I just watched Batman: The Dark Knight...

[sdifox]

It was ok, I liked Batman Begins better. I have a feeling Maggie is better than Katie more because of the script than her acting abilities. And I did not find Heath's interpretation of The Joker all that great. He was just following the script. He did not come across as creppy, just psycho. I do have to say it is more in line with my understanding of The Joker. But that is not because of his acting. He did his job but did not shine.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: TheVrolok

I was totally with you until I went back and saw that you had Million Dollar Baby in that list.

I really enjoyed TDK, a fantastic action flick. But a brilliant/top 10 film? Nah. It's good for it's genre.

I loved Million Dollar Baby. But then I like everything Clint does.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I like guys that get blockbuster movies, wait for them to come out on DVD to see them, watch them on their laptop's with 100 things going on around them, and then posting about how blah the movie was.

I really do.

err, I watched it on 100" and it still was not great. It was ok, but nothing close to the hype.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: irishScott
Wow I definitely didn't see the crowd of negative criticism coming. Everyone I know who's seen it (which is twenty some-odd people) loved it. My friend and I walked out of the theater and basically called it various forms of awesome for about 15 minutes straight. It's easily in my top 10. Alongside some of the other movies listed in this thread (Forrest Gump and Good Will Hunting specifically)

Batman Begins was good, TDK was fucking awesome. I just got sucked into it more than I did in Batman Begins. It was entertaining when it needed to be, serious when it needed to be, and downright fucked up when it needed to be (mostly due to Ledger). Plus you can analyze it to no end if you're into that kind of thing (granted you could do that with BB too).

Everyone who said it was cheesy, uh... it wasn't. SOAP Operas are cheesy. Batman Begins had a few cheesy moments (thank you Katie Holmes). TDK had next to zero (if any). A lot of what you may have interpreted as "cheese" are actually valid literary themes. Even then they were hardly presented in a "cheesy" manner.

As for corny... how so? The Bank robbery scene was designed to be entertaining obviously. I laughed and cheered my ass off. Same story with the Joker blowing up the hospital (although that was no cheering and more of a WTF laugh). The Batman/Joker/Dent chase was anything but corny, neither was the climactic battle.

The plot was complex as hell, the characters were complex as hell, the acting was excellent on all sides (with Ledger singled out obviously. The guy deserves an Oscar dead or not). This movie was well deserving of the hype it got. I wouldn't call it the "best movie of all time", but it's up there.

For people who say it was too long, well, IMO you can never make a movie too long unless it absolutely sucks, but that's me. If they made a 12 hour version of each LOTR movie to include more content from the books I'd gladly wait for a day off and dive in, maybe pause it to take a piss a few times. Just keep the pizza/popcorn coming and I'm good.



And DomS, sounds like you were too confused by the plot to make an accurate judgment. From the sound of your posts you missed entire scenes.

This is ATOT. Here, you have to go against popular opinion to show how much more sophisticated and complex your tastes are than the average person. You get used to it.

 

[Doboji]

You need to stop smoking crack, that movie was incredible..... period

 

[TwiceOver]

Watched this and Wanted yesterday. Both were a solid "meh" at best. I guess I went into The Dark Knight expecting it to be dark. Still a good showing though, setting up a third was a good idea.

 

[Anubis]

i love this thread, typicial AT responce "you dont agree with me so you are a fucking moron"

good shit guys good shit


FWIW i have not see TDK and well i have no real desire to, ill prob catch it once it hits HBO or whatever

 

[randomlinh]

I stand by the fact you cannot enjoy the movie unless you watch it in IMAX =P

Eh, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I am not a HL fan, but I thought he did one hell of a job with joker. The opening doesn't make much sense unless you watch the animated series they did to fit between the two movies IMO. And I didn't like Batman's SFX voice either, but I don't remember what the first one was like.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: irishScott
As for corny... how so? The Bank robbery scene was designed to be entertaining obviously. I laughed and cheered my ass off. Same story with the Joker blowing up the hospital (although that was no cheering and more of a WTF laugh). The Batman/Joker/Dent chase was anything but corny, neither was the climactic battle.

The plot was complex as hell, the characters were complex as hell, the acting was excellent on all sides (with Ledger singled out obviously. The guy deserves an Oscar dead or not). This movie was well deserving of the hype it got. I wouldn't call it the "best movie of all time", but it's up there.

Cheering the Bank and Hospital scenes? Why? They weren't that entertaining.

Ledger deserves an Oscar? Why? He should no complexity or depth to his character, acted the same way the whole movie.

Man, some folks haven't seen a well acted/complex movie before or are just sheeple.

