Dark Knight movie/plot discussion

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin

Originally posted by: finite automaton
I think Batman's voice was a little overkill...

Yeah, that got annoying real quick. Bale didn't have the voice to pull it off and it sounded like he was trying too hard to be a badass but it sounded more like he had asthma.

I've become pretty entertaining around friends. Since I saw the first trailer with a few of them I'm now asked to yell "Where is he!" when appropriate.

1. I have asthma
2. I smoke
3. I don't have a particularly deep voice

Makes for a great "Where is he?!" When I try and yell deep, it comes out throaty, but you can still pick up on the fact that my voice is NOT deep. Very authentic

 

[EKKC]

Christian Bale did the same voice in Batman Begins. Batman's voice is supposed to sound very coarse

anyway, i miss the batcave and the mansion. i know it burned down by Ra's Al Ghul in BB, but with all of Wayne's money shouldn't it have been rebuilt by now?

 

[Mo0o]

It was good, but not the second coming of jesus like people have been saying. My criticisms:

1. Too long. Felt like 1.5 movies mashed together. Reminds of me Spider man 3 and MI:3 where there was just too many scenes and locales that looked cool at the time but then in retrospect felt really out of place and dragged the pacing.
2. Ending was really heavy handed. Saw that ferry resolution a mile away
3. Batman voice. It just got ridiculous at the end when he had more extensive dialogue. He sounds like an asthmatic trying to make conversation while taking a shit.
4. Two-face. This pissed me off, they did a great job of setting up the character but then opted to have him be a whiney little bitch that gets pushed of a 3 floor building.
5. Feasibility. I put this one last since this is definitely just random escapism movie but seriously, theres no way the Joker could have set up all the traps and bombs he did with the help of some lunatics. Honestly, you think people wouldn't notice random guys loading 100 barrels of oil onto a ferry or strapping c4 to every inch of an hospital?


They should have recut the movie to resolve the joker storyline then end w/ Harvey discovering the coin and revealing his scarred face, which would set up a 3rd movie nicely. Although I will say, Heath Ledger was RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING as the joker. All the subtle mannerisms, the lip smacking, the makeup, it was all amazing.

 

[foghorn67]

I have what might be a dumb question...

Have we already seen the last of Ra's Al Ghul in BB? What if it's one of those things that doesn't die, there is someone always ready to take charge? Would Scarecrow come into play? I'm thinking like the Dread Pirate Roberts in Princess Bride. Yeah, I know it's a funny thought, but that movie had a good point, it's the name that strikes fear.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: foghorn67
I have what might be a dumb question...

Have we already seen the last of Ra's Al Ghul in BB? What if it's one of those things that doesn't die, there is someone always ready to take charge? Would Scarecrow come into play? I'm thinking like the Dread Pirate Roberts in Princess Bride. Yeah, I know it's a funny thought, but that movie had a good point, it's the name that strikes fear.

He got resurrected in the comics, but it might push things beyond the boundaries they want for the movies if they were to bring him back.

 

[Goosemaster]

Heath was fantastic.

What the role called for was a villain devoted to the proliferation of chaos and he portrayed that very well. Back in the day, Jack fit Burton's 80s perfectly in calling out society on it's bullshit, and Heath did the same with Nolan's '00s.

What really impressed me was how well he carried himself in the trust-fund-baby scene as he toyed with Rachel using his knife. Heath only had a prop and a lame line to work with, and still came off as a truly vile pervert feeding off of peoples fear of disgust towards him. "Gritty" and "chaotic" is hard to play as it requires a balance between simplicity and depth when the film must adhere to some jaded formal-plot. In a film as bombastic as this was, I think his performance was impeccable.

My usual metric relies on the old "could that have been better," and with regards to his performance, I definitely believe that it was as good as it could have been.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
It was good, but not the second coming of jesus like people have been saying. My criticisms:

1. Too long. Felt like 1.5 movies mashed together

...

They should have recut the movie to resolve the joker storyline then end w/ Harvey discovering the coin and revealing his scarred face, which would set up a 3rd movie nicely.

i would kinda agree, but I don't think Nolan would want to leave it so conveniently open-ended for a sequel.

