The Dark Knight The Dark Knight Fan Review Thread

[The Battousai]

No WITTY JOKES WERE CRACKED

Hahaha - did you even watch the film?


Any of these ring a bell?


"...you see Gambol over here? He won't even have a nickel for his grandma!"

Calling Lau "the television".

"Could you please give me a minute?"


Also, if it's hard for to understand why this Joker is a perfect representation of the character...


This Joker had live grenades in his jacket - willing to pull the strings to detonate them.

This Joker performed a magic trick that proved deadly.

This Joker wanted his "one phone call".

This Joker blew up a hospital while wearing a NURSE'S UNIFORM.

This Joker told the public who he was going to kill and did so without failure (with the initial exception of Dent, but that was Bruce's doing).

This Joker used the cable news to relay his plans.

This Joker tries to throw Batman's ideals right back at him.

This Joker attempts to prove that anyone can go crazy when they've gone through enough.



...

How is this NOT the Joker?


*sigh*

Besides - this "point" of yours isn't really a complaint. Merely a preference. It's quite obvious you're so in love with the Joker from the original Batman film that you can't quite register any other interpretation. No to mention one that's actually better.

 

[Korben Dallas]

 

[Anita18]

Calling Lau "the television".

That was great, as was Lau's reaction of turning off the video camera.

I also at Joker's, "Me? I was here the whole time!" *waves cuffed hands at Gordon*

That and "What time is it?" "Why does it matter?" "Well, he could be in one place...or a lot of places."

Someone in the audience went, "Oh s***!"


But I thought a bunch of random things were funny. It isn't captioned, but Lau was yelling, "I'll give you anything!" when Batman is dragging him by the foot over to the window.

 

[Lord Vader]

Hahaha - did you even watch the film?


Any of these ring a bell?


"...you see Gambol over here? He won't even have a nickel for his grandma!"

Calling Lau "the television".

This Joker had live grenades in his jacket - willing to pull the strings to detonate them.

This Joker performed a magic trick that proved deadly.

This Joker wanted his "one phone call".

This Joker blew up a hospital while wearing a NURSE'S UNIFORM.

This Joker told the public who he was going to kill and did so without failure (with the initial exception of Dent, but that was Bruce's doing).

This Joker used the cable news to relay his plans.

Dont forget the opening bank job how he placed the gas bomb in the banker's mouth tied to a loose string from his coat. His response to Batman slamming his head on the table. "Never start with the head the victum gets all fuzy" Then Batman slams Joker's hand and says "better'

 

[Phenomenal]

That is the main theme in The Killing Joke, which is considered THE quintessential Joker piece.

I am just going to go out on a limb and guess you are a huge Burton fan and think that saying "the pen is truly mightier than the sword" is clever.

I know it was...That ain't the joker and how cliche!

opinions are like A*&^%$#S..
and this opinion is coming from your A*%.

bale was AWESOME!
he is the definative cinematic batman.....in my opinion.

How? His voice acting/acting was terrible and his costume was fat. WTF ARE YOU SMOKING? Couldn't bareley here him in all his mumblings.

Are you on crack or is this a legit criticism? Batman talks like that to mask his voice. It doesn't sound natural because he needs to make it very grainy and bland so some random punk off the street cant use voice recognition software and figure out who he is.

It's ironic you think the voice is a problem with the performance when in fact it illustrates how Bale chooses to make it realistic over sounding good. You sit in the theater thinking "man he's forcing it. he's trying too hard. Even I could make my voice sound raspy like that..." THAT'S THE POINT. It could be anyone. Another actor like Clooney would try to make it cool even if it sounded just like him. Bale distorts it knowing he could definitely just speak closer to his natural cadence and have it sound all smooth

This is the problem with people who complain about BB and now TDK. For the most part they either simply dont understand what's going on (anyone who complains about the monorail) or they just want attention for their website. I understand if people think the movies are too violent or dark for their tastes, or if you wanted another actor or different type of batman... but none of those things makes it a BAD... just something different from what you wanted.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious INSPECTOR GADGET, I already knew he was masking his voice that's why he spoke that why...Hell evenb MICHEAL KEATON DID THAT. Speak it in a different tone and make it better. Batman does not go around flaunting his damn voice like he is about to have a stroke! The voice acting/acting on Bale's part was crap.

 

[Phenomenal]

Hahaha - did you even watch the film?


Any of these ring a bell?


"...you see Gambol over here? He won't even have a nickel for his grandma!"

Calling Lau "the television".

