The Dark Knight - seen thread.

IamMetaldave

I read basquille say in the movies.ie thread about TDK to post a new thread for this.

Well, it's amazing!! I saw it last night. Everything I was hoping for! Going again tomorrow night and I can't wait!

Anyone seeing it tonight, enjoy!!!

Ruu_Old

Saw it last Friday (I'm in the US) and thought it was brill.

Not over the top, plenty of things going on aside from main storyline. Best scene, The Joker walking from the hospital and it blowing up behind him.

I probably will go and see it again soon. I don't go to the cinema too often and don't listen/read reviews.

EdgarAllenPoo

I honestly didn't think it was as good as all the reviews suggested, still better than the first one.

The Sparrow

I saw it last night and really liked it. It really is a great performance from Heath Ledger. There are a few minor problems though:

The whole sonar mobile phone thing was pretty ridiculous and it didn't really fit in with the rest of the movie which was much more believable. Plus it was seemingly plucked from nowhere after an earlier conversation between Bale and Freeman. I didn't really how the scenes on the boats resolved but meh it's not a big deal.

The only other thing that I thought was a little poor was Bales' voice as Batman. It's the same problem I had with the first film but in this one he just sounded like he was doing a bad impression of Marlon Brando from The Godfather!

But none of those are deal breakers and I really enjoyed it. The two and a half hours flew by and

the movie was at it's best from when Dent turned himself in as Batman all the way to his demise. Those scenes were just amazing.

Vic Vinegar

Dave Eyesclosed wrote: »

Every bit as good as wanted

That's not filling me with confidence!

Driver 8

It's really good. Not life changingly good, as some of the hype seems to be making out. And if the wanted comparison doesn't fill you with hope how about "the best film Nolan's made since Memento"

redfan

going to get a pizza and watch the batman begins tonight havnt seen it yet.
so im really looking forward to seeing the new one next week.
its crazy its been up on te net since friday hahaha dire quality . why bother watching films that way?

faceman

Great movie. Despite my doubts right up to tonight, Ledger put in a fantastic performance. I wont say best villain but i will say one of the best psychopaths in a movie. Thats what the joker should be.

On the downside the movie was maybe 20 mins overlong although nothing major.

mobile phone gadget was silly

I never liked Two Face as a Batman villain and this time was no different, but then again it wasnt about him.

His change from good to bad wasnt 100% convincing for me.

ztoical

seen it twice since last wednesday - loved it but will admit there are faults. Second time round there were a few editing choices that I did notice first time but didn't really care about but on second viewing they are a annoying [alot of very fast and sudden cuts in the first 30 mins or so but given the running them they prob had to trim fat somewhere] I found the score a little much in places but I seem to be finding that with alot of films recently - maybe I'm getting deaf in my old age.

Ledger is great. Alot of comments online have claimed people are only saying that cus he's dead and all I can say is I'm prob more critical of him due to that then I would have been. If he were still with us I'd have let him off with being less then genius mainly as you assume he's got another film to improve but as this is the one and only shot I would have jumped on anything to complain about but I simple can't find fault with his performance.

It is long and theres alot of information to take in on top of lots of noise and stuff blowing up. Never been a massive fan of two face as a character but I must give massive props for the make-up esp on the first shot of it.

my fav scenes are all Joker scenes of course - the magic trick with the pencil towards the start, the interrogation scene with gordon and batman and of course Joker in a nurse outfit and wig when sits down, looks at Dent and just goes "Hi"...loved it!

Of course we are now stuck as to where to go from here. The whole apeal of Nolans batman is that is more real and gritty then other versions and Nolan has stated there are some Bat characters he doesn't want to introduce [like the penguin and Robin] but it leaves the question where to next? I would love to see Nolans take on Catwoman esp as we've yet to have a strong female character but she can't be a main villain as she's never really good or bad she's just Catwoman. No one is going to want to take on Joker now. Of course will be waiting a while before any move is made on a follow up.

Jello

Wow.

Truly one of the best cinematic experiences I've had in a long while. Ledger is just outstanding as the Joker.

Everything else is perfect too though - plot, action, music, direction, writing... - everyone involved deserves full credit. Thought the Two-Face plot was perfectly done.

Have to agree with Ruu about

Joker in nurse's costume walking away from the hospital blowing up, what a scene!

Really thought the 152 mins flew by, could easily have sit through longer.

I really don't think anyone will be too disappointed with this film!

BopNiblets

Uncredibly overwhelmingly good! I'm seeing it again tonight in another special preview in Liffey Valley. \:D/

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ok
i'm only a half hour in, but i'm already doubting the claims of 'best muvee evar!!' i've been hearing.

pretty damn cheesy in too many places.

