Reviews - The Dark Knight

[tigerboyce]

yeah it sucks that im home for summer as Hatfield has one of two Odeon digital cinema's, It's not IMAX, but it is still very nice to watch films on in comparison to normal.

Loved the film though.

[Merson]

Just seen it and well il be surprised if it doesn't clean up at the awards. Really was a great film, the story was spot on and heath ledger played the joker perfectly. Agree with all the above, defiantly worth the watch in a cinema!

[Parm]

heard its even better ont he Imax but the closest to me is manchester

The IMAX is something of a spectacle. Quite a few people think it'll be 3D, but it isn't. Just a few of the dark knight's scenes are shot using IMAX 70mm film, but those scenes are something special.

The sheer size of the screen and image clarity is eye popping. When he jumps off some of those buildings, it's like being on a theme park ride.

There's a list of UK IMAX theatres here if anybody really has to go see it on the "big" screen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IMAX_venues#U

[staffsMike]

Bit of an IMAX noob I'm affraid, been to one sort of demo showing at the birmingham one but that was it..

If there are only a few scenes throughout the movie which are in fact 3D, do you need to wear the glasses all the time still or just for those scenes? The glasses give me a headache like nothing else can lol

[Dareos]

its not 3d mate, so no glasses. Imax utilizes double the size of film, and gives an almost panoramic view, its incredible tbh.

Unfortunately tho, i didnt go to the Imax to see this, but it is one of the most enjoyable movie experiences I have ever had.

The film is quite frankly breathtaking, Bale is again excellent as Batman/Wayne, Caine is suitably cheeky as Alfred and Freeman is perfectly moralistic as Fox. On top of that we have a recast Maggie Gyllenhall (sp) who is a great Rachel, Oldman reprising his excellent portrayal of Gordon and Eckart was a very different Harvey Dent to the one I was expecting. Of course everyone is going to go on about Ledger as the joker, and i for one am quite frankly surprised that they even tried to go down the joker route after the performance Jack Nicholson put forward back in the Tim Burton film. Nicholsons performance was fantastic, but Ledger pretty much just demolished any right Jack had to that role with his interpretation of the insane clowns persona. He was mesmerising on the screen from the very moment he was seen. The scene with the mob meeting was shocking, brutal and caught just about everyone ever off guard, the magic trick moment was priceless.

If anything, the film was just a little too long, some of the bike scenes were a little ludicrous, but I really am just nit picking. At no point does the film fail to deliver, its shocking, brutal, heroic, dark, bittersweet, exhilarating and gut wrenching all at the one time.

I have no idea what they can do to match this one, but i sure hope they try

[CaseyV9]

A good film. me voted average. Everyone say Heath Ledger. I'm not so sure.
He played his role very well. But I think this would be nothing without good writers to make his character what it was. The first batman movie where the joker doesn't come across as being a total t**t. The begining sequence was brilliant.

I think this film was really over hyped. Godfather is probably around 20 years old and people will still rate this as a classic and recomend it. That's a real acheivement. Like Scarface and Taxi Diver.
The batman story has been around for years but in 20 years time I bet this movie will be forgotten. Definetly not worthy of knocking the Godfather of No 1.

Good, well worth seeing but definetly not amazing IMO.

[staffsMike]

Ok, I will deffinatly make the effort to see it there then (cant stand those frickin glasses)

I actually read that Nicholson was furious that he didn't get offered the part in this "sequel" Does he mean Sequel to Begins or Sequel to the old tripe... Bumbling old bafoon! He would have ruined it.. It worked in Burton movie because it was as cheesey as Nicholson but he wouldn't have pulled this off even if he was young enough to be credible.

[kopite]

Each joker was right for their respective film.

Heath was better though

[Shooty*]

NIcholson was very much a joker of the 80's/ early 90s, close to Caesar Romero's take on him. I liked the first batman, I thought MIchael Keaton was very good, and it was a good film of a comic. With that thought in mind, the jokers outlandishly colours outfit and cheesiness was forgiveable. It is not, I would suggest, a performance that has aged at all well.

However, I thought nicholson was better as Napier BEFORE he became joker. And his makeup was sh1te.

Not seen the new one yet.

[kopite]

Napier was never in the comics though so its a moot point.

I liked Heaths joker a lot and thinking about napier has made me realise another reason for it. From what I have been told by batman nuts The Joker never had a back story in the comics and Heaths Joker didnt have any history he just appeared one day in Gotham His story about his scars changes each time as it does in the comics. I loved it

[staffsMike]

I had a quick read of the daily mail today (yeah I know lol) noticed a piece about the 12A rating being too low.

Now I've always considered the 12A rating to have violence to match (or near enough match) a 15 without the bad language.

Obvioulsy these new batman films have a distinct air of realism about them, which is probably why people prefer them to the older movies, but they are still based in fantasy and as such shouldn't be taken seriously imo. There is no blood afterall and most of the murders are in fact carried out with guns or explosions rather than Knives, even if The Joker suggests they are his weapon of choice. I can see why he would be frightening to young children but it is at the parents descretion after all.

Now the main complaint seems to have come from the parents who took their kids under the age of 12 to see it, perfectly legitmate of course they are allowed to do this, but need they be reminded that this is not a 12.. it is a 12A and thus does feature scenes which children may be sensitive to. The dail mail quotes Matt Damon urging parents not tot take children to see The Bourne Indentity (12A) because of the scenes he felt were inappropriate for people below 12 and the same should almost certainly be taken as read for all 12A's.

Heed the warning and take a little time to decide whether you should take your kids to 12A movies, don't just complain about it afterwards

Any thoughts?

[Parm]

There's definitely a violent theme to the film, but I don't think it's graphic enough to warrant a 15 rating. 12A seems about right to me.

In other news, The Dark Knight soundtrack arrived today. The first few minutes of the final track are a bit special!

[pollaxe]

Agreed on the 12A, I thought much of the violence was implied rather than graphic.

Ledger was excellent, though I felt he was a little under-used. The film felt a bit too long for me overall and as mentioned previously the whole Harvey Dent thing didn't really grab me either, though the actor playing him was good. Maggie G left me a bit cold too, I'm afraid. Caine and Bale were superb, Morgan Freeman too.

I felt that it was almost two films shoe-horned into one. I'd give it 7.5 out of 10, I think. I've never read the comics so I apologise if my views are courting heresy!

[Bossworld]

I thought it was excellent. I wasn't sure at first, thought it'd just be all the Heath Ledger hype, but was absolutely bowled away by the whole film. Didn't feel like it was as long as it is!

[Shooty*]

Kopite: Re Napier: Indeed, I just thought he was played very well by Nicholson.

"From what I have been told by batman nuts The Joker never had a back story in the comics "

You need to get yourself some different nuts (as it were). The Killing Joke has one backstory, albeit the Joker admits that "if I have to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice".

[Sybarite]

Thanks for the IMAX reminder - I might make the effort for this. My local (London Waterloo) seems quite booked up though. I do get really tired of the background level of chav chatter at my local Odeon - do these people not realise that they're not in their own living room?