by XJW4EVR 13 Replies latest social entertainment
I'll admit that they had no superpowers in the traditional sense of the word, but you must admit that batman grabbing a woman and hooking a jet airliner and flying away out of a building are not realistic.
As opposed to using a jet pack? Oh wait.... that's already been done. Granted it was more realistic than using Magneto-like powers to stop a plane.
SPOILER! He didn't grab a woman in HK, it was the crooked businessman.
- Preston
Yes, I mistyped but edited that part right after posting. ;-)
I love the fact that the last two films are dark, and that the Batman literally skates the thin line between justice and criminality. This is one of the reasons why I liked Batman over ll the other DC superheroes (that combined with the fact that Batman had no superpowers).
Me too. This is the first treatment (I'm speaking of the Christopher Nolan movies) that treats the subject without camp. Go back to Batman in the 40's, and he was a vigilante working outside the law and a really scary person. Back then he frightened criminals so badly they couldn't shoot straight, which was how they explained the Star Wars Storm Troooper like shooting in the comic books. He was supposed to be someone working outside the law, borderline personality and someone most people were frightened of.
However, I am puzzled as to why this movie is doing so well. There was nothing in the movie that struck me as original. Even Heth Ledger's performance as Joker was not as showstopping as some other movie villians (though it was the best acting performance I have seen so far this year).
Well look at movie history. The films that are everlasting are the tragedies or the singular horror (aka Psycho) stories. Which film generated the highest traffic, not the highest revenue, but was seen the most? Or name the highest grossing film?
Both are tragedies.
Name one Shakespeare comedy. Now name Shakespeare's most famous play. It's a tragedy.
People are drawn to drama most especially when there is real tragedy, coupled with real pain. Much moreso than a comedy.
Why is the film doing so well, and why did it get such good reviews? Because it took the darkest elements, told the story very, very well and had actors who were motivated and gave an excellent performance. This is the stuff of real story telling.
And that is why the film has done so well.
And as for Ledger, are you kidding? He was brilliant! He caught with mannerisms (such as the constant nervous tick of licking his bottom lip), behavior, body language of a real sadistic psychopath. And I'm not saying that because he died. He would have been nominated.
And for the record, if you want to see Heath Ledger's work, check out "Brokeback Mountain". You won't believe it's the same actor. And no, not because of that.
One of the other reasons that I did not like the movie that much was the unresolved manner in which the film left the Joker.
No that's sort of a nod to the comic books. There almost always Batman and Joker are left unresolved. Sometimes Batman thinks Joker has been killed, when we know otherwise, other times Joker has just vanished without a resolution. That lack of story resolution stays true to the source material. It's supposed to be frustrating. It's supposed to leave his character dangling. That's the Joker.
Personally I thought the movie was brilliant. It was everything Batman was supposed to be, as well as the Joker, and hasn't been until now. Batman is supposed to be the darkest of the dark in all comics.
The movie was making the statement that Harvey Dent was the White Knight, the hero the city wanted even though he wasn't real, but Batman was the Dark Knight, the hero the city deserved, but instead ended up villifying. Dent was unwilling to make the choices Batman made for the greater good.
Two sides of the same coin. Just like Batman and the Joker.
Chris
I think it was one of the best, most exciting, well-acted films I've seen in a while. Heath Ledger's performance stood out but did not overwhelm the performances of Bale, Caine, Oldman, Gyllenhaal and Eckhart. I'm glad Katie Holmes didn't reprise her role as Rachel, because she just couldn't have carried it out with all those heavyweight actors around. Maggie did GREAT! It was an awesome ensemble cast.
Oh yeah, I liked it -- can you tell?
Nina