 

[Kirby]

Ledger = excellent
everything else that i can remember = meh

 

[pontifex]

it was ok. i think i liked Batman Begins better though. I enjoyed Wanted more than this though.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Coming from the person who couldn't find Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Pineapple Express funny. I couldn't stop cracking up during the entirety of either movie.

What exactly was funny during those movies? Forgetting Sarah Marshall was an average romantic comedy and allow me to clue you into the one fact about a romantic comedy... it's never as good as a true comedy. Not to mention, FSM used the same damn formula that everyone uses... I literally sat there like, "okay, movie has about 20 minutes left, it's time for the main character to fuck up and piss off his new flame." My prediction did not disappoint.

Pineapple Express wasn't even funny. It's your typical stoner film that I believe didn't even get a single laugh out of me (and I paid $8.50 to see it :|). Stoner humor has never been something that I've enjoyed though... I usually prefer perverted humor.

 

[Doboji]

What confuses me, is alot of people on ATOT seem to give TDK a "meh" rating, and yet the rest of the known universe seems to recognize it as a eye poppingly good. What is it about ATOT that allows for this rift? Furthermore, what movies ARE good to these folks... I suspect it's more a matter of people on ATOT being negative nancys than it is being aware intelligent movie critics.

 

[Kirby]

Originally posted by: Doboji
What confuses me, is alot of people on ATOT seem to give TDK a "meh" rating, and yet the rest of the known universe seems to recognize it as a eye poppingly good. What is it about ATOT that allows for this rift? Furthermore, what movies ARE good to these folks... I suspect it's more a matter of people on ATOT being negative nancys than it is being aware intelligent movie critics.

I gave it a meh, so here are some of my favorites:

Dr. Zhivago
The Big Lebowski
Taegukgi Hwinallimyo
All Miyazaki and Kurosawa
Shawshank Redemption
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Silence of the Lambs
Dr. Strangelove
Apocalypse Now
Forrest Gump
Das Boot
Der Untergang
The Great Escape
Amadeus
Coming to America
Blade Runner
Soylent Green
Planet of the Apes
Patton
Young Frankenstein

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: irishScott
As for corny... how so? The Bank robbery scene was designed to be entertaining obviously. I laughed and cheered my ass off. Same story with the Joker blowing up the hospital (although that was no cheering and more of a WTF laugh). The Batman/Joker/Dent chase was anything but corny, neither was the climactic battle.

The plot was complex as hell, the characters were complex as hell, the acting was excellent on all sides (with Ledger singled out obviously. The guy deserves an Oscar dead or not). This movie was well deserving of the hype it got. I wouldn't call it the "best movie of all time", but it's up there.

Cheering the Bank and Hospital scenes? Why? They weren't that entertaining.

Ledger deserves an Oscar? Why? He should no complexity or depth to his character, acted the same way the whole movie.

Man, some folks haven't seen a well acted/complex movie before or are just sheeple.

Oh come on. You have to admit the mob thug with the shotgun at the bank robbery was pretty badass.

Note I said I wasn't cheering during the hospital scene. The Joker messing with the switches and such at the end got a mild WTF laugh out of me.

No complexity or depth because he acted the same way? No shit, he was playing the same character. You need to learn to read between the lines my friend. Start getting into the Joker's psychology. Why does the Joker repeatably talk about his scars? Do they affect his decisions? Notice his demeanor changes whenever he talks about them.

And that's just one example off the top of my head and I haven't seen the movie in 2 months. I could analyze the characters in this movie for hours.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Doboji
What confuses me, is alot of people on ATOT seem to give TDK a "meh" rating, and yet the rest of the known universe seems to recognize it as a eye poppingly good. What is it about ATOT that allows for this rift? Furthermore, what movies ARE good to these folks... I suspect it's more a matter of people on ATOT being negative nancys than it is being aware intelligent movie critics.

You realise most of the people on Earth are stupid right? I am not talking about opinion of movies, just people in general.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
I stand by the fact you cannot enjoy the movie unless you watch it in IMAX =P

Eh, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I am not a HL fan, but I thought he did one hell of a job with joker. The opening doesn't make much sense unless you watch the animated series they did to fit between the two movies IMO. And I didn't like Batman's SFX voice either, but I don't remember what the first one was like.

sorry, if you have to go to imax to enjoy it, it is not a good movie. All IMAX brings is better eye candy.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: TwiceOver
Watched this and Wanted yesterday. Both were a solid "meh" at best. I guess I went into The Dark Knight expecting it to be dark. Still a good showing though, setting up a third was a good idea.

Wanted was bad... There was no way for me to suspend my disbelief.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Doboji
What confuses me, is alot of people on ATOT seem to give TDK a "meh" rating, and yet the rest of the known universe seems to recognize it as a eye poppingly good. What is it about ATOT that allows for this rift? Furthermore, what movies ARE good to these folks... I suspect it's more a matter of people on ATOT being negative nancys than it is being aware intelligent movie critics.

