The GHZ Forum

Ok. I just saw this movie, and here's what I think of it: It's as if God himself knit me a suit and gave me on my birthday and said "This, my son, is The Dark Knight". Or as if Mother Nature had created a very unique and beatiful tree and, from its only fruit, had made a delicious pie and shared with me.

Perhaps my expectations were too high for this movie, but they managed to surpass it. I don't think I'll be needing to watch any movies until the rest of my life. Kinda reminds me of The Unforgivables, when the western movies were completely blown away by it and they ceased to make westerns for almost a decade. This won't happen with hero movies, of course, because there's too much money involved. But it should.

This movie was so good it gave me cancer and then cured it. This movie was so miraculous my soda turned into wine. This movie was so divine that I saw the face of God. Heath Ledger was so awesome he's going to win five posthumous Oscars and my undying homosexual lust.

It's just a movie, sheesh.

It was over-hyped like all works after an artist's death are. The last 40 minutes were fantastic.

The first 40 minutes was incredibly boring and spent way too much time building up Harvey Dent and Rachel Redshirt, two characters you can't really care about because you know they're doomed going in.

Also, it felt like every other line was dramatically written for the trailers, and thus felt pompous, unnatural, and out of place.

I'm gonna watch it today, already bought the tickets. And I'm pretty much sure every word in Opa's impressions are true, so quit whining.

Segaholic2 wrote:This movie was so good it gave me cancer and then cured it.

This one is great. I'm gonna use that.

The first half of the movie was basically a love letter to Harvey Dent. Everyone, literally, could not stop saying "OMG! HARVEY DENT IS THE BEST THING EVER AND SO BRAVE AN' SEXY AND PLEASE HAVE MY BABIES HARVEY!" I almost got a little sick. He couldn't get his face blown off fast enough for me.

They should have just had Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon hump his leg and get it over with.

Just saw it. Every word in Opa's impressions is a flagrant understatement.
It was as if Aphrodite came down from Mount Olympus to give me a fuckin' blowjob.

Zeta wrote:The first half of the movie was basically a love letter to Harvey Dent. Everyone, literally, could not stop saying "OMG! HARVEY DENT IS THE BEST THING EVER AND SO BRAVE AN' SEXY AND PLEASE HAVE MY BABIES HARVEY!" I almost got a little sick. He couldn't get his face blown off fast enough for me.

That's pretty much the point, though. Gotham needs a hero other than Batman, because when it comes down to it Batman is an illegal vigilante who beats people up at night. While someone like Dent, who gets something like 500 criminals in one operation, can be a face of justice for the city. That's why Batman takes the wrap for the murders at the end: So the people don't lose hope in Harvey Dent. The impression you're supposed to get from his set-up is that he's Gotham's light at the end of the tunnel, the one who can show them that justice is possible in their city. I suppose you might not care about he and Rachel knowing they're both going to die, but... I didn't know they were going to die and so I was able to care about them. Movies aren't made to keep you hooked when you've already had major events spoiled, lol.

It was a fucking fantastic movie though, I didn't think it'd surpass Iron Man but it did that easily. Heath Ledger's Joker is easily the best film version of the character ("Let me show you a magic trick... I'll make this pencil disappear."), the plot events in the movie all work really well together and watching the Joker's mis-placed belief that ordinary people would be willing to kill to save their own lives eventually lead to his own undoing was a nice way to end it for him. The entire car chase sequence was awesome, too.

I really don't get the ending because I don't see how knowing that the heroes of Gotham get blown up and disfigured and then blown up and killed is any better than knowing they turn bad. Neither one should really inspire anyone. Really, the people on the ferries were much more impressive than Harvey Dent, even before the Two Face thing.

I suppose you might not care about he and Rachel knowing they're both going to die, but... I didn't know they were going to die and so I was able to care about them. Movies aren't made to keep you hooked when you've already had major events spoiled, lol.