Duggy747

Princess Innocent Knickers wrote:

ok
i'm only a half hour in, but i'm already doubting the claims of 'best muvee evar!!' i've been hearing.

pretty damn cheesy in too many places

Eh, unless you're in the cinema with your laptop you're ruining a true cinema movie by watching a crappy cam version.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

if a movie relies so heavily on it's shiny polish it really doesn't say alot about the quality of the script or the story. I'm halfway through now and this is.. well it's not quite terrible, but jesus christ..

Duggy747

You sure you're not watching this?:

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

honestly.. no

no i'm not sure at all.

--edit

alright, it picked up towards the end but a big step down from batman begins.

Call Me Jimmy

Duggy747 wrote: »

You sure you're not watching this?:

haha nice one! Just picturing him sitting there in front of the laptop with all the "shhiiiiyat" and "daayyyums" while waiting for the joker to appear.

de5p0i1er

The best movie of the year so far.
Heath Ledger gave a great final preformance as the Joker and Christian Bale was again excellent as Batman/Bruce Wayne, along with a great support cast.
I'll go to see this one again.
Loved it.

BlitzKrieg

bigslick

Just saw this tonight in dundrum. Great film, and Ledger was jaw droppingly good!!!

Loved all his scenes, especially all the ones already mentioned.

Also happened to get very cool 3D movie poster thingy which shows batman, joker and dent depending on way u look at it. Very cool!!

SeantheMan

Greatest comic book film ever !!

1 question though - Is the Film Censor f*cking mental ?!! How did it only get a 15a rating ?!

Can you imagine kids all round Ireland seein this :eek:

Macker1

Excellent movie, easily one of the best in recent years. Yes it is being overhyped in certain quarters but I my opinion not by much. Has to be seen on the big screen to be enjoyed with some of the action scenes ( the bigger the better )

Heath Ledgers performance as the Joker was outstanding and if there was ever a good way to go at least his last role will be a tribute to the man's talents

The only gripe I have is that during the preview showing at VUE in Liffey Valley was that the picture went out of focus on occasions early in the film along with a couple of other glitches at other points. This is not the first time I seen similar issues at this cinema and is quite disappointing given that fact that it would have modern equipment and the like. Simply no excuse in this day and age for issues like that.

Looking forwrd to bringing the kids on Friday to see it. However bear in mind its quite a dark film and theres a reason why it has a 15A rating.

Mitch Connor

Saw it last night and loved it. Some bits i wasn't entirely gone on though. Thought the bat bike was very poor (no freaking turning circle) and some of the editing around the bat bike scenes seemed a little poor - trying to make it look like he was going really fast at times when it ended up looking like he was only doing about 10mph. Also, the radar vision was a little out of place, and reminded me very much of DareDevil.

Still though, easily the best action movie I have seen in a long time.

Mossy Monk

Enjoyable movie but not the greatest film ever as some people would have you believe. The scenes with the Joker dressed up as a nurse were great

jonny85

Joker just makes it, great movie a lot to take in I'm going to have to see it again

ven0m

Coileach dearg wrote: »

I would give "Gruntman" 7/10.

- Ledger plays the joker well but he could never do it as good as Jack Nicholson. Another annoyance was him licking his lips between sentences. When he laughed it was really jokeresque.

are you out of your mind????? How long's it been since you saw Burton's Batman, because Jack's Joker makes kissing noises when punctuating a point? Plus, you obviously never read Batman comics - the Joker is not funny or haha funny. His 'funny' is watching ants burning, except where ants are people .......

Coileach dearg wrote: »

- I think there was a bit too much of a James Bond element to it, with the gadgets and cars.

The gadget usage was WAAAAAAAYYYY less than Burton or Schumacher's attempts at Batman (cars crawling up walls, I mean FFS!!!!), & are you even clear on the actual story of Batman, & how Bruce Wayne owns Wayne Enterprises, which later becomes Wayne Tech?

I'll give you the points on editing, but then again - Chris Nolan is not exactly known for treating comic properties with Nail polish, because the source material isn't glitzy or polished either.

I'd no niggles with this movie, as it's the Batman movie I really wanted to see after seeing so many poor Batman movies form Burton & Schumacher, who obviously never got the source material, or probably read it/looked at it.

