The Dark Knight thread.

[theprawncracker]

Apparently Ledger improvised a lot...one example is in the scene where Gordon becomes the new commish, and the Joker applauds in his cell, with the rest of the squadroom. The clapping was Heath's idea.

REALLY? That's incredible! That was one of, IMHO, the best scenes! I can't imagine that scene withOUT Joker clapping! That's just awesome!

 

[Winslow Leach]

REALLY? That's incredible! That was one of, IMHO, the best scenes! I can't imagine that scene withOUT Joker clapping! That's just awesome!

Yup. The Joker clapping along with the cops was a very nice touch.

 

[theprawncracker]

Yup. The Joker clapping along with the cops was a very nice touch.

Oh I agree! It was stellar! One of the funniest parts, I thought. I really, really need to see this movie again. I hope I get to soon.

 

[muppetwriter]

Man! Do I ever want to post in this thread so badly, because I want to talk about the film as much as everyone else has been on here as of now.

Unfortunately, I was only able to get a ticket for one of Monday's showings, because practically all of today was sold out! Never before, at least since I went to see Spider-Man back in 2002, have I ever had to get tickets in advance for something like this.

I'll be back on here by Monday night to give my review on the film, but I'm going to refrain from reading any other comments on account of possible spoiler material. I want to go in fresh for this one.

 

[theprawncracker]

You're probably not gonna come back and read this post till later Sean, but you're absolutley going to LOVE it.

 

[muppetwriter]

Oh, I know for a fact that I will, PC. My brother and I can't stop talking about it ever since we came back from the theater to buy our tickets for Monday. We've argued on whether it'll reach the $200 million mark by the end of the weekend, but it'll earn enough to shatter Spider-Man 3's record from last year.

It's just still mind-boggling how well this is performing right now. It had reached $66.4 million on Friday. I really can't wait to check it out.

 

[ryhoyarbie]

WOW!

The Dark Knight is currently #1 on the imdb's top 250 movies!

I don't put much stock on imdb.com. A lot of people with nothing else to do parade the boards as if it was their own playground. I've seen better films than a lot of the new ones that are on imdb's top 250. I mean has anyone ever seen "Lone Star"?. Now that is one great acting/story movie. No special effects involved, just good old fashioned acting and a good story.

But back to the topic.....

I personally thought The Dark Knight was 30 minutes too long of a movie. My father also agrees, whom I saw the movie with yesterday. (Could be the idea of also being in the theater 45 minutes before the movie started which made me want to leave and go walk around as I was getting tired of sitting)

Although everyone is going gaga over Ledger's performance as the Joker (or Mr. J!), the character I liked in the movie was Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent/Two Face.

*Spoiler*

Dent had everything going for him, though he did seemed a little stressed, and then bam! Everything went down the gutter, which the Joker used to his advantage in getting Dent. Personally, if the Joker and Dent/Two Face were to live to fight another day, especially in the third movie, let's just say Dent would be gone for good and Two-Face would be almost as messed up as the Joker, but without the grin.

However, the thing I wanted the most out of Two-Face was a deep voice, signaling that Harvey Dent is gone and the alter ego is now in. Like the Two-Face from the animated series.

*End Spoiler*

The biggest useless thing in the movie was the Scarecrow. The guy gets caught in the first few minutes and he's no more. But I guess you got to acknowledge that he was still running around and had to be taken out.

Personally, I think it would have been better if the Joker were to have met him halfway in the movie, then of course take care of the Scarecrow as he is old news while the Joker is the new news of the city. Maybe have Scarecrow get so ticked off that he sprays some fright toxin on the Joker, but since the Joker is so messed up anyway that the fear toxin doesn't have any effect at all. The Joker then does away with the Scarecrow.

But, I did like the fact the movie was an ensemble piece. This could have easily been a Batman vs Joker movie with the rest of the cast as supporting characters. Glad the writers did not do that.

As for performances:

Michael Caine: He was great. I thought he acted as Bruce's/Batman's conscience, trying to tell Bruce he was doing the right thing, giving Bruce insight and to keep on going no matter what.

