that upper limit of enjoyability for this sort of movie - I think it was brilliantly done, and IMO the quibbles that most folks have mentioned are easy to overlook. Everything that the Nolan brothers touch seems to turn to gold.. 8/10
joyfulgirl
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yeah...starting to sound familiar...I'm sure I saw it when it first came out. I was living in NYC then and went to the movies like 3x/week.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
And here we................go.
First off, as I'm sure you're all simply DYING to know, did I like the film? Fuck yes. Absolutely I did. There will not likely be a more entertaining film released all summer, and perhaps for the remainder of the year.
HOWEVER, I was, admittedly, a little underwhelmed. That is, it's not #1 all-time for me, and not even my favorite Batman film. But it's damn close, and that's good too.
Since this is a thoroughly positive review, and I'm still rigid, I'll start with the positives. The acting? Great. Greater than great. Heath, Bale, Eckhard, and Oldman all turned in very strong performances and proved to be a solid backbone for what turned out to be arguably the most intriguing story line in any Batman film so far. Actually, there wasn't one, but that's a key part of the morality tale they wove. More on that later.
This film looks fucking incredible, point blank. I think we can all agree on that, even if the characters and dialogue in particular don't exactly do it for you. The truck flipping over obviously dazzled, but there were many other awesome moments beyond that, particularly the final Batman/Joker scene with Batman losing sight of him. The camera never stops moving throughout the film, and it creates a dizzying and dreadful sensation in the viewer. Basically, Nolan achieved what he set out to do. The scenes set at dusk were my favorite to look at, though those particular scenes were less common than the ones set in the charcoal black of night.
Now, on to the dialogue. Arguably, this was my favorite part of the film, which surprised me. Sure, Joker had some humorous one-liners, but he also brought up some very good points about humanity as well. He was clearly insane, but (if you ignore the massive body count) cheering for the guy isn't hard to do. That's the mark of a very well portrayed villain. Harvey Dent's transformation was not at all implausible, though I still found Two Face occasionally obnoxious.
As you can see, there's plenty to love here. However, I also have a few complaints. First off (and certain to be the most controversial), I didn't find that Ledger's performance was as transcendent and spine-tingling as so many made it out to be. What I loved about his portrayal had less to do with him personally and more to do with the emphasis on brilliant, deadly strategies and, of course, his dialogue, which I praised above. His performance was great, and when he came on screen the crowd came to life, but I feel that he simply took fantastic material and did a good job with it, which isn't so much a complaint as it is a comment. For the record, Nicholson is still my favorite Joker.
Beyond that, it also pissed me off how the movie fell back on car chases/explosions/brawls/more explosions/make out scenes/more explosions as a crutch when this film could have been more than just a really really really good action film, and it occasionally is. Also, the early hype claimed that it was something more than that. Again, it occasionally is, but not quite often enough.
In the end, I can't help but admit to being ever so slightly disappointed, but, on the other hand, that was still really fucking good right there. I plan to buy this on DVD, right along with Casino Royale (I was reminded of its particular level of badass thanks to the Quantum Of Solace trailer, which also impressed me), and I intend to encourage others to see it as well. There are so many Batman movies not worth giving a damn about, but this isn't one of them.
8.5/10
First off, as I'm sure you're all simply DYING to know, did I like the film? Fuck yes. Absolutely I did. There will not likely be a more entertaining film released all summer, and perhaps for the remainder of the year.
HOWEVER, I was, admittedly, a little underwhelmed. That is, it's not #1 all-time for me, and not even my favorite Batman film. But it's damn close, and that's good too.
Since this is a thoroughly positive review, and I'm still rigid, I'll start with the positives. The acting? Great. Greater than great. Heath, Bale, Eckhard, and Oldman all turned in very strong performances and proved to be a solid backbone for what turned out to be arguably the most intriguing story line in any Batman film so far. Actually, there wasn't one, but that's a key part of the morality tale they wove. More on that later.
This film looks fucking incredible, point blank. I think we can all agree on that, even if the characters and dialogue in particular don't exactly do it for you. The truck flipping over obviously dazzled, but there were many other awesome moments beyond that, particularly the final Batman/Joker scene with Batman losing sight of him. The camera never stops moving throughout the film, and it creates a dizzying and dreadful sensation in the viewer. Basically, Nolan achieved what he set out to do. The scenes set at dusk were my favorite to look at, though those particular scenes were less common than the ones set in the charcoal black of night.
Now, on to the dialogue. Arguably, this was my favorite part of the film, which surprised me. Sure, Joker had some humorous one-liners, but he also brought up some very good points about humanity as well. He was clearly insane, but (if you ignore the massive body count) cheering for the guy isn't hard to do. That's the mark of a very well portrayed villain. Harvey Dent's transformation was not at all implausible, though I still found Two Face occasionally obnoxious.
As you can see, there's plenty to love here. However, I also have a few complaints. First off (and certain to be the most controversial), I didn't find that Ledger's performance was as transcendent and spine-tingling as so many made it out to be. What I loved about his portrayal had less to do with him personally and more to do with the emphasis on brilliant, deadly strategies and, of course, his dialogue, which I praised above. His performance was great, and when he came on screen the crowd came to life, but I feel that he simply took fantastic material and did a good job with it, which isn't so much a complaint as it is a comment. For the record, Nicholson is still my favorite Joker.