Jesus, even Warner Bros did a better job with the material as Batman Animated series .... but still, it was a cartoon.

faceman

Watching Attack of the Show podcast last night, it seems that most of the effects in the fillm were real as opposed to CGI. They had even planned on the base jumping scene in Honk kong to be done by stuntmen but the Chinese government wouldnt allow them!

ven0m

I grew up as a comic book kid. I loved Batman comics, I loved SOME marvel stuff (never really liked Spiderman or F4 or those kind of saccharine characters), I loved the 2000 A.D. **** hugely. I was happy like hell getting comics.

I loved the animated batman series done by Warner Bros for all its flaws, even Batman Beyond (in truth, I freaking love this!!!), but I've never taken to Tim Burton's Batman, or def. not Joel Schumacher's ones. There was too much of Tim in batman as played by Keaton, & not enough Bob Kane. Schumacher, I've no idea what the frick he was thinking for BF or B&R ...... good jeebus!!!!

Batman Begins for me was sooo good & really showed someone who obviously looked at Batman: Year One, & saw the character & what batman in essence is & what he represents, & what Gotham is, & what it says about our society (american comics have always reflected inner struggles & societal issues, EMO long before EMO was defined really).

Last night I saw the Joker I always pictured from the comics. I saw a Batman I knew always existed, & the horrid memory of Tommy Lee Jones' TwoFace has been washed away.

I came out of Dundrum movie theatre last night totally awestruck. Ledger's Joker is everything Nicholsan's could never be, & was everything he should be. You cannot threaten the Joker. You cannot hurt him. He is a man with nothing to lose, nothing to gain whose entire existence is as a mirror to Batman. He was always different to every other foe to Batman, as he was never about gains, money, power - he existed because Batman existed, & as the line in the movie best says

This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets the immovable object

I am still wow'd by what I saw. I've had three fantastic comic book movies now this summer, & I am the happiest comic book fan in the world right now after so many years of horrible comic book movie attempts.

Long may this continue.

IamMetaldave

I went to see it for a second time last night and enjoyed it even more!! It gets better every time!! I'll be seeing it again for sure.

Duggy747

Dave Eyesclosed wrote: »

I went to see it for a second time last night and enjoyed it even more!! It gets better every time!! I'll be seeing it again for sure.

I think you've had enough Dark Knight for this week, sir. I'll call you a taxi and we'll get ya home.

The_Hustler

I'm glad some people think it was just a very good movie and not this mindblowing thing it's made out to be. Seeing all the stuff on movies.ie I felt like I was the only one

MikeHoncho

Coming into this from a similar place as ven0m. Im a massive comic book fan and ive been burned alot of times. There have been a few decent comic book adaptations over the years. X-Men's 1 + 2 etc. But nothing even comes close to capturing the essence of what a comic and its characters is about than this film. Nolan really understands what comic book creators have been trying to achieve with Batman over the last few years.

Ledger is getting all the attention (rightfully so) but there are others who deserve a mention:

Gary Oldmans performance as Gordon. Gordon is a massive part of all the best Batman stories (Year One, The Long Halloween etc) but has never been done justice on the big or small screen. Here the character finally gets the big screen performance he deserves.

Eckhart is great too. Opposite from a lot of the people in this thread Two Face is probably my favourite Batman villain and Eckhart did a great job with him. Premier League compared to Tommy Lee Joneses campy representation.

Bale does a really good job at playing both Batman and Bruce Wayne although I will take people criticism of the voice. Its a bit much at times.

Now on to Ledger. Just wow. Its too ealry to say if this is the best performance by an actor playing the bad guy ever but its certainly up there. Its the little things he does that make it so brilliant. The smacking of the lips, the way he walks etc.

Best Bit:

The whole chase scene when Harvey is in the back of the police van after turning himself in as Batman.

When Batman did the wheelie up against the wall and turned around I actually made a punchy fist in the air.

ParalysedBeaver

I seen it on Sunday night. I work in a cinema, so we made it up after it was delivered and had a staff only preview after hours

Some people said it was too long, but I really didn't think so.

Mitch Connor

Does anyone have an explanation for what happened at the fundraiser? Did Joker just say "thanks and goodbye" one Batman and Rachel made their exit? Would they not have thought to check the penthouse, and maybe even in the wardrobe that was locked with a broom through the handles?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

well his henchmen had all been taken out, so he was on his lonesome.. probably with a load of joke grenades

jayteecork

Just saw it, not bad.

Not as good as the one-shot comic "The Killing Joke" from which it borrowed so much.

Jello

Saw it again today and enjoyed it just as much as the first time... brilliant.

jayteecork

MikeHoncho: if you really liked Batman's bike so much you should check out the old PSOne game Rollcage. I think it might be available to download on PS3 network.

