WHERE DOES HE GET ALL THOSE WONDERFUL TOYS?

[chronovore]

I finally managed to get out and see The Dark Knight; the local theater dropped from 4 daily showings to 1, at 9 p.m. so it worked out nicely with me getting off from work late.

In short, it's really good. At length, for a movie in which I considered myself well-enough familiar with just about any old trope they could throw at Bats, I was surprised. Hell, I was double-surprised, because not only did I find myself stunned at the course of events, I was stunned that I could still be surprised by them. The stories have been told and re-told, and usually are the worse for wear. But this movie really out-did not only itself, not just Batman Begins, but possibly every other comic book movie out there. It's been said that it's not just a good superhero flick, but a good film, and having just come out of the theater, I'm inclined to agree.

It may be over a decade since I last saw a movie where a character dies, but comes back later, and I didn't see it coming. When Lt. Gordon takes the shot for the mayor, and when Batman attends the reporting officers to Gordon's family, it clearly seemed that this was just a spot where the movies would diverge from the comics. They killed the Joker in the first Batman movie (Michael Keaton), and I'm pretty sure Ra's Al Ghul died howwibly howwwibly in Batman Begins; it seemed to have a precedent that major actors may want to have an automatic out (Nicholson reportedly insisted that the Joker die, so he'd not even have the option of coming back -- Nicholson apparently doesn't read comics much). So when Gordon came back, I was completely fucking stunned. Hell, I actually spent most of the time during the big car chase trying to figure out when the masked Police truck driver was going to reveal himself as one of Joker's men! The whole movie was like that, I found myself watching the magician's hands instead of what he was manipulating.

There were a few moments of typical comic-booky abrasively unsubtle foreshadowing and chest-puffing moments of "look how clever I am," but in general these were the exception instead of the rule. Actually, in one case, the single-headed coin Dent carries, and having him so confidently using it as a symbol of his control, "making his own luck," and having that turned back against him was just beautifully handled. Interesting as well that, possibly inadvertently, by delivering the coin to Harvey, he may have contributed to Dent's fall.

NITPICKS:
I'm actually tired of Bale's growly voice for Batman. I think The Animated Series had it just about right; Bale growling through every scene gets a little silly. His time as Bruce Wayne this time is much more nuanced and believable; you can see where he's playing the silly billionaire who is actually a tortured soul, and the scene where he laments failing Rachel is very touching. BUT, SERIOUSLY, next time out I don't need any more growling.

For a movie which has been hailed in the press, forward and backward, up and down, for eschewing CG and doing as much as possible with real stunts, analog effects, the CG for Two-Face was overblown and distracting. I'm still coming down from an overdose of bad CG from I AM LEGEND, and seeing all the sinew and muscle and bone, no matter how close it looked to the comic representation, was just keeping me from paying attention to the performance, the path that the character was following, and instead kept me trying to figure out how they'd captured the shot, applied the effects, and mapped it over other matched backgrounds. I wish they'd stayed with the style of the first shot, when you don't get to see anything other than a hint of what's missing from Harvey's face, and let the audience assume how bad it is from other people's reactions.

The guy who figures out Bruce Wayne is Batman, and is going to announce it on TV? After the Joker tried so hard to get Batman to come out, why did he interrupt the show to have the guy killed? Is this just part of the "I'm an agent of chaos" thing that is Joker's only motivation?

The movie does seem a bit long; toward the end the plot threads seem increasingly disparate, and maintaining pace across them turns out to be impossible.

I didn't get the speech at the end. He's the hero Gotham needs, but not the hero it deserves? What the hell does that mean?

Comments

[sdink.livejournal.com]

Glad ya saw it, I saw t 4 times....lol

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

That's nearly 12 hours! Did you see it in Imax?

[spinxsugar.livejournal.com]

I wish they'd stayed with the style of the first shot, when you don't get to see anything other than a hint of what's missing from Harvey's face, and let the audience assume how bad it is from other people's reactions.

that or use actually using sfx make-up which would have been WAY better, but eh.

Is this just part of the "I'm an agent of chaos" thing that is Joker's only motivation?

yes. Also note that in the scene with the two boats that the Joker sets up, he's conducting his social experiment. I imagine it's the same thing with the guy on TV trying to expose Bruce Wayne. Furthermore, that would put a damper on Batman doing anything at that point, most likely anyhow. The Joker says himself "you [Batman] complete me."