2. Ending was really heavy handed. Saw that ferry resolution a mile away

I did and didn't want to believe since there were so many dark side of human-being being expose earlier on. In retrospect, yes, I should have seen that coming, but i was sooo drawn into the darkness of the movie that I expected both ship to be blown up.

3. Batman voice. It just got ridiculous at the end when he had more extensive dialogue. He sounds like an asthmatic trying to make conversation while taking a shit.

LMAO. that's sig material

5. Feasibility.

ack, who gives a shit. the Joker is omniscent and omnipresent. ;p
again, that reinforces what another guy's opinion here who said Gotham has some pretty dumb shit cops.
[/quote]

 

[jiffer]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
5. Feasibility. I put this one last since this is definitely just random escapism movie but seriously, theres no way the Joker could have set up all the traps and bombs he did with the help of some lunatics. Honestly, you think people wouldn't notice random guys loading 100 barrels of oil onto a ferry or strapping c4 to every inch of an hospital?

Um, honestly, you think it's possible for an ordinary human being with no innate superpowers to do all of the things that Batman does?

I look at it this way. Batman is a superhero, so I just accept the fact that he can do all those things. By the same token, the Joker is a supervillain, so he too can do inhumanly amazing things. At least, they're more believable to me than a pile of sand that can propel itself through the air. (Ever see Spider-Man 3?)

Anyway, think about what Gordon said to Batman at the end of Batman Begins. Gordon was afraid of escalation. If the cops start carrying semi-automatics, the crooks will start carrying automatics. If the cops start wearing Kevlar, the crooks will shoot armor-piercing bullets. And then there's Batman. ("And you wear a mask and jump off buildings.") What happens when a superhero comes to town and starts beating the bad guys? The answer, of course, is that supervillains will show up and put a guy like Batman to the test.

You know, I really like the "philosophy" that some people have been complaining about. It makes the movie meaningful. The people of Gotham are basically a mob, and it's a challenge to win their hearts and minds when the bad guys scare the crap out of them. If they turn against Batman, can he still protect them? The Joker was Batman's worst nightmare. The Joker almost succeeded in making Batman turn his back on everything he believes in. That's exactly what the Joker did to Harvey Dent. Where does that leave Batman? Where does that leave Gotham? They're not only at the mercy of the Joker's acts of terrorism, they're also at the mercy of their own fear and their own pain. Batman tried to give the people hope. How did the new supervillain on the block respond to that? Escalation. Raising the stakes and pushing Batman to the limit.

If the Joker was any less extraordinary, I would have been disappointed. He did not disappoint me.

 

[JEDI]

lets see...

joker lives
two face dies
scarecrow lives
Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes ) dies
Maggie Gyllenhaal doesnt do any S&M stuff

next up penguin, riddler, catwoman

Lt Gordon gets promoted to Commisioner?! holy skipping ranks Batman!


And whats w/this crap that Batman takes the rap for all the killings that twoFace did!?

So how does "Batman: Wanted" sound for the 3rd movie?


What do you think the premise of the 3rd movie will be?

 

[oddyager]

Originally posted by: JEDI


And whats w/this crap that Batman takes the rap for all the killings that twoFace did!

He explained it in his last speech that Gotham should never know what Dent did because they all looked up to him as their "savior".

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Lt Gordon gets promoted to Commisioner?! holy skipping ranks Batman!

Well the job WAS conveniently open

 

[FreshPrince]

WTH was up with the joker card in the papers as the judge sentenced all the mob? I can't figure that part out...

also, as for fox typing his name at the end...it was clearly stated by batman that "sometimes, people need their faith rewarded"

meaning fox truly believed in the batman and bruce knew this, that is why he built in the back door to destry the sonar system, to tell his friend fox that batman has not gone over to the dark side.

they could easily bring back 2 face in the next movie, but I don't recommend it. think about it, what was the whole deal about the end of the movie and the global theme? that batman can sacrifice his reputation to protect an idea. the idea is that dent was a hero to the city and a ray of hope against the joker. that in the times of insanity, there are people who can still stand up and be completely decent. Dent was that man and the city needed that. batman became the "dark knight" because he is a true hero who does not need the praise and recognition. he can take the abuse from the people, he is a silent protector, the dark knight. if they bring back 2 face, this would make batman's sacrifice completely worthless and that would just piss off too many fans including myself. they need to move on to the next villian. Maybe penguin and the pussycat...that would be a good combo for the next movie.