Gary Oldman: Great as Gordon. Thought Batman was the thing the city needed most because he was cleaning up the town, even though people in the city (cops/media/Harvey Dent) questioned if he was a hero or another crook, or someone that could be a little bit of both if he ever did cross the line.

*Spoiler*
Loved the interrogation scene where Gordan leaves the Joker and says he's going to get some coffee, leaves the room, the lights come on, and Batman knocks Joker's face flat on the table.
*End Spoiler*

Morgan Freeman: Also superb. At the end of the film, he questioned just how far Bruce had to go and didn't like it, even though Alfred told Bruce he had to do just that in order to get to the Joker.

And then we finally get to the Joker. Though Ledger did a great job (had to remind myself the guy is now dead), his Joker and Jack Nicholson's Joker are two different animals. Ledger's Joker was less on the "ha ha" and more on the insane/crazy side while Nicholson's Joker had more funny lines and was more on the "ha ha" aspect. Call me an oldie, I just liked Nicholson's Joker more. Not saying Ledger's isn't good.

Overall 3 out of 4 stars. Good, but too dark. And the whole time while I was watching the movie, I kept on thinking back to the movie's tag line "why so serious"? Indeed, the movie didn't have to be that serious.

I still like Burton's 1989 Batman more. Like I said, just call me an oldie.

On the side note, one thing Batman Begins and The Dark Knight don't have is an Danny Elfman like score, which is what those two movies really, really need. I like Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, but their take on the score of the new Batman films is too dark and depressing. Chris Nolan should have called in Danny Elfman and let the man do his magic.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

Oh, I know for a fact that I will, PC. My brother and I can't stop talking about it ever since we came back from the theater to buy our tickets for Monday. We've argued on whether it'll reach the $200 million mark by the end of the weekend, but it'll earn enough to shatter Spider-Man 3's record from last year.

It's just still mind-boggling how well this is performing right now. It had reached $66.4 million on Friday. I really can't wait to check it out.

I definitely think this could shatter Spider man 3's opening. But I really can't wait to see when the finally numbers come out myself. The ends justify the means, heh!

 

[RedPiggy]

However, the thing I wanted the most out of Two-Face was a deep voice, signaling that Harvey Dent is gone and the alter ego is now in. Like the Two-Face from the animated series.

I found it interesting that they took the newer animated's route (where Joker is responsible for Clayface) and basically had the same origin for Two-face. Not that I minded (I actually thought that was an appropriate origin).

Personally, I think it would have been better if the Joker were to have met him halfway in the movie, then of course take care of the Scarecrow as he is old news while the Joker is the new news of the city. Maybe have Scarecrow get so ticked off that he sprays some fright toxin on the Joker, but since the Joker is so messed up anyway that the fear toxin doesn't have any effect at all. The Joker then does away with the Scarecrow.

I had hoped for that as well.

And then we finally get to the Joker. Though Ledger did a great job (had to remind myself the guy is now dead), his Joker and Jack Nicholson's Joker are two different animals. Ledger's Joker was less on the "ha ha" and more on the insane/crazy side while Nicholson's Joker had more funny lines and was more on the "ha ha" aspect. Call me an oldie, I just liked Nicholson's Joker more. Not saying Ledger's isn't good.

Ledger Joker does have lots of jokes ... they're just more subtle than a bunch of one-liners and such. I guess it makes me one sick puppy to GET many of his jokes.

 

[peyjenk]

So ever since seeing it, I've been speculating on the possibilities of a third installment. I'd like to see the Riddler show up in a cameo, as a copycat of the Joker that Batman takes down early on. But other than that, I'm having a hard time seeing how most of the great villains can fit into the tone of this series- Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, Scarface and the Ventriloquist. Catwoman and the Penguin could work, but they have both been done so perfectly before that it would be hard to find a new angle. Manbat and Bane could work, but either of those would be better as supporting or minor characters. The one character that I can plausibly see as a major villain would be Talia al-Ghoul. They've already introduced her father and his backstory, so it would make sense for her to show up.

My dream, though (and I know is one dream that probably won't come true) would be Reese Witherspoon as Harley Quinn. We've seen her do silly, we've seen her do serious. I think she could do great in the role.