9to5poet
The Soulless Machine
filmsatyr
colovillis
I am not sure where to begin with this movie. This will most likely be the first review of this movie on this site. So will just share what I think of the movie and allow one of my more eloquent reviewers give a full synopsis. Well, first thing first…it is brilliant. This is not a summer comic book movie. This is a strait up flick. There is no over the top, no reason for it action sequence. Everything in this movie is part of the story. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan wrote not a script about a comic book character. They wrote a story about crime, corruption, terrorism and then added comic book characters to it. The main feelings of the movie is fear and dread.
Heath Ledger. Wow. I was worried when I heard that Ledger was tapped to do the rule of the Joker. When he enters the movie there really is a level of menace that you can feel. Holy shit did he land that character. You will actually fear the Joker. Which is what you should do. Jack Nicholson was ok….he got the crazy part but not the sense of malevolence that the Joker generates. In the movie the Joker refers to himself and an agent of chaos. And that is the Joker. He is madness personified. Which is what is freighting about him. But he is not random…no he has a plan that is well thought out….creative and just plan EVIL. That is will this Joker will always called the best…the Joker became evil again. For Batman to really work you need him to fight something evil. The Joker is the most evil character in DC universe.
Aaron Eckhart. Mr. Eckhart, one of my fellow reviewers called into question your acting chops…I would like to apologize on the behalf of Attack of the Movie Watchers.com for this slight. You owned the role of Harvey Dent. I will never accept another actor playing that role. After a scene in which Dent describes why he likes Batman…I was sold. Mr. Eckhart you are Harvey Dent
Maggie Gyllenhaal….Thank god! Hate Katie Holms. Gyllenhaal is a great actress and took the role of Rachel Dawes away form Holms and the audience is thankful.
The rest of the cast is from the first movie….and as ways on top of things. Only beef I have is Christian Bale’s Batman voice…dude stop with the voice. Use another one…this sounds bad when you try to “Sound” like Batman. However, his performance and Batman the best one ever. Of all the actors who have played Batman Bale really has it down.
This movie was not a disappointment. I left the theater at 3 am not tired but jazzed. Christopher Nolan has proven his talent as a director and as a writer. This movie will kick your ass and you will not only like it but you will be pissed that it is over.
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I cannot wait until Saturday…
Mr. Eckhart, you *may* have my apologies by Sunday morning.
I was quite impressed by Heath Ledger, there was only one scene where I actually recognized the actor playing the role. I knew in the back of my head it was the late Mr. Ledger playing the Joker… but as I watched this psychopath on the screen I forgot about the actor and became fully immersed in the story.
Not many actors can do that. At no time in “Batman” (1989) did Jack Nicholson cease to be Jack in white-face cracking jokes at Michael Keaton’s expense and threatening Kim Basinginer. I watched “A Few Good Men” on TV the other week and I loved it, but at no time was it anything more than Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in a courtroom. In fact the movie should renamed “Tom and Jack in courtroom yelling at eachother”. Thats the downside to being a big name actor I guess.
Christian Bale did his typical great job, Maggie Gyllenhaal (as Colo said) was a welcome change, bringing much need maturity to the character who I didn’t find terribly believable in Batman Begins. “Here’s a 16 year old girl who happens to be the assistant D.A. in Gotham City, take her seriously.” Whatever. Gyllenhaal is much more belivable and doesn’t constantly talk out of the side of her mouth.
I didn’t have a strong opinion on Aaron Eckhart, but then I haven’t seen most of his work. He’s never jumped out at me as a promising actor. Course, he normally doesn’t generally work in the genre of movies that I usually enjoy. I’ll give him that he was a better Harvey Dent than Tommy Lee Jones was.
Michael Caine is awesome as Alfred, the dry wit, the jokes at Bruce’s expense is all there along with the obvious fierce devotion to him. I would have liked more interaction between Alfred, Bruce and Lucius together. He could benefit from their collective wisdom.
Gary Oldman is Jim Gordon. This was another case of forgetting there was an actor there though this is slightly overshadowed by Ledger’s chilling performance.
What can I say about Morgan Freeman that hasn’t already been said? He’s always impressive, he made the penguin’s migratory habits interesting for the first time ever. He was the President of the US as an asteroid was about to hit the earth. He was on the Electric Company! What more needs to be said? Lucius Fox possibly more than Alfred is Bruce’s equal and even though Bruce has never outright told him, it seemed to be an open secret in the first movie, but here, Lucius pretty much openly says he knows and is an integral part of the climax between Batman and the Joker. He has several great character moments, but one sticks out when a Wayne employee tries to blackmail the company. Morgan Freeman always manages to bring an abundance of wit, intelligence, and charm to everything he does.
Anyway, if i have to choose between “Dark Knight” or “Ironman”, I choose Dark Knight, though Ironman did raise the bar for comicbook movies.
[...] The Dark Knight (2008) [...]
Found these quotes on IMDB:
David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan collaborated on the story of the film. The script itself was written by Nolan and his brother Jonathon. After watching The Dark Knight, Goyer stated “I can’t believe my name is on a movie this good”.
It’s Sir Michael Caine’s opinion that Heath Ledger beat the odds and topped Jack Nicholson’s Joker from Batman (1989): “Jack was like a clown figure, benign but wicked, maybe a killer old uncle. He could be funny and make you laugh. Heath’s gone in a completely different direction to Jack, he’s like a really scary psychopath. He’s a lovely guy and his Joker is going to be a hell of a revelation in this picture.” Caine bases this belief on a scene where the Joker pays a visit to Wayne Manor. He’d never met Ledger before, so when Ledger arrived and performed he gave Caine such a fright he forgot his lines.