Happy TDK Day! We’ll call this The Dark Knight Café, and throw it open to general discussion and random reactions from AwardsDaily readers. Who saw the movie overnight? Who saw it in IMAX? Who’s seeing it with a big group of friends and who’s taking a TDK “sick day”? Let us know who plans to see it more than once this week, and who plans to wait till the crowds thin out. Tell us about your favorite scenes and biggest surprises. Disappointments and grumbles, too. Yes, this topic might be a toxic spoiler zone so we should warn about any big reveals (for the protection of innocent citizens stopping by for a cup of TDK Espresso Macchiato topped with a foamy bat logo.)
How about if all those who’ve seen it rate the movie with a numerical score? We’ll keep a running tally and figure the average AD rating every few hours. (Brave detractors can see how it feels to get swarmed by a colony of rabid bats). For those who’ve been anticipating TDK for months, now’s the time to set aside overly-psyched expectations and revel in the batmania. (Anybody having trouble clearing their heads of the hype can click here for a quick dehypification.)
64 Responses for "The Dark Knight, AD Reader Reactions"
Saw it at midnight and am seeing it again tonight. A perfect film in every way, its direction is dazzling, the acting from the entire ensemble brilliant, and the screenplay genius. I have a hard time imaging that there will be a better performance in any category this year than that of Heath Ledger’s Joker. He was maniacal and perfectly twisted. The film went to darker places than most films dare to go and certainly went places where I never thought a comic book would venture.
This is a summer thrill ride at its finest and is one of the best movies, not only of the year, but of all time. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it!
Hmm. I guess we’ll file that under “rave.”
Saw it at midnight last night and it blew my mind. A truly well-crafted film. The direction was spectacular as usual as Chris Nolan continues to prove why he is the most original and in-control director of the decade. Bale’s performance is perfection, not only showing Bruce Wayne’s tortured soul through his worked exterior, but allowing the character of Batman a personality. This is absolutely the first time an actor has ACTED when portraying Batman and not just played intimidating. Heath Ledger. What can I say that hasn’t already been said; I guess I’ll just call it the best supporting performance of the decade, on par with Anton Chigurgh. Aaron Eckhart was excellent. Naturally Harvey Dent was a triumph for him as the White Knight of Gotham. It’s when his dark side shows that Eckhart proves to be as skilled a performer as any in the film. I would call him the unsung hero of the film if Gary Oldman wasn’t so fucking good. In a role that necessarily grew, James Gordon is the no-strings-attached real man of the film. Oldman gave a pitch-perfect performance and I must admit I loved his little sub-plot twist in the middle of the film even though some did not. I must be honest I had only very few problems with the film. The one that really got me was the seeming lack of Bruce Wayne. this really was an ensemble and I feel like Bruce Wayne became a part of the ensemble rather than the lead character. My second and final problem was the pace of the more intimate scenes. it was as if they were an action scene. Just too quick, did not allow the proper time to get intimate with the characters. other than that, holy shit i’m satisfied
Loved this film. Grade: A
10/10
It’s not perfect, but it’s damn close. I just had one slight problem: Two-Face’s…well…face…It was a little dissapointing and relied too much on CGI, but it’s a slight quibble.
I love the end and the whole thing is just a crime/drama masterpiece that happens to have one of the best performances I’ve ever seen…
I saw it at midnight last night and loved it. This is even darker and more stripped down than Nolan’s first Batman movie, and when he said Michael Mann’s HEAT was one of his models, he wasn’t kidding, not just the look, not just the bank robbery sequence at the beginning (as well as the clever casting of William Fichtner), but also the whole duality theme. Granted, that was in the comics, but it’s even more pronounced here. Ledger is amazing as the joker. And this is darker and more terrifying than any blockbuster I’ve seen, I think. There are a few quibbles; the ending speeches are a bit heavy-handed, and while Maggie Gyllenhaal is much better than Katie Holmes was, her character still feels shoehorned in. But overall, I’d highly recommend it. A-
I’m seeing it this evening with nine others for the IMAX Experience! Friends who caught the midnight were left speechless, only finding their voices when it came time to praise Heath Ledger. Too excited to think!
Please put Heath Ledger in the contender tracker list alreadyyyyyyyyy, Hes the favoritre at this time. I come every day to favorite site to see that. LoL.