You realise most of the people on Earth are stupid right? I am not talking about opinion of movies, just people in general.

And ATOT is different... how? What's the largest demographic that went to see TDK? High School Kids, College Kids, and other people in their 20s. Most of whom have grown up using the internet and have full knowledge/capability to post on web forums.

 

[Geocentricity]

The Joker portrayed by Nicholson and Ledger shouldn't be compared because the mood of each film is different. The Dark Knight is darker, more down to earth. The Keaton versions is more along the lines of tommygun wielding mobsters from the Dick Tracy comics.

Nicholson could easily do Ledger's role in The Dark Knight (i.e. same psychotic mannerisms) but Ledger was cast as the Joker. So why compare reality to a hypothetical?

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Doboji
What confuses me, is alot of people on ATOT seem to give TDK a "meh" rating, and yet the rest of the known universe seems to recognize it as a eye poppingly good. What is it about ATOT that allows for this rift? Furthermore, what movies ARE good to these folks... I suspect it's more a matter of people on ATOT being negative nancys than it is being aware intelligent movie critics.

You realise most of the people on Earth are stupid right? I am not talking about opinion of movies, just people in general.

yeah I mean, I think that culture, particularly American Culture as a whole has been sliding pretty hard, and the fact that this movie is regarded as some gold standard is just more evidence. Again, I'm not saying it was awful. I'd give it a solid 5.5 or a 6. It was fluff, fun fluff, but fluff none the less. There was no depth (don't say there was depth but it went over my head, I know what to look for). There were a few explosions, and a plot that tried to cram too much in. I'm not saying it was horrible, just not that great.

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: irishScott
As for corny... how so? The Bank robbery scene was designed to be entertaining obviously. I laughed and cheered my ass off. Same story with the Joker blowing up the hospital (although that was no cheering and more of a WTF laugh). The Batman/Joker/Dent chase was anything but corny, neither was the climactic battle.

The plot was complex as hell, the characters were complex as hell, the acting was excellent on all sides (with Ledger singled out obviously. The guy deserves an Oscar dead or not). This movie was well deserving of the hype it got. I wouldn't call it the "best movie of all time", but it's up there.

Cheering the Bank and Hospital scenes? Why? They weren't that entertaining.

Ledger deserves an Oscar? Why? He should no complexity or depth to his character, acted the same way the whole movie.

Man, some folks haven't seen a well acted/complex movie before or are just sheeple.

EXACTLY. The scenes weren't THAT entertaining, and Ledger's Joker wasn't that great. I honestly thought he was the weakest character. There was nothing...'Jokery' about him. Change his makeup and he could've been playing virtually any other villain. There was nothing about his portrayal that really tapped into the roots of the joker character. It was a typical villain, in the joker's makeup. And as you said, the performance was wooden and didn't change throughout the movie.

It also felt like there was no real buildup throughout the film. It was like a 2.5 hour plateau.

 

[Tim]

Originally posted by: DomS
Does the joker get away?

Yes, don't you remember the 5th grade?

:music:
Jingle Bells,
Batman Smells,
Robin laid an egg.
The bat-mobile lost a wheel,
and The Joker got away! HAY!
:music:

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: DomS
EXACTLY. The scenes weren't THAT entertaining, and Ledger's Joker wasn't that great. I honestly thought he was the weakest character. There was nothing...'Jokery' about him. Change his makeup and he could've been playing virtually any other villain. There was nothing about his portrayal that really tapped into the roots of the joker character. It was a typical villain, in the joker's makeup. And as you said, the performance was wooden and didn't change throughout the movie.

It also felt like there was no real buildup throughout the film. It was like a 2.5 hour plateau.

I don't see how Nicholson's performance in the original batman is any different than you described.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: irishScott

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Doboji
What confuses me, is alot of people on ATOT seem to give TDK a "meh" rating, and yet the rest of the known universe seems to recognize it as a eye poppingly good. What is it about ATOT that allows for this rift? Furthermore, what movies ARE good to these folks... I suspect it's more a matter of people on ATOT being negative nancys than it is being aware intelligent movie critics.

You realise most of the people on Earth are stupid right? I am not talking about opinion of movies, just people in general.

And ATOT is different... how? What's the largest demographic that went to see TDK? High School Kids, College Kids, and other people in their 20s. Most of whom have grown up using the internet and have full knowledge/capability to post on web forums.

I have found that blockbuster movie ratings tend to be exaggerated simply because there is more youngster watching them. Youngster that have not actually seen a good movie.

There are a few old farts here to counter the tide, albeit mostly failing due to inferior numbers.