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chronovoreI 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?
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?
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Date: 2008-09-05 04:25 pm (UTC)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.