He's the hero Gotham needs, but not the hero it deserves

I interpreted that as a "Gotham needs this kind of hero (taking the fall for Dent to still be looked upon as a positive role mode) but Gotham is such a shit town it doesn't/probably doesn't even deserve this hero's help."

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

Make-up: Yeah, this movie's CG FX were pretty good, but not perfect. I've seen makeup FX that looked very believable, and I hope Hollywood goes back to doing those shots with makeup. Wikipedia says they shot some footage in I AM LEGEND with traditional makeup, but they weren't happy with the results. I'd love to see what they considered unacceptable; the makeup on the Morlocks from THE TIME MACHINE was better than the CG used for hemocytes in IAL.

"You complete me." Yeah, there's that. I think Joker wants to mess with Batman, or be in charge of the situations which set up the Batman, and that little accountant going rogue was a chance to show Bats and the accountant that control is an illusion.

And on the final speech, apparently I had it reversed; see JJ's response below:

[jjgalahad.livejournal.com]

Re: Batman's Blackmailer - The Joker wanted Batman to see how ugly people really are. He especially wanted him to see how quickly they'd turn on him. Getting people involved in "the game" was always part of his MO. And also, he needed Batman alive and able to play their game. He simply couldn't have some nobody jeopardizing Batman's lifestyle.

The speech/twist at the end rather impressed me because it's another thing they've rarely done in any Bat-Mythos, much less established as a permanent state of affairs - letting all of Gotham believe Batman is a murderer and having the cops hunt him. I believe you got it reversed; the speech actually goes, after his son asks why the cops must chase him, "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. {...}He's a dark knight."
Which is a fairly self-explanatory declaration of how they have to treat Batman in order to make Dent stay a hero and keep all the criminals Dent put away in jail.

But I totally agree that the Batvoice is freakin' annoying.

Did you manage to see it in IMAX format? The bits filmed with actual IMAX cameras just blew me away. I heard audible gasps when I went to see it for the second time in IMAX.

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

IMAX? More like "I WISH." I've never seen an Imax movie, and the one theater here in Osaka seems to rely on documentary fare. I'd meant to catch a showing at the San Francisco Metreon last February but didn't manage to get in, and instead saw a regular showing of JUMPER. Which is kind of like going for a mean rail grind and doing a face plant instead.

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

Oh, and thanks for the correction on the speech. I think you're right, I had it backward, and that /does/ make more sense.

[nattotastic.livejournal.com]

I wanted to see this movie so badly and nobody would go with me, so I went by myself while I was up in SF on business about 2 weeks ago. This was one of those movies I really really wish I could've seen with someone else so that I could talk about how awesome it was.

Alas I have no friends.

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

That pic is awesome. Awe. Some. I didn't even catch the boy in the background on first read; I thought the girls would become the supervillains, because of the skimpy costume.

So, yeah, The Dark Knight is fucking great, with a side order of bitchin' sauce. I like how we don't know DICK about the Joker still. Nothin'. Honestly, I prefer The Killing Joke's origin for him, and tying Bats and Joker together with "one bad day will destroy anyone," but it may have been too much to have that be true for Joker, arguably true for Bats, and then have it played out on Harvey Dent.

[super-nyanko.livejournal.com]

Honestly it was too violent for me. That doesn't mean it wasn't a good flick, just violent. I told JP he was going to take me to "Little House on the Prarie: The Musical" to balance things out.

The gravely voice did bug me.

I totally agree too about the Two Face face being distracting. All I could think was "you can't ignore THAT, you'd be DEAD, bleeding OUT, you're HUMAN, that just doesn't make SENSE."

And yeah, long.

[imlac.livejournal.com]

I too fuckin' loved it. The scene in which the Joker sits down with Harvey Dent... There is so much amazing acting in the one word: "Hi" that Ledger should get the Oscar for that alone. I kept having to remind myself, 'Holy shit, that's actually Heath Ledger!' He completely disappeared for me: I saw only his character. That is amazing.

I knew Gordon was going to come back, but only because the trailer had that clip of the Joker saying "Good evening... Commissioner." I knew that could only refer to Gordon.

I agree about the Growl.

The Joker wanted the whistle-blower dead because he didn't want anyone spoiling his fun.