Stephen Holt, where are you? While you have attempted to rain on the parade, it seems like the sun just won’t recede behind the clouds. But then again, the nation’s finest film critics, including our own esteemed Manohla Dargis have issued out-of-the-stratosphere assessments, so your outcry is losing its luster.
Ryan, I think this is a great idea for a thread, and the name “The Dark Knight Cafe” fits it perfectly.
Tim, Casey and Seankgallagher……….kudos to you allfor those engaging, wildly enthusiastic assessments. ChaseKahn, I would personally read any numerical rating of 10/10 as pretty much PERFECT, despite that modest pullback.
Oh, and I will be seeing it myself with my wife, five kids and two friends at 1:30 EST this afternoon. 150 minutes and counting………..
I am leaving work in five minute to go see it! I have tickets to the 12:50 show and have been staring at the clock all morning!
10/10
I had some problems with it but it was so good overall that it deserves more than a 9/10. Katie Holmes was much better as Rachel than Maggie Gyllanhal.
Well, I told Stephanie Z I can’t face this movie right away. I suspect her take is right on the money….and the sadness of Ledger, esp. so soon after his Dylan movie….it is tough to take. So there you go…..i’m not going….just yet.
Sam, ask your kids if they “really enjoyed the movie.” honestly enjoyed it…..they know you’re up for it….so they may not give you a stright answer.
Richard: Fair enough, but keep in mind that three of the five are fanatical Batman fans, and they are well-exposed to films that many kids would never see……i.e….I often drag them along even to subtitled films……..I should be admitted to a mental ward.
But I will give you an honest assessment.
I wouldn’t take too much stock in Stephanie as some others have. She is not in a league as critic or writer with some others like Dargis, Sarris, Hoberman, and of course Stanley Kauffmann. She panned WALL-E and THE DARK KNIGHT yet she loved complete garbage like JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. She has a screw loose. Rather than zeroing in on her extreme-minority opinion, take a look at the 95% that are going bonkers over it.
Everyone is off to see DARK KNIGHT, except me.
I’m fucked till sunday night, maybe next week….that is, can’t see it for several more days.
FUCK!
TDK isn’t coming out in my country until next Wednesday, but my entire family is going including my mother who only watches one film a year in theaters. This year she’s going to end up watching this and Iron Man, and everyone was so dissapointed at having to wait practically a week more to watch this. Sigh. Anyway, we’re booking online tickets because we’re not going to be the saps who stand in line for hours.
I’d take a hacksaw to that house-arrest ankle monitor if I were you, RRA.
I thought it was an entertaining and thoughtful film, but I don’t understand why this is being hailed as the second coming of summer blockbusters. The principal flaw with “The Dark Knight” is its screenplay. It seems that the Brothers Nolan wanted to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. There are surprises and complex moral dilemmas, but these elements aren’t given any room to breathe. We’re left with blatantly expositional dialogue to keep us moving along. Topicality is used a bit to freely and obviously. Deaths are given little more than glancing blows, sapping them of their vitality and emotional impacts. There are moments of gravitas that work, but overall, the film feels all the longer for having been comprised of these bits and pieces that aren’t particularly involving.
Having said that, Christopher Nolan shows a much more skilled hand at shooting action scenes. Wally Pfister’s photography is stellar. James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer have composed a simple yet unnerving motif for the Joker. The cast is excellent. Gyllenhaal is a welcome replacement to Katie Holmes. But the standout is, of course, Heath Ledger.
When actors are heavily made-up in films, I often find myself distracted by their physical appearance, regardless of the strengths of the performance. But Ledger’s characterization is so thorough and immersive that the make-up acts in support and not against. Likewise, his tics and moments of [dark, dark] humor feel organic and not cumbersome. Total commitment. His versatility is truly breathtaking when you compare his work here to his quiet and brooding performance in “Brokeback Mountain.”
7 / 10
P.S. The Joker’s disappearing pencil trick is an instant classic.
Ryan, you know what’s better than a hacksaw?
Hacksaw Jim Duggan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDb7weZ9gF4
With a 2×4, American Flag, and some sweaty old blue shorts, I will break out of my house arrest* just in time to see DARK KNIGHT before this hoopla climaxes, and leaves the maids to clean up the stains.