I didn't spoil myself, genius. Batman never has a permanent love interest for the same reason James Bond and the like don't. They're too cumbersome, villains want to kill them, and few people can write a good one for him. It follows then that any Batman love interest is either going to be killed or written off. And anyone with a basic knowledge of Batman knows that Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face. It's like expecting someone to not know that the Green Goblin is Norman Osborne or Lex Luthor is . . . er, Lex Luthor. But you get my point. I didn't spoil shit, it was just predictable as hell.

And a good movie is able to make itself entertaining even if you already know what's going to happen. It wasn't really the case with The Dark Knight. The dialogue was unrealistic and felt constantly forced, too much time developing Harvey and Rachel, pace too slow for the first half of the film. And I wasn't fond with the casting in general, except for maybe Ledger. Bale trying to do his "Batman" voice sounds like a guy calling a phone sex line. This movie has tons of flaws, but everyone's overlooking them because Heath Ledger died. If he was still alive right now, I think it would be getting a fairer view. I'm not saying it's crap. But it's not even in the top five superhero movies of all time.

I can give that the dialogue sounded way too forced from time to time, but other than that it's your own subjective preference.
I knew exactly who everyone was too, and I still enjoyed the shit out of it like I never did before.

Heath Ledger was given the best character and he did it damn well, but I absolutely blocked his death out of my mind while watching the film, so I don't think I'm particularly biased about his acting skills.

Hybrid wrote:"Let me show you a magic trick... I'll make this pencil disappear."

Instant classic.

I liked pretty much everything except for how Batman talked. He sounded like he was whispering loudly and it sounded fake.

Zeta wrote:I really don't get the ending because I don't see how knowing that the heroes of Gotham get blown up and disfigured and then blown up and killed is any better than knowing they turn bad. Neither one should really inspire anyone. Really, the people on the ferries were much more impressive than Harvey Dent, even before the Two Face thing.

Staying true to his beliefs even after all that shit is the point. Even though he didn't. But Gotham needs to think he did.

I didn't spoil myself, genius. Batman never has a permanent love interest for the same reason James Bond and the like don't. They're too cumbersome, villains want to kill them, and few people can write a good one for him. It follows then that any Batman love interest is either going to be killed or written off.

Which is why they killed her off in the first movie, right? Oh wait...

Either you knew she was going to die (which is what you said earlier) in which case you spoiled yourself, or you didn't actually know she was going to die and just decided for some reason "oh she'll definitely die in this one, I don't care about her", which means you went in with the intention of not caring. Either way isn't exactly the film's fault, especially the latter.

And I don't know how a basic knowledge of Harvey Dent becoming Two Face leads to the conclusion that he's going to die in the movie.

I'm sure he meant half-die.

I haven't seen it yet. It's looking like the people I promised I'd see it with are in for Tuesday, though.

Have heard talk that the fear gas makes a comeback, though. That shit scared the crap, the piss, the snot, the spit, and the ejaculate out of me in the first one.

In response to Dack's "spoilers", I didn't see any fear gas in this movie at all.

I have no idea what you people are complaining about the first half of the movie being too slow. Almost every dialogue scene is followed by a scene of Batman doing something awesome or the Joker being the scariest and meanest clown of crime

Opa-Opa wrote:Ok. I just saw this movie, and here's what I think of it: It's as if God himself knit me a suit and gave me on my birthday and said "This, my son, is The Dark Knight". Or as if Mother Nature had created a very unique and beatiful tree and, from its only fruit, had made a delicious pie and shared with me.

Perhaps my expectations were too high for this movie, but they managed to surpass it. I don't think I'll be needing to watch any movies until the rest of my life. Kinda reminds me of The Unforgivables, when the western movies were completely blown away by it and they ceased to make westerns for almost a decade. This won't happen with hero movies, of course, because there's too much money involved. But it should.

I now feel ashamed that I enjoyed this movie.

Shadow Hog wrote:In response to Dack's "spoilers", I didn't see any fear gas in this movie at all.