This Joker had live grenades in his jacket - willing to pull the strings to detonate them.

This Joker performed a magic trick that proved deadly.

This Joker wanted his "one phone call".

This Joker blew up a hospital while wearing a NURSE'S UNIFORM.

This Joker told the public who he was going to kill and did so without failure (with the initial exception of Dent, but that was Bruce's doing).

This Joker used the cable news to relay his plans.

Dont forget the opening bank job how he placed the gas bomb in the banker's mouth tied to a loose string from his coat. His response to Batman slamming his head on the table. "Never start with the head the victum gets all fuzy" Then Batman slams Joker's hand and says "better'

Many of these were corny JOKES . The only one I liked was the magic trick.

 

[The Battousai]

Many of these were corny JOKES . The only one I liked was the magic trick.

Then you have no sense of humor

 

[ccdev]

All in all I enjoyed the movie but it ain't what everybody is hyping it up to be.

yup, i saw the movie yesterday and i got to agree with that. Masterpiece, huh? some people must be really hard up for decent entertainment. And to compare Dark Knight to Godfather2 is like comparing pizza to steak.

And nolan still cant shoot hand to hand action sequences worth ****. Batman is suppsoed to be some ninja fighter but after being spoiled in the killer Bourne trilogy, Batman's hand to hand fights look exactly like b-grade chereographed action movies. And some of the flashing lights/cuts made it seem like my eyeball had a gym session.

And Bale, has he been missing dinners cause he's too busy being Batman? Gerald Butler would have made a much cooler, and more physically intimidating Batman. Bale is way overated in this movie.

Overall, I would advise those who have not seen the movie to drop their expectations. It may be good in certain parts but a masterpiece, this ain't.

 

[The Battousai]

Well, not everyone will love this movie, so I'm not surprised by comments like these.

 

[magus]

I know it was...That ain't the joker and how cliche!

Yeah....go ahead and describe the Joker for me then if the guy in The Killing Joke isn't him. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but you are definitely in the minority if you think The Killing Joke doesn't depict the ideology of the Joker.

 

[wikum]

I got lucky and got to watch the film four days earlier than I should have....so instead of writing a review I'll list all of the positives and negatives and a summary.

Positives:

Every member of the cast is utilized pretty much to perfection....right down to the smaller roles like Reese and Lau.

The dialogue is ten times better than Batman Begins....and the film itself ten times more epic.

Two Face looked brilliant...much better than I expected.

Batman's voice is fine....I don't get the negativity over that,

It IS Batman's film. The Joker certainly does not steal the limelight in terms of the film.....although he certainly is with the press due to Heath's death.

The Joker is far more sinister than I expected. You actually do end up hating him....and I'm surprised they could get that emotion out of me...considering he is my favorite comic book character. Huge props to Nolan for that. It's absolutely nothing like Jack Nicholson.....they aren't even comparable characters other than the fact they are both called The Joker.

Aaron Eckhart is very good as Harvey Dent. I think that people will say that his Two Face isn't very good....but I think that Nolan looked at it like Two Face isn't just some alternate person...he is just Harvey Dent gone mad, and that's exactly what Aaron Eckhart does. He impressed me more than The Joker...mainly due to the fact I had seen so much Joker footage.

Maggie is a big improvement on Katie Holmes.

Definitely has the scope to make you want to view it multiple times.

Negatives:

They completely spoiled The Joker by showing too much of him in tv spots and trailers in my opinion. Heath is brilliant no doubt.....this is not a knock on his performance.....in my opinion he did nothing wrong. At this moment in time I think it falls just short of an Oscar nomination....but my judgment may be clouded because I'd seen most of his cool dialogue before I 'd even seen the film.

I have minor problems with some of the "chance" things that happen in the film. For example: When The Joker is talking to The Chechen in the warehouse with the money....and he just happens to know Reese is taking questions on GCN at exactly the same time...without any television set or anything in sight. Not to mention the amount of times he is able to sneak explosives into somewhere completely unnoticed.

They cut some of the better takes of dialogue....again minor problem.

It's slightly too long.

Summary:

It's not as deep and dark as people are making it out to be....I would say the first half of Batman Begins is both deeper and darker up until the very point Batman says "Nice coat.". However, The Dark Knight is a better story with better acting and better dialogue on an epic scale. This film feels much more like a superhero film than Begins......but without doubt the best superhero film ever.

I think I would need to watch this again in 3/6/12/24 months to truly gauge how good this film really is.