*=Why did I get in trouble for the cherry bomb? That toilet was broken anyway…
CANT WATCH IT TILL NEXT THURSDAY IN MY COUNTRY!!!
I HATE YOU ALL!! no… not really… im just envious… PUT HEATH ON THE LIST!!!!
The Dark Knight was an excellent film, in all areas of craft. I must say, I was truly impressed with Eckhart. I’m not the biggest fan of his, but boy did he show me something. I would have to disagree with a previous poster from earlier before, even though it was an ensemble, this was Bale’s movie. Everyone else is secondary, with perhaps Eckhart the exception, but that’s only how I viewed the film. It was stunning, as this film should generate a few nominations. Oldman was fantastic, as he usually is, and of course, Ledger stole every scene he was in. If it wasn’t for Ledger Eckhart and Oldman would be getting buzz right now, they were that good. Nolan’s style just keeps on getting better, and although it was a little long, it was extremely tight. The only real problem I have is with how Dent was treated at the end of the film. I wanted to see him be more, if you know what I’m saying. I don’t want to spoil anything, it just felt like he became secondary, but that’s only a minor gripe. The Dark Knight is great and if you don’t like it then you’re a snob plain and simple.
Yeah, I’m with Sonny here….TDK is out now, lets put Ledger onto the shortlist!
Re: my abusive girlfriend, Stephanie Zacharek.
As much as I worship and adore her gorgeous prose style and brilliant perceptions that sometimes hit me with the revelatory impact of a mind-altering drug, she really knows how to keep me off-balance with some of her choices.
I wasn’t going to do this, but maybe it’s ok off the main page. Here’s a partial list of movies Zacharek has slapped and kicked in the past several months:
WALL-E
The Assassination of Jesse James
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Into the Wild
Hairspray
Zodiac
Letters from Iwo Jima
The Prestige
The Devil Wears Prada
The Fountain
United 93
Munich
Brokeback Mountain
Batman Begins
Crash (yay! a negative reaction we share!)
to be fair, Steph hates a lot of movies that richly deserve to be hated. (can I call you Steph? I feel like if you’re gonna continue to spank me like this, we should be on more familiar terms. Unless you prefer Mistress Stephanie.)
I can’t really talk about some of the movies Stephanie Zacharek has loved this year. It’s too painful for me.
Go… go! Go see for yourself.
Going to see it this afternoon at 3 pm PT at the Arclight in Los Angeles (all the late shows last night were quickly sold out or only had sucky seats when I tried to reserve). Going ALONE, because I don’t want anyone potentially ruining it for me afterwards and I’m sure you all know what I mean……………
dargis harris hoberman and kauffman. Eweooooo-E! Well, kiddo, you go for cinema & I go for movies. (Such a bad boy am i to say that!) Cain’t stand Dargis, especially. At least Sarris liked Marie Antoinette, so he gets a C-. Dargis is a suitable case for treatment. perhaps she never had a screw……..to lose…..
have not seen Wall-E…. guess i will have to soon. nor have i seen Journey….which is prob’ly trash…fun trash.
I sometimes disagree with SZ ….I hated the look OF HELLBOY. ALSO HAD some problems withe the look of “Pan’s Labyrinth” when it went undergroud. However, since the passing of pauline kael, sz and her hubby charles Taylor are the best critics writing today. So, there you go Joe. Oh your little fellas are probably doomed to love this BAT.
Sorry, we disagree…..however, we remain friends….fo-ever. or for a few days.
Please read….Pk’s TRASH, ART & THE MOVIES.
i did not like WANTED much, however James Mc Avoy is superb in it. I don’t think this site has even meantioned THAT. or maybe it has. He was wonderful in Atonement too and this site did mention THAT. Get what i’m saying?
“I don’t understand why this is being called the second coming of the summer blockbusters?”
Answer: The entire critical establishment went bonkers over the film, and don’t share those reservations you just pointed out, including the screenplay. If they agreed with you, they wouldn’t be as ecstatic as they are.
To say that you are in the minority is the understatement of the century………..Oh, contrar, contrar, contrar…………..
ryan….I agree WITH Zacharek on every PAN you mentioned above.
I am bamboozled by Brokeback Mt. As i said I loved the story when I read it in THE NEW YORKER. HOW I WISH ANG LEEEEEEEE HAD NOT DIRECTED THIS MOVIE. I wanted the director of Mysterious Skin to direct….can’t remember his name right off.