Beyond that, it also pissed me off how the movie fell back on car chases/explosions/brawls/more explosions/make out scenes/more explosions as a crutch when this film could have been more than just a really really really good action film, and it occasionally is. Also, the early hype claimed that it was something more than that. Again, it occasionally is, but not quite often enough.
In the end, I can't help but admit to being ever so slightly disappointed, but, on the other hand, that was still really fucking good right there. I plan to buy this on DVD, right along with Casino Royale (I was reminded of its particular level of badass thanks to the Quantum Of Solace trailer, which also impressed me), and I intend to encourage others to see it as well. There are so many Batman movies not worth giving a damn about, but this isn't one of them.
8.5/10
No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
Glad you liked it, but, who the fuck is Nicholas?
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Glad you liked it, but, who the fuck is Nicholas?
Sorry, I wrote that in a hurry. Edited, right along with a few turns of phrase I wasn't crazy about.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear.
LMP
Blue Crack Supplier
Yep, glad you liked it, too, El-Mel.
Since Nolan used a sepia motif for Begins, and a blue one for TDK, what do you think he'd use for the sequel? They're both used to great effect in the overall story, I think. Green? Black?
Since Nolan used a sepia motif for Begins, and a blue one for TDK, what do you think he'd use for the sequel? They're both used to great effect in the overall story, I think. Green? Black?
U2MaNaIcWeIdO
Blue Crack Addict
Well...people have said it half sucked....and I tend to be a moron and believe anything anybody will say.
U2MaNaIcWeIdO
Blue Crack Addict
Well...I tend to believe anything anybody said...doesn't matter if there are a few bright spots..if a person said the movie suck.....then I might believe them.
I'm a moron...pure and simple.
LMP
Blue Crack Supplier
Yes Weldo, but who has said this? Some minority will always pop up, but when the response is overwhelmingly positive, isn't that something you'd respond to greater?
the tourist
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Exactly. It would be stupid for the Dark Knight to tell the White Knight he'd rather save the White Knight's girlfriend. Because that would get the White Knight really wondering: WHY?
U2MaNaIcWeIdO
Blue Crack Addict
Not really...I usually have "Wait and see" type attitude with most of the movies that I'm interested in...but sometimes if overall the movie reviews are positive and I see one bad or semi-bad...I tend to get a bit scared.
LMP
Blue Crack Supplier
Why?
Lila64
Blue Crack Distributor
Oldman as Bram Stoker's Dracula was great. You should see this. The only negative about it, as NSW said, is that Keanu was in it. I thought his performance was weak at best.
No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
When there is a movie you are interested in, should not your attitude just be "see" instead of "wait and see"? Odd.
U2MaNaIcWeIdO
Blue Crack Addict
It depends on how bad I want to actually see the movie. Most of the time I'm not interested and the movies I am interested in I either wait until I get enough money or it gets to one of the cheaper theaters or on DVD.
Thus the "wait and see" attitude. (It has nothing to do with reviews most of the time because I usually don't read the reviews)
luna_lovegood
War Child
Agreed. Heath stole the show. Just makes me even sadder that we lost someone so talented and dedicated. Bale was awesome and Oldman was solid. Gyllenhaul pissed me off. But I spose she was better than Katie Holmes.
was fucking awesome!
I got chills. He freaked me out. I couldn't get him out of my head. IMO, he blew Nicholson out of the water. And seeing him in Brokeback, then this role just astonishes me. He was so immersed in the roles that it's almost impossible to link the two.
I've seen it twice and I'd see it again... and agian ... I'm usually hard to please, but this movie just rocked my fucking socks off. I'm giving it a 9.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I don't even know what to say about the suggestion that Nicholson was better. Not in terms of faithfulness to the character, not in terms of acting, not in terms of anything.
So wrong.
So wrong.
I have to agree with you here. When we left the theatre, one of my friends said that at the end of the movie she had to sit there and think about whether the Hong Kong scenes were actually IN this movie or if she was remembering them from somewhere else, because they didn't really fit in seamlessly.
LMP
Blue Crack Supplier
I bought it because it goes into the whole "going after the mob's money sources" storyline, but it wasn't the most important thing. It was a fun action set piece though.
Oh fuck no:
Poll: Who Wants Angelina Jolie to Play Catwoman? - Cinematical
corianderstem
Blue Crack Distributor
I like Angelina Jolie, but I don't want her to play Catwoman.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
I don't like Angelina Jolie, and I don't want her to play Catwoman.
Just...no.
Just...no.
LMP
Blue Crack Supplier
She's fine, but yeah, don't want her as Selina Kyle/Catwoman at all.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I think the series has done just fine without Catwoman. She was absent in all three of the best Batman films.
No spoken words
Blue Crack Supplier
Oh, man, disagree. For me, the best of the Burton Batmans features Catwoman. Not saying that I do or do not want Catwoman back, but, I really really enjoy Batman Returns.
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Michelle Pfeiffer certainly made the part more appealing.
I'm neither here nor there on Batman Returns. The Penguin is one of the weaker Batman villains, and the film just doesn't feel right to me.
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