I don't see why Bale would mind when they bring in Robin, unless he's just a complete attention whore....

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Lt Gordon gets promoted to Commisioner?! holy skipping ranks Batman!

Political move by the mayor.

 

[Epic Fail]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
WTH was up with the joker card in the papers as the judge sentenced all the mob? I can't figure that part out...

She died later...

 

[911paramedic]

"I want ten million a year for life to keep this to myself."

"Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world is secretly a vigilante, who spends nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands. And your plan is to blackmail this person?"

LMAO

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
"I want ten million a year for life to keep this to myself."

"Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world is secretly a vigilante, who spends nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands. And your plan is to blackmail this person?"

LMAO

That was a great scene.

 

[HopJokey]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
"I want ten million a year for life to keep this to myself."

"Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world is secretly a vigilante, who spends nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands. And your plan is to blackmail this person?"

LMAO

That was a great scene.

Man he sacrificed the Lambo for him too...

 

[TheSlamma]

Yet Another Batman Movie

I don't understand what made Ledger's charactor the Joker.. A sociopath with some makeup on? thats all they got? Thats a pretty shallow definition. The pencil disappearing was great, but after that it went to guns, knives and bombs. Nothing Joker about that.

Why did they have to say Batman killed those 5 people at the end, why not blame it on the Jokers men?

 

[edtsui]

Saw it on IMAX and loved every moment of it.

I just think the biggest shame in an extremely well made movie like this are all the dilemmas, themes, and philosophical issues that just completely fly over most people's heads. Just reading the responses in this thread is kind of a disappointment because it seems like maybe only a handful of people actually picked up on these things.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
"I want ten million a year for life to keep this to myself."

"Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world is secretly a vigilante, who spends nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands. And your plan is to blackmail this person?"

LMAO

For me this may have been the funniest scene in the movie. I also loved the scene where Bruce leaves Alfred on the yacht full of hot ballerinas. The Joker as the nurse messing with the detonator was great too.

 

[oddyager]

Originally posted by: TheSlamma
Yet Another Batman Movie

I don't understand what made Ledger's charactor the Joker.. A sociopath with some makeup on? thats all they got? Thats a pretty shallow definition. The pencil disappearing was great, but after that it went to guns, knives and bombs. Nothing Joker about that.

Why did they have to say Batman killed those 5 people at the end, why not blame it on the Jokers men?

Have you read any of the darker versions of the Joker in the comics? That's basically what he was, a sociopath with makeup.

 

[fallenangel99]

In the end, the Joker won

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Is Two-face dead? Wasn't sure about that part.

KT

muahhahaha, I hope not. I want a movie with two-face...the 'white knight'

 

[aldamon]

Originally posted by: JEDI

What do you think the premise of the 3rd movie will be?

I think there needs to be fallout from using a public company as a piggy bank to fund Batman, Inc. The extortion plot is only be the beginning IMO. Since the Riddler knows Batman's real identity, he'd be a natural fit for this kind of storyline. This would also fit with the fact Batman is now being actively hunted as a fugitive.

 

[lokiju]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
I didn't think it was a bad movie but I think all of the marketing set the expectations so high. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was disappointed but I don't think it lived up to the hype and that more the fault of marketing than the director/actors/etc.

Couple random points to rant about:

1. The fall off the building...yeah, it's a comic book movie but c'mon now.


5. Ledger - yeah, he was good and I would have liked to see him play the Joker role in another Batman movie (without Two-Face) but the talk of an Oscar or whatever I think is just overblown and probably more of the viral marketing.

Anyways, not saying it was bad but I think they set the bar so high (anyone read Digg? Every third article is about this movie) if I had gone in without all the hype I would have enjoyed it more.

I agree with all the parts I left in.

I think it was just to overhyped and while it was good it wasn't as good as I expected it to be.

I think I would have liked it more had there not been so much hype around it.