What Sam wrote in post #13 illustrates the problem with herd mentality that shows how reasonable enthusiasm can lead to bald anti-intellectualism. While judging a critic’s merit and place within the hierarchy of critics is a fair game, I would hope that such evaluations are based on how well the critic’s opinions are expressed rather than what those opinions actually are.
Just because Zacharek is in the “extreme minority” does not mean that she is wrong. There will inevitably be a few AD readers who don’t like the movie, and they will have their own reasons why it didn’t work for them, reasons that they really believe are good ones. Just because you didn’t go with the herd does not mean that there’s something wrong with you.
People are funny. When their opinions match the consensus, the mainstream, they look down upon dissenters. When they find themselves the minority dissenters, they often sound off on their exasperation about how pushy everyone else is about their enthusiasm. Kris Tapley likes to express resentment of LOTR because of how everyone else in the world proclaimed it an instant classic and rained awards down upon it. I tried to call him out on the silliness of said resentment, but sadly, he didn’t listen.
As if the blatant hypocrisy of such ways of thinking weren’t bad enough, then you see people deride others for having certain unpopular opinions. Once again, a consensus opinion does not equal a “right” opinion. Everybody has unpopular opinions. So what if Zacharek didn’t like WALL-E or The Dark Knight but did like Journey to the Center of the Earth? I’m sure that there’s something that you really like that everyone else hates.
For all of these reasons, I’m not fond of the use of the words “overrated” and “underrated.” There’s an undercurrent of narcissism or arrogance in the typical use of those words. Because human nature makes everyone believe that he/she is always right, people feel as if they are the only sane, clear-thinking ones when they go against the grain. They want to bring the light of truth to the world, and so when they say that something is “overrated” or “underrated,” they write off the opinions of everyone who doesn’t agree all at once, typically leaving little room for consideration of what individual opinions are or what the finer points of a consensus opinion are.
So there’s little doubt that Zacharek would characterize WALL-E and The Dark Knight as “overrated” while finding Journey to the Center of the Earth “underrated.” You can disagree with her all you want, complain about her all you want, but I’ll bet that you have forgotten all of the times in which YOU have declared certain movies to be “overrated” and “underrated.” You might’ve even been ridiculed for your maverick opinions. But of course, you’re ALWAYS right, whether you go with the herd or against it.
(That’s not even to say how propping up the consensus opinion creates expectations that interfere with others’ enjoyment of a movie. Individual anticipation is problem enough, but all of a sudden you’re trying to position yourself in relation to the “95% that are going bonkers over it.” You say, “I have to love it, right? Everyone else loves it. Gee, I’d hate to be the one who doesn’t ‘get it.’”)
Dargis is a way way better than Stephanie, Richard. Way better! Maybe the fact that she got the job at the Times is somewhat significant?
And Kauffmann? He’s the heir to James Agee’s legacy. Even at 94 years old he still writes some of the most eloquent pieces in American film criticism. Only Pauline Kael rivals him in the pantheon of American film criticism. Stephanie and husband are not remotely close to being the best writers–are you serious??? Try reading Jonathan Rosenbaum. Stepanie has absolutely no taste either.
I hated MARIE ANTOINETTE, so there you go. I didn’t care for PAN’S LABYRINTH that much either, but acknowledge that I am in the extreme minority.
Richard, I own that Kael book, have read it, and am in possession with all her others, including REELING, I LOST IN AT THE MOVIES, THE CITIZEN KANE BOOK, 1001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES, GOING STEADY, etc. She is top drawer–I agree with you.
I will see WANTED this week, I haven’t gotten around to it, but I will keep in mind what you say here–sensible enough.
You will ALWAYS be my friend–so what if we engage in a few minor rows….you are a man of passion and intellect…a winning combo. Have a good day, I am getting ready for the Bat. Wouldn’t it be funny if I came home with an indifferent assessment? I doubt it, but I’ve been surprised many times before.
Yeah OK Fei, I’ll deal with you later when I get home. Thanks for the admonishment. The next time I want to be disciplined I’ll dial you up. I have been more than humble, and respect others’ opinions, but I thought it high-time that someone be brought up for issuing a bad review for WALL-E and a good one for unmitigated trash like JOURNEY.