9/10

 

[Thot]

TDK was good. Best comic book movie ever? Nope. That honor would go to either Superman: The Movie, Spiderman-2, Iron Man or Batman Begins. I may have even enjoyed The Icredible Hulk more. TDK was a good, intense crime drama but not much of a "comic-book" or "superhero" movie, or for that matter a "Batman" movie. At the end of the film, I pretty much just sat there, unimpressed but somewhat entertained. Many here have listed legitimate complaints about the film and I would second some of them. Overall, for me, it simply failed on too many levels. Begins was the superior film. I hope that the third Nolan film fixes what just got broken.

 

[nightwing06]

Superhero films can either be campy messes with a guy/girl running around in a costume spitting out lame one liners,or action packed ,stunning films with a human factor.
Thankfully as of late they have been the latter,and the same can be said of the brillaint The Dark Knight.

Director's and writers are not scared to show the human side of our heroes.
Putting together stories and situations that are appealing.Take James Bond for example.The stories are far better because they show that the hero can be jealous,make mistakes,and can not only be wounded physically but also wounded to the heart.The films feel more like sagas.Another appealing factor is the fact that they dont easily move on to the next"damsel in distress"

So first things first about TDK
Is Heath Ledger is great as they say as the Joker?
GREATER!!!!!!!!
From his facial ticks,to his cackle,Ledger's Joker joins the ranks as one of best big screen villains ever.
When he meets with the mob bosses of Gotham its a classic moment.You can see shades of other actors performances Ledger admired.
As he manipulates Gotham and its people its a joy to watch.
Whenever he's onscreen a smile came to my face because you know every scene he's in is going to be great.Im not sure if Ledger will get an Oscar nod( HE SHOULD IN MY OPINION!!!!!!) But as Gary Oldman has stated as of late:"I miss Heath,and its tragic that he's gone,but if you have to go out with a bang ,this is how you go out."
I couldnt agree more!!!

The rest of the cast are definitely no slouches
Christian Bale is amazing as usual as Bruce Wayne / Batman
He carries the weight of Gotham on his shoulder despite what it has cost him physically and personally.Bale plays him so well as the oblivious Wayne to Batman its a dule role Bale plays with ease
Aaron Eckhart gives a terrific and strong performance as Harvey Dent / Two-Face.A good portion of the film is his and he doesnt dissapoint.As he battles the mob fearlessly he's Gothams "white knight" but when pushed to the edge he too can show his dark side
Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes gives a stronger performance than Holmes.The third piece of a love triangle she handles her seens well.
Michael Caine(Alfred Pennyworth) and Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox)
are back to add touches of class.They both provide counsel as Waynes right hand men.Fox gives Wayne more new cool toys to battle the bad guys
Love that Batpod !!!!!!!!!!
Director Christopher Nolan brillaintly paces each scene with so much tension i almost fell off the edge of my seat about 20 times.
I like the eery low hum of the soundtrack that suddenly explodes into a scene of thunderous mayhem,and chaos.He and his brother Jonathans script is as unpredictable as the Joker
The Dark Knight is one of the best films of the year I cant wait for the DVD
Scale of 1-10 a 10

 

[inflames]

it was a little unclear to me, but did fox in fact quit?

 

[HiPPiE]

THE DARK KNIGHT TRIUMPHANT!
Simply put....The Dark Knight Makes Batman Begins look like Batman and Robin.

Christopher Nolan's follow up to the 2005 reboot of the franchise is a classic....It's not just the best film of the Batman series....It's not just the best comic book movie ever and the best film of the year....It one of the best films i've seen in years.

Never before has a Superhero movie felt more real....Nolan's vision of Gotham City is incredible....He has improved when it comes to filming action scenes and his limited use of CGI really shows that not everything has to be done with a computer(Someone should make Lucas and Spielberg sit in a room for a week and watch TDK on loop) Nolan has taken the genre of the comic book movie and finally done it justice....The Dark Knight Ranks right up there with all the other classic crime dramas....Nolan has made an incredible piece of cinema and he deserves serious consideration for Best Director.

This movie goes from 0 to 100 in less than 30 seconds....It pulls no punches and even after 2 and half hours you are left wanting more. this movie is EPIC and has set the bar incredibly high on how comic book movies are made(And I expect The Watchmen to possibly kick it up even higher).

Christian Bale returns and not only has he improved in the role....His performance of Bruce Wayne is superb....His portrayal of the cocky playboy is the most perfect we have seen yet....Surpassing even Michael Keaton....As Batman he looks even better in the cape and cowl than he did in Begins(whoever did the costumes needs some credit thrown their way come award season).

