The Dark Knight Are We Judging This Film Too Soon?

[Keyser Soze]

Okay, this is a pretty complex idea, and one I'm not sure I can express coherently. But I hope you all get what I'm saying:

Does it seem to any of you like, a year before its release, a lot of us have already come to our final verdict on "The Dark Knight".

What I mean is...well, I bet if I were to compile up a list, right now, of all the people on this board who will review the movie positively in 2008, and all the people who will review it negatively, a year from now it would stand at about 80% accurate, at least.

It seems like people have already decided what their opinion on this movie is. It seems we have the same people who just hate EVERYTHING that is released about this movie. They hate the casting. They hate the plot details. They hate the look of The Joker. They hate the look of Batman. They hate Batman's new bike. They hate EVERYTHING. This mentality just seems to be going the way where the people partaking in it are setting up the movie for a fall. Like...even if the film turns out to be great, a lot of them are going to have to crap on it now, because they've committed themselves to all this negativity, and don't want to seem like they're "losing the argument".

Of course, it works both ways. There are people (if I admit it, me included) who love every new detail about this film. People who are just eating up every little nugget of hype, to the point where they've already decided this is going to be the best comic book movie ever.

Are we all being a little premature?

I mean, I see people talking about part 3, and wondering if Nolan's going to beat the "Part 3 Curse", as if its a given that "The Dark Knight" is going to be awesome. And on the other side of things, I see people talking about the movie in the past tense. "This movie WAS going to be great," etc etc. And don't get me started on the "Batman & Robin" comparisons, and BINO and JINO...

It seems like many of us have already decided whether we love or hate this movie, long before we're actually going to see it. Is this really the case? And if so, is it a good or a bad thing?

 

[CyberFaust]

yes

 

[Spidey]

Yeppers.

 

[Yurka]

yes indeed. People need to calm down and have faith

 

[fabman]

Agreed!

 

[Batjosh]

Premature opinions is normal. Everyone's a critic. It's normal. Don't let it get to you. Enjoy yourself and don't give misery any company.

 

[Juanigi]

they'll probably end up loving it regardless

eating a slice of humble crow pie with a side order of hat

 

[Eggyman]

I'm hoping for greatness; I want it to be good. But I will not kid myself if it isn't.

 

[TheBatman072]

GOD yes.

 

[Saint]

No. Never underestimate the ability of fanboys to change their minds. Just look to Superman Returns: before it came out, those who thought it would be bad were a ridiculed minority (Myself among them), and those who knew it would be good were a staggering majority. Afterwards, the tables were entirely reversed. Now, most people think it was lame and a handful like it. I expected it to suck, but after seeing it realized it was actually fantastic. Even though it wasn't the movie I wanted--and had a couple of things I would have definitely changed--I loved it, after having spent the previous two years ranting about how awful it would be.

There are certain individuals who are so close to a film that they won't change their minds--even if deep down they realize they were wrong--but for the most part, we fanboys are perfectly capable of reversing our positions.

 

[Saint]

I think it's hilarious that a few of you have automatically assumed this "premature judgment" problem is exclusive to negative people. How is saying "It's going to rock my socks! Have faith!" any different? I mean, I think it will rock my socks, but I recognize it's a premature thing to think, even if we have Batman Begins as evidence of the crew's talent.

 

[Spidey]

I think it's hilarious that a few of you have automatically assumed this "premature judgment" problem is exclusive to negative people.

Oh no way, not me. I'm accounting for everyone hailing this as the greatest thing since sliced bread, too.

 

[MacLeod]

Where does someone like me fall lif I like some things but hate others. The cast and plot are good in my opinion but I HATE the new suit, the new bike, and the picture of the Joker. No matter how they are used in the movie the fact that I don't like the way they look won't change my mind.

 

[The Joker]

Of course.

But that's the nature of the beast. Every movie gets judged prematurely when a few bits of info is given out.

 

[Yurka]

it seems the Optimist Primes and Negatrons have spilled over into the Dark Knight forum.

 

[Eggyman]

These here boards have 'Hype' in the title there, boy.

 

[Lobster Charlie]

I have no idea whether this film will be good or not. I'd read the Begins script ahead of time, and my confidence was very high. I haven't read this script, so I have nothing to go by other than rumors and set reports, which, quite frankly, ain't a whole lot.

So far I can't say I'm "wowed" by the new suit, and I find the "Batpod" just a tad strange, but other than that---I'm withholding judgment until I walk out of theatre after viewing the film.

 

[Spidey]

it seems the Optimist Primes and Negatrons have spilled over into the Dark Knight forum.

Now we'll have to come up with the cute puns for this flick, too.

 

[MacLeod]

I have no idea whether this film will be good or not. I'd read the Begins script ahead of time, and my confidence was very high. I haven't read this script, so I have nothing to go by other than rumors and set reports, which, quite frankly, ain't a whole lot.

So far I can't say I'm "wowed" by the new suit, and I find the "Batpod" just a tad strange, but other than that---I'm withholding judgment until I walk out of theatre after viewing the film.

You're a better man than I.

 

[sasquatchs]

I don't think anyone can be hugely suprised with the direction this film is taking, it just balances on whether on not you liked Begins, everything we've heard so far is a natural evolution of the idea. Most of the arguments against TDK seem to be rehashes of Begins' grievances. I think one of the few things that could turn people either way is Ledger's performance, something we only know superficial details about. Alot of other issues stem from Batman being in his first few weeks and somehow he isn't a seasoned detective/scientist/mechanic/moral philosopher. That stuff will no doubt develop in Begins to some extent, but alot of people will still come back unhappy that they didn't see Bat-God.

 

[Juanigi]

Now we'll have to come up with the cute puns for this flick, too.

yesmen vs. the no-kers

 

[Fanticon]

whose judging this film already? We're not allowed to make comments about bikes, batsuits and growing cast lists? idgi.

 

[Keyser Sushi]

You know, at first I was going to agree with Soze, but then Saint made a staggeringly valid point. Not only is SR a case in point, but IMO Transformers is an example, too - a movie that everybody was prepared to hate and seem to have actually accepted.

Spider-Man 3 I think we all thought would be great and yet everybody is agreed that it wasn't great. I think some people like it okay (such as myself) and some people hate it, but nobody thinks it's great, because, well, it's not.

TDK is a movie that we're all very excited to see, and we all want it to succeed, but Nolan has definitely made a bunch of unusual choices, and it's bound to throw people off. I hated the Joker's look at first. I wasn't crazy about the Batsuit at first. A lot of those things are not at all what I wanted to see. Every time there's a report about Joker putting on makeup I cringe.

BUT -- and here's the big but -- these things are growing on me. I'm actually glad to see them now, ahead of time, because I have the chance to get used to them. If my first exposure to Ledger's Joker was in the film, I don't know how I'd have reacted - hell, I'd probably have enjoyed the film less as a result.

I don't know what I'll think of the film, but I know I *want* to enjoy it.

I *wanted* to enjoy Batman & Robin, too, in fact I was sure I would - but like Saint says - fanboys have the ability to change their minds.

 

[Dfens]

People are judging the film based off the fact that Batman Begins was a nonsensical, pretentious film. IMO, everything released so far points to another terrible film.

 

[Sccmj23]

I do think people are judging this film too early. I think most people forget that there is still A WHOLE YEAR before this film comes out. There is much more that we havent seen or even heard about and people are already saying it gonna suck (see Dfens post above^). I personally LOVE everything I've seen so far and have HUGE hopes and expectations for TDK. But in all honestly it is still way too early to judge.