I suggest you retreat now to the mirror in your bathroom—the charges you just leveled again me, which center generally around ‘individualism’ and ‘the first amendment’ are applicable to you as well, both for your opinions on films and critics and on the very writing of this treatment.
I have no regrets at what I’ve stated and stand behind it fully. As I say, I’ll have more to say later.
I loved it. I think it should go down as the best summer movie of all time. I saw it last night and I’m going to see it again tonight. I may have been too crunk to notice the flaws if it had any. If there were some Joker and the action washed them away.
And yes the talk about Ledger is legit. I’m very confident when I say he’s a frontrunner for Best Supporting ACtor.
I LOVED it. It’s a truly terrific film. Eckhart and Maggie G were standouts. Ledger was astonishing. He WILL be nominated and could very well win for what is a tremendous and iconic performance. Grade: A
http://www.youtube.com/JerbyVids
i know how Dargis got her Yob (as charo might say) at the times. And it is not significent.
Agee was damn good. I also like Manny Farber….he is a good painter now.
Sam, Glad you got all da good books! It’s bound to rub off.
Fei….i have printed out your post to Sam….and will read tonite with my cocktail.
Sam, usually I am the Target…..so remember, it’s only a MOVIE (S).
Cheers all. richard.
I was so ready to NOT think this film was all that…
well, I stand corrected. god DAMN this is a good film!
might just be my favorite of the year so far!
absolutely a 10/10
IMDb
Rank Rating Title
1. 9.1 The Godfather (1972)
2. 9.1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. 9.0 The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. 9.0 The Dark Knight (2008)
lolcat sez
SANITY: UR DOIN IT WRONG
Big worry now: Where to sit in the theater to avoid where the seats have been geeked on?
It was mind blowing! and is my favorite movie of the year, which I thought would be impossible after WALL-E. And put Heath in for best supporting, and I say Best Picture and Director and maybe even screenplay and absolutely for Score. I loved everything about the movie.
10/10
oh and agreement that the disappearing pencil is an instant classic, that was beautiful.
I thought The Dark Knight was a good movie. I had issues with it especially with the time running of the film. I thought it got repetitive through the end and I really didn’t enjoy Two-Face’s crazy revenge run. At times, Christian Bale’s disguising voice as Batman started to get overdone and very tiring even though I know he has to do it. But overall, I thought the film was very smart, well done and easily one of the best films of the year.
8/10.
I have a very strange feeling that this film will garner two supporting nominations. Oldman or Eckhart have a great chance of pulling it off, if it is a weak field. And although I will be shocked to see it nominated for best picture, I hope it does, I would not be surprised to see a screenplay or even a director nod. One thing though, the academy would refuse to give director and picture nominations. They’re like The New Yorker magazine, and I’m a New Yorker. Let’s just hope that Quantum of Solace can be just as good.
Zacharek’s a brilliant writer, but I so rarely agree with her opinions, I had to stop reading her regularly because I’d get too mad. Even when she likes a movie I like (or vice versa) she seems to pick weird reasons for it. That’s not to say she’s wrong, just that her taste isn’t very reflective of my own most of the time.
I won’t see Dark Knight until tomorrow afternoon, but at least I’ll be seeing it on an IMAX screen.
There’s inherent risk in any herd mentality, but that’s not to say it’s not warranted. Sometimes buzz just keeps growing, with no end in sight.
For better or worse, this buzz here, what it reminds me of more than anything? Titanic.
absolutely fantastic in nearly every way … i agree with those who feel that the whole Two-Face storyline was a bit rushed, but the sheer magnitude and scope of the film is more than enough to forgive one little slip-up
10/10
[...] Fellow Bat-enthusiast Ryan Adams makes some fan space for the day of the ‘Dark.’ [Awards Daily] [...]
Wow- just wow.
again…. WHERE IS HEATH ON THE LIST?????
must… not… look…
just 7 DAYS till it opens in SA…
…Freaking Nick Plowman has already seen it…
sigh…
Next week I can come back in the middle of the night & review ALL these posts & comments.
For now, it is nearly midnight & I am off to review all the posts & comments ever made about WALL-E, which I finally saw just now. & loved.
I want to be Nick Plowman. A few weeks ago.
ps. brilliant Headcleaner link, Ryan.