The supporting cast is without question the strongest ever for a comic book movie....Michael Caine now owns the role of Wayne's butler Alfred....He's not only Wayne's father figure....He is his moral compass, the voice of reason in a world gone mad.

Morgan Freeman returns as Lucius Fox and while his scenes are small they are wonderful and add a great depth to the world of Bruce Wayne. Maggie Gyllenhaal is such a vast improvement over Katie Holmes....The truth is had Holmes been in The Dark Knight.....She alone could have ruined the movie as she was the weak link in Batman Begins....Maggie finally makes Rachel Dawes seem believable and it's a shame that she only got one shot at this character....Gary Oldman IS James Gordon who finally reaches the position of Commissioner and is still the one that seems like he totally walked straight out of the comic.

New to the franchise is Aaron Eckhart as D.A Harvey Dent....I've always felt that Eckhart was underrated and knew he would get his chance and he delivers....Finally one of Batman's best villains gets the proper treatment on film and makes you forget the over the top wannabe joker that was Tommy Lee Jones....While his transformation into Two-Face seems rushed he really makes the most of the role he is given.

Oh yeah.....And then there is that other Villian.....you know....The one dressed as a clown.

Norman Bates....Darth Vader....Hannibal Lecter....And now not only can you add The Joker to that list....You can now put him on the top of that list.

At no point did I see Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight....And that should be the greatest compliment a actor can get....Sick, twisted, psychotic....A disturbed human being with no desire for money or power....Simply put....A man that just wants to watch the world burn....The Joker is just flat out evil....From his "magic trick" to his stories on how he got his scars....He cuts thru this movie like a white hot razor....Ledger not only gives the greatest performance of his short career....But one of the greatest performances ever and as far as i'm concerned he has taken the crown from Hopkins as the greatest movie villian.

The scene in which the Joker walks out of the hospital with detonator in hand is for me not only the best scene of the movie but one of the best movie scenes ever....It's a scene that is so classic it should put alongside such scenes as Brando screaming stella....Jack, Peter and Dennis riding down the highway in Easy Rider....Or the shark popping out of the water for the first time in Jaws....Yeah....It's that classic.

Ledger's death should in no way influence a Best Supporting Actor nomination....His performance does that and if he doesn't win the Oscar then the Academy should not only be ashamed of themselves.....They should be abolished.

But understand this.....While it's the best movie i've seen in years The Dark Knight is not the greatest movie ever and is not perfect....While pacing never makes it seems like a 2 and half hour movie I did feel that some scenes went by way too quickly....I felt that Rachel's death was rushed thru as was the transformation of Harvey into Two-Face....And some things could have been cut....I never bought into the death of Gordon and the Hong Kong scene was Ok....I loved how Batman escapes but it seems like that the only point of the scene....That whole thing could have been played out in Gotham in less time....And even though it leads to the Classic "Joker walking out of the Hospital" Scene....I have no use for the Wayne Industries guy that finds out who Batman is.

It's a dark film that does not make you feel depressed....it's a fun ride without being a silly over the top spectacle....It's long without feeling like a marathon to sit thru....You get enough to enjoy it the first time but it's so in-depth that multiple viewing are a must.

The Dark Knight is the masterpiece that comic book fans have been waiting forever for....And it was damn well worth the wait.

 

[The Battousai]

it was a little unclear to me, but did fox in fact quit?

No.

"As long as this machine is on, consider this my resignation."

When he entered his name into the computer at the end, he effectively caused the machine to self-destruct.

 

[Theweepeople]

I have no problem with people who were disappointed with this film. I just don't understand the ones who prefer 1989's Batman over these Batman films. Micheal Keaton as Batman was one of the worst miscasting decisions I've ever seen. First of all Keaton at 5 foot 8 was way too short for the role(Batman in the comics is 6 foot 2). Secondly, his voice as Batman sounded basically the same as Bruce Wayne. The average person who encountered Bruce Wayne and Batman more than once would have easily been able to figure out his identity.

Vicki Vail's character was a complete waste and contributed almost nothing new or unique to the storyline. She was your run of the mill damsel in distress. She was also the phoniest war photographer I've ever seen in a film. No photographer who screams that much under pressure would be able to last one minute taking photos in a war torn country. I still can't believe how long it took her to figure out Batman's true identity.