Scarecrow shoots a burst from his wrist at the beginning, but that's it.

The movie was good. It was all the good stuff from The Long Halloween and The Killing Joke and maybe some other Year One spin-offs that I haven't read. The plot was involved but paced well enough that I could follow it on my first viewing. Characters and themes were more complex and intriguing than in any other superhero movie, more than most movies in general. I really have nothing to complain about. Oh, except that the Joker wasn't funny enough. The pencil joke was just about the only one in the film.

Eh, I thought the explosion mistiming when he blew up Gotham Hospital was hilarious, especially given the silly nurse outfit he had on.

I thought about starting this topic on Friday, but decided the film has gotten more than enough attention and discussion as was and as is.

It's a great movie. Ignore people who say otherwise. I'll probably go see it again sometime this week.

Shadow Hog wrote:Eh, I thought the explosion mistiming when he blew up Gotham Hospital was hilarious, especially given the silly nurse outfit he had on.

Granted, Ledger's portrayal of the character was brilliantly humorous in an offbeat sort of way. He kind of staggers about in an embarrassed way, like a man in a tutu holding a gun against your head; he wants you to take him seriously but can't help but laugh at the situation himself. It's very disarming, and it kept me giggling throughout the film.

Still, the DCAU (and consequently Tim Burton's) Joker is the definitive for me. I mean, Ledger didn't even inexplicably take over a TV network, not once!

saw it, wonderful film. Want to see it again. Best parts for me were The scene where Joker explains his scars to the black mafia dude, the scene where Bruce knocks Joker off the skyscraper, Batman's first appearance, plowing into the parking garage
oh fuck it, the whole movie was brillant.

Senbei wrote:
Still, the DCAU (and consequently Tim Burton's) Joker is the definitive for me. I mean, Ledger didn't even inexplicably take over a TV network, not once!

what about the videotape of Joker holding a man in a Batman suit at gunpoint, saying if Batman doesnt turn himself in, people will die? Or the 'the scene where he tells viewers to kill the man on TV or he'll blow up a hospital?

I thought it was great! Batman still looks ridiculous though. Maybe the bat-suit is just an uncrackable cinematic egg.

The new suit makes his head look like some sort of weird bat-lollipop.

Just saw it. I hate to be one of those exaggerating twats, but it really was an incredible, incredible movie. I can't remember the last time I had such a difficult time watching something, and loving it. They didn't really have to resort to jump scenes or gory torture porn to get the Joker's psychological mindfuck breed of terrorism across; you really feel the evaporation of the illusion of safety occur throughout the film... as Gotham got more and more entwined in the Joker's twisted world, the film took on more and more of his macabre sense of humor. The bombing of the hospital was delivered like a visual punchline. And yeah, Ledger was brilliant, but I don't think Aaron Eckhart gets enough credit for playing a dashing moral-driven hero in the first act and a depraved lunatic in the second, and making them the same character.

Did anyone else get the impression Two Face died in that last fall? Taking the heat for all his killings to leave his legacy as a hero intact seems like a stupid thing to do if he's still running around killing people. I've heard rumors he'd be the villain in movie #3, but those are just rumors, after all.

I'm very curious what will happen with a third movie. I'd expect that it would follow the Batman movie tradition of having two villains per film, but I think Nolan's used all the relevant villains. I can only think of a few who might be appropriate with the tone he's setting. Maybe Killer Croc or Clayface, but that's reaching into supernatural territory. I don't think he'd use any characters from the other Batman films because they're too cheesy, and the same can be said of introducing Robin.

cjmcray wrote:what about the videotape of Joker holding a man in a Batman suit at gunpoint, saying if Batman doesnt turn himself in, people will die? Or the 'the scene where he tells viewers to kill the man on TV or he'll blow up a hospital?

Oh yeah! But the delivery wasn't right. It was more legitimate serial killer rather than TV parody.