Here I’ll have to wait… till August to see this.
But, to be honest, you guys are so over-hyping it, my expectations are sky-high, and by now it clearly can’t live up to them
Would be nice to see a Heath nomination and win… Sorry Hoffman, but that gold statue belonged to Ledger
Well I knew it would be the case, but I can now safely say (after viewing it twice in 7 hours) that Mr. Holt and I did not watch the same film. As brilliant as it could have been. Very, very happy. Mr. Ledger, come on down, you are now an Academy Award winner.
A
Tufas, ordinarily I’d never say such a thing, but this time it’s valid: Believe the hype.
If any actor thinks there’s a way to take this Oscar from Heath Ledger, it’ll be thrilling to watch them try.
I just saw the movie for a second time, and the slight quibbles I had before (Two-Face storyline) were much better the second go around. I think the end (Oldman’s speech) is really a beautiful way to end the film, I got chills for sure. Great, great movie. Ledger is just astonishing, I can’t say it enough.
Why would Ledger be up for Supporting Actor instead of Leading? He has more screen-time than Batman, and much much more than Hannibal Lecter had in SOTL. His face is even featured on some of the movie posters.
Has the studio signaled its intention to push for supporting? That’s the only way it would make sense to me.
A
10/10
The only problem I had with the film was Nestor Carbonell (the Mayor) sporting the same distracting eyeliner he does on Lost. Other than that, I was blown away and not just by Ledger (who has thankfully wiped out the memory of the Just-Jack-in-Whiteface Joker). All the performances are solid, the writing is thought-provoking and the visuals stunning. And as someone who used to read Batman and Detective Comics religiously, I was delighted by little touches like the technology in the climactic sequence that turns Batman’s eyes into the iconic white slits and the “Bat-Computer” (not called that, of course).
I can’t imagine where Nolan would go in another sequel (even though it’s clearly set up and these things do seem to come in threes). Recasting Ledger is out of the question, Two-Face is gone, and Scarecrow and Ra’s were done in the first installment. Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy were and remain silly characters. Of course there’s villainess-love interest Catwoman (using Frank Miller’s Year One template), who needs to be reclaimed from the Pfeiffer-Berry missteps, but doesn’t the dramaturgy call for at least two “costumed” villains (first Scarecrow/Ra’s and now Joker/Two-Face)?
Oh yeah: Several people who worked on this project belong in the Contender Tracker.
Holy Awesome Movie ADers! This movie def lived up to the hype. I’m on a business trip in Nashville (I know…Nashville…) and I couldn’t wait to get back to NY on Sunday so I played hookey from some of the conferences I had to attend to see the film. It was simply amazing. What is left to say? I agree with everything that’s been said about the film. Heath Ledger should def be pushed for Lead and Gary Oldman for Supporting.
Anyway Ryan I hope you avoided 6th row, 8th seat – I totally GEEKED all over it!
It’s a packed film, top to bottom. I do believe Christian Bale, as both Wayne and Batman, has significantly more screentime than Heath Ledger.
And I’m glad. In the end, I was stunned by the fact that Nolan was able to have his cake and eat it, too. My biggest concern going into this was that Batman might get lost in all of it but that really wasn’t the case.
And the ending was poetic and haunting. And in terms of the Batman myth and ethos, truly devastating.
Oh BTW my score for this film is 10/10
It diffcult to say for as Health likely has the 3 most screen time behind Bale and Aarron (Hell would not shock me to find out Aarron had the most.) But then if it frees up a legit shot of Gary to go supporting I’m all for it.
I’ll play the game: 7/10.
I saw the movie and it was a mix bag of praise and disdain for the movie. I’m on the David Denby side of things. SPOILER ALERT. And a lot of ranting.
For the sheer terror of the film, I can compare this to Silence of the Lambs. Just I as I predicted, I watched the movie uncomfortably because of Joker’s irrationality (and yet he made so much sense). As far as setting that mood, it was effective. One of the best parts of the movie was Maggie Gyllenhaal; she brought much needed vitality in the scenes she was in (and normally, I hate her). Heath Ledger is a real contender for Best Support. Gary Oldham has the less flashier role, but he was great in it.
Here’s the rant:
1. It was too long. I don’t mind long movies, but some scenes were just not necessary.
2. Nick Denton’s face was distractingly bogus, laughable. I would have preferred a subtle make up job with clever use of shadows.