MikeHoncho

jayteecork wrote: »

MikeHoncho: if you really liked Batman's bike so much you should check out the old PSOne game Rollcage. I think it might be available to download on PS3 network.

Yeah I remember renting that game when it was out first. I enjoyed it but never made the purchase.

Savman

Fantastic flick, 10/10.
I was quite the cynic going in to watch TDK but it most definitely delivers on a lot of levels. I understand the minor gripes people have, but seriously c'mon if only they made more films like this.

ghouldaddy07

saw it today and thought it was fantastic the joker steals the show.

It is shame ledger is dead as he could of had any role in hollywood after that preformance.

enjoyed that

scarecrow got a cameo

Im curious were their gona with the third film

with ledger gone and dent dead.I just hope it is not the riddler or clayface as they would not suit the nolan universe at all.

I did hate batmans growling and the sound effect when he punched somthing though.

johnny_ultimate

Yup loved it too. It is probably the best superhero movie to date, and one of the most epic and accomplished Hollywood movies in years. There is so much to love about it: the slick action sequences

(the bike wheelie off the wall was the most brilliant trick I have seen in a film possibly ever)

, Ledger's blackly comic performance

(the pencil bit being a highlight)

and the epic narrative. Was really impressed at how far they brought the Two Face storyline (thought it was going to be more of a tease for the next film) and it felt like they fleshed out Batman's morals and characters well (although maybe could've done with a bit more attention on his moral confusion). Predictably dark too

(Rachael's death was a very well handled catalyst for the rest of the story)

.

Yes, it is very long, and while this may be more of a problem on a second viewing, I was just glad that such a fantastic film kept going. More please, Mr. Nolan!

tylerdurden94

Just back from seeing it, ive been avoiding this section of boards and any other movie website i read because i didnt want anything to ruin it for me.

Here We Go

I absolutely loved it got goosebumps about 5 or 6 times throughout fantastic movie all round, great direction, stellar cast, good story gonna take awhile to sink in. Will hopefully write more in time.

Handsome Bob

Excellent, amazing film. I've read a few reviews that the Joker makes this film and they are right, but that is NOT a bad thing. The tag is "welcome to a world without rules" and that is what the Joker was all about, chaos, and he was integral to Dent's fall into madness and Batman's self- doubt. Even though I loved JN as the Joker, I always got the feeling his Joker "was Jack just being Jack" and it did make for a wonderful character. But with Ledger, I was just lost in the performance. All I saw was the Joker on screen. Ledger let himself be engulfed by the character and the pay-off was jaw dropping.

About Batman's voice; Wayne has to create the illusion of intimidation, fear and of a monster. If Batman talks in "Bruce Wayne's" accent it takes away somewhat from the "illusion" that strikes fear into all criminals. I have no qualms with the voice.

JangoFett

I was firmly blown away!
Ledger's hype...didn't do his performance justice, he IS the joker, I'm mad at Nicholson for not bringing it THAT far in 1989!

The conflict with Bruce Wayne and Batman was amazing, it really was a man been pulled in two directions, being ripped apart by the decisions he made

Two -Face, that was special, a man driven over the edge by a system he believes in and then have is brought to utter chaos by the corruption thats part of it

I give this flick a 10/10, hands down, it was enormous, reminds me of reading comics like "No Man's Land" and "War Games". So grande, so rich and filled with amazing performances.

I love this film.

robby^5

ztoical wrote: »

Final resolution with the Joker isn't great but not sure how much of that was done to planning on having him in the next film and now its pretty much not going to happen as no one with any brains would offer to take on the joker role after Ledger.

This is what really got to me, but the thing is that Nolan was still editing the film after Heath had died, months and months ago so he had plenty of time to fix the ending if he really wanted to, all that would be needed to kill off Joker and end his story arc would be a quick fall from that building. So I'm assuming that Nolan has some left over footage or something for the next film that will give some sort of closure for the Joker storyline.

Coileach dearg wrote: »

- The grunting of Batman is really annoying, far worse than Batman Begins. There was one sentence he said and I just could not unterstand it because it sounded like he was clearing his throat.

Agreed, but it is based in realism, Batman cant just go about speaking as he normally does, odds are someone might recognise the voice as being Bruce Wayne's.

Coileach dearg wrote: »

- Ledger plays the joker well but he could never do it as good as Jack Nicholson. Another annoyance was him licking his lips between sentences. When he laughed it was really jokeresque.