3. The editing of the action sequences was a total hack job. I’m talking about the copter and Batman on bike in a mall and out the streets.
4. When they talk about the gangster’s money, it’s literally paper money, mountains of it.
5. I quibble too much.
6. So much explosions. Remember when Hannibal Lecter brought so much terror without much things exploding. Action movie explosions are so sanitized that it’s not so much of a terror. The magic trick with the pencil was even scarier.
And Rachel is soooo alive. Tucked away in location X.
I liked, but seriously thinks it a little overhyped, except for Ledger and Oldham. In the end, it’s a superhero action movie. I wouldn’t say that it’s a first with regards to the kind of difficult choices that a superheroes has to make. I’m not a fanboy (obviously), but Superman and Superman II were better than TDK (don’t kill me!). Like I said, I’m on the New Yorker’s review (Denby) side of things. But I probably liked it better than he did.
They won’t push Heath Ledger for lead. That would be ruinous to his chances for a win. But I can definitely see Aaron Eckart being a contender. Who knows though, it does seem the Academy tends to want to spread the wealth around more than they used to. Gone are the days when the entire 4-member cast of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf can get nominations. Much as I’m impressed by the script, the roles Nolan wrote are not Albee caliber. The trend for equally-balanced ensemble casts lately seems to be to pick a name out of a hat. (Wahlberg in The Departed, Dillon in Crash).
But it was one of the many unexpected pleasures of TDK to find out after all the Heath Ledger media focus, just how many mindblowingly good performances there were, wall-to-wall. How many times when a movie has been hyped to within an inch of its life is there anything left to discover at all? In simpler terms, how many movies are ever this hype-proof?
RichardA: who is Nick Denton?
who is he. and who is gary oldham? sorry about those. it was a late show.
i would give a 10/10 score ryan.
i consider this as the best superhero movie made.
btw. its number 3 now in imdb top 250. amazing. just amazing.
While I just saw it and I am an impressionable young lass, I will also say that it is *the* best superhero film I’ve seen.
I also think Heath should be campaigned for supporting actor.
9.5/10
I just got back from it, and I was very, very, very impressed with this film. It actually exceeded my expectations, which I didn’t think it would do. I took the half point because of nitpicky little things that may be alleviated with a second viewing. I had just minute problems with the last 30 minutes, namely (SPOILER??) I thought the two-face story was too short. Other than that, it was a hell of a ride.
Every actor did a fantastic job in their roles. Oldman was solid as ever as Gordon. Gyllenhal was an upgrade over Katie Holmes and added more oomph to the Rachel Dawes character. Eckhart did an exquisite job.
Heath Ledger was simply electrifying. My acting teacher in college always told me one of the keys was to “make strong choices.” Ledger made powerhouse choices and completely owned the role. The hospital scene was simply inspired. I know it’s far off, but this performance will be remembered come Oscar time and Ledger will get nominated for best supporting actor. And I’ll echo those that say if he wins, it will be because his performance merits it, and not solely out of sympathy or sentiment. I took great joy from watching his performance, knowing I was watching a master at work. I will always wonder how many great performances he had left in him.
I’m seeing it again in a little bit so my opinion could change. Right now, while I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I think it’s the most overrated picture in the history of film. I saw nothing in the filmmaking that indicated a masterpiece. You know it’s now number one on IMDb!? I know it will drop eventually but still. Only Heath Ledger lived up to the hype. I’d only give it a 7/10.
Saw it Wednsday, and I’m still at a loss for words. The last time I felt this way watching a live-action film, I was watching RETURN OF THE KING for a second time in January 2004. The last time I was in the presence of what I knew to be a game-changer for a genre was back in 2001 when FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING came out. Nolan, Bale. Ledger, and company all raised the bar for the superhero genre and exceeded the challenge issued earlier this summer by IRON MAN. Until I saw X-MEN 2 on DVD in 2004, I was not a fan of superhero films. Since then, I’ve come to really admire the very well-made ones and how they’ve given talented actors and directors a chance to show their stuff on a larger scale. I’ll have to see it again before I can write a coherent review.
I am VERY curious to see where Nolan takes the caped crusader next and, perhaps more importantly, who will be the villain?
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