I think a lot of people are looking at Nicholson's performance through rose tinted glasses tbh. Yes it was great at the time, but looking back now it's aged terribly. It's so slapstick it's completely unfunny, it just feels so tacky to me now after having a taste of Ledgers Joker.

I still like Nicholson's performance, but it is just that... a performance. It's a good one, but it's more like what if jack Nicholson was the Joker, whereas with Ledger's Joker I never really made a connection between the character and the actor because unlike Nicholson's portrayal ledgers is completely different from anything he's ever played, there's just so much more to this Joker than there was in 1989.

robby^5

Fantastic film, I cant shake the feeling that there's no way he can top this film, especially with Heath Ledger's passing. The Joker appearing in the third film feels like a natural thing to me, so it's weird that it wont happen.

Handsome Bob

robby^5 wrote: »

Fantastic film, I cant shake the feeling that there's no way he can top this film, especially with Heath Ledger's passing. Joker in third film feels like a natural thing to me, so it's weird that it wont happen.

Too true and you put it nicely indeed.

Anyway, one of my favourite lines from the film:

"MADNESS IS LIKE GRAVITY... *SINISTER MUSIC*... ALL IT TAKES IS ONE PUSH... HAHAHAHAHA!"

Mr. K

Just saw it, loved every minute of it. Joker really dominated the film, even when he wasn't on the screen. Ledger couldn't have done a better job, making the character amusing and frightening. He was pretty repulsive, but it was hard to get caught up in his glee! It's so unfortunate that we won't see him again, his performance lived up to the hype. I loved his

multiple stories about his scars. A subtle nod to The Killing Joke's line about him preferring his past to be multiple choice

!

Eckhart was perfect as Dent, handling both personas. I'd like to have seen more of him, but that would've meant less of the Joker. When he was

lying in the hospital bed, I couldn't for him to turn his head. his using the burnt suit as his "costume" made sense too, rather than Tommy Lee Jones'...outfit

.

Gary Oldman finally got his chance to shine, and he did extremely well. Gordon had a tough time though!

Maggie Gyllenhaal is a far better actress than Katie Holmes, so Rachel Dawes was no longer a weak point.

I don't think her death wouldn't have meant nearly as much had Holmes returned

.

Bale was on form, of course. I expected little else from him!

When we saw Batman and Robin, could any of imagine the franchise coming back so strong? I'm going to see TDK again on Saturday, can't wait!

Basq

Just home from it also.

Absolutely adored it. The best superhero movie to date by far.. and better than 'Batman Begins'. But there was about 15 - 20 minutes or so in the middle that probably cut have been trimmed down.

But as everyone has stated, Ledger really steals the show. His Joker is without doubt probably the most enjoyable character to watch on screen in years.. sinister, demented, odd, hilarious but really demands your attention, and you can't look away.

Everyone puts in worthwhile performances - especially Bale, Oldman and Eckhart, but Ledger DESERVES that Best Supporting Actor Oscar next year. And it's not due to his untimely death.. it's due to a performance that he made his own, and he was so impressive in that an Oscar is more than warranted and deserved.

The ending of the film with Gary Oldman's final lines was probably one of the highlights (in terms of atmosphere, music and dialogue) for me:

Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a dark knight."

Loved it.. loved it.. loved it!

Handsome Bob

Mr. K wrote: »

Just saw it, loved every minute of it. Joker really dominated the film, even when he wasn't on the screen. Ledger couldn't have done a better job, making the character amusing and frightening. He was pretty repulsive, but it was hard to get caught up in his glee! It's so unfortunate that we won't see him again, his performance lived up to the hype. I loved his

multiple stories about his scars. A subtle nod to The Killing Joke's line about him preferring his past to be multiple choice

!

Eckhart was perfect as Dent, handling both personas. I'd like to have seen more of him, but that would've meant less of the Joker. When he was

lying in the hospital bed, I couldn't for him to turn his head. his using the burnt suit as his "costume" made sense too, rather than Tommy Lee Jones'...outfit

.

Gary Oldman finally got his chance to shine, and he did extremely well. Gordon had a tough time though!

Maggie Gyllenhaal is a far better actress than Katie Holmes, so Rachel Dawes was no longer a weak point.

I don't think her death wouldn't have meant nearly as much had Holmes returned

.

Bale was on form, of course. I expected little else from him!

When we saw Batman and Robin, could any of imagine the franchise coming back so strong? I'm going to see TDK again on Saturday, can't wait!

Never. Joel Schumacher likes to play the blame game and claim that WB were the ones who asked for a more fun franchise. That may be true, but he's the one who oversaw the crappy and cheesy dialogue, the wrong casting choices and the poor character development.