The Joker was the only somewhat interesting character in Batman 89 but, he was way too silly for my tastes. Dancing around in an art gallery while listening to Prince was pretty hard to stomache. Also, Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the character was basically just him acting the way he acts in every movie when he plays a villian. Finally, what exactly was the Joker's master plan in the first Batman film? After 19 years I'm still not sure what the hell it was. I had no problem understanding what TDK's joker was trying to accomplish after seeing the movie once.

It's obvious that the people who prefer Batman 89 over these films aren't true fans of the comics because the Joker in the comics was more sinister and Batman/Bruce Wayne are actually interesting.

 

[TheCardPlayer]

I have no problem with people who were disappointed with this film. I just don't understand the ones who prefer 1989's Batman over these Batman films. Micheal Keaton as Batman was one of the worst miscasting decisions I've ever seen. First of all Keaton at 5 foot 8 was way too short for the role(Batman in the comics is 6 foot 2). Secondly, his voice as Batman sounded basically the same as Bruce Wayne. The average person who encountered Bruce Wayne and Batman more than once would have easily been able to figure out his identity.

Vicki Vail's character was a complete waste and contributed almost nothing new or unique to the storyline. She was your run of the mill damsel in distress. She was also the phoniest war photographer I've ever seen in a film. No photographer who screams that much under pressure would be able to last one minute taking photos in a war torn country. I still can't believe how long it took her to figure out Batman's true identity.

The Joker was the only somewhat interesting character in Batman 89 but, he was way too silly for my tastes. Dancing around in an art gallery while listening to Prince was pretty hard to stomache. Also, Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the character was basically just him acting the way he acts in every movie when he plays a villian. Finally, what exactly was the Joker's master plan in the first Batman film? After 19 years I'm still not sure what the hell it was. I had no problem understanding what TDK's joker was trying to accomplish after seeing the movie once.

It's obvious that the people who prefer Batman 89 over these films aren't true fans of the comics because the Joker in the comics was more sinister and Batman/Bruce Wayne are actually interesting.

Michael Keaton's height was unimportant. The acting was.



And Bale is better. Much better.

 

[Theweepeople]

Michael Keaton's height was unimportant. The acting was.



And Bale is better. Much better.

Of course Bale's acting is better. That's why I brought up Keaton's failure to make his voice as Batman sound significantly different than the way he sounded as Bruce Wayne. Keaton's portrayal as Batman wasn't menacing enough and he failed miserably at trying to play a suave ladies man.

 

[the_scream]

Another amusing Joker moment was when he jumped on board the school bus with all his goons in tow after blowing up the hospital. What a amusing idea for a getaway vehicle.

Then there's setting the fire truck on fire.

Telling his men to cut the mob boss into pieces and feed him to the dogs: "and we'll see how loyal they really are".

The "you complete me" line.

Washing his hands with the sanitiser after he meets up with Harvey.

The "very poor choice of words"

Many of these were corny JOKES . The only one I liked was the magic trick.

Well I guess you can't please everyone.

 

[the_scream]

The voice acting/acting on Bale's part was crap.

It wasn't perfect but it wasn't crap either. The voice gives him an aggressive edge and I had no trouble understanding him.

Keaton's "whisper" was good but his Batman was played as a mysterious loner who would say one or two words and disappear. Bale's Batman has to project his voice more and so the whisper comes out more with a gravelly sound. I personally think it is kinda cool and unique but to each his own.

 

[Batman jr.]

482 10's and counting

Eat that haters

 

[Godman]

I know it was...That ain't the joker and how cliche!



How? His voice acting/acting was terrible and his costume was fat. WTF ARE YOU SMOKING? Couldn't bareley here him in all his mumblings.



Thanks for pointing out the obvious INSPECTOR GADGET, I already knew he was masking his voice that's why he spoke that why...Hell evenb MICHEAL KEATON DID THAT. Speak it in a different tone and make it better. Batman does not go around flaunting his damn voice like he is about to have a stroke! The voice acting/acting on Bale's part was crap.

Bale is an amazing actor but the voice thing was not all there and honestly I feel Nolan should have coached him on toning it down. It wasn't ALL horrible, just over done when he needed to get louder. He growled in this movie where as he whispered more in Begins and was very little for words. He spoke too much in the movie as Batman and reacted too much emotionally. The yell before barely missing the joker was placed right.

The regular convos are great and he seemed to do a waaaay better job in Begins. He needed to have a voice masking tool that understood the louder he got the more projected it would be and surround sound better and the lower he got it would reduce the polarity or something. They should have had that scene in begins where he is doing voice masking to find the perfect voice.

Oh well not big enough of a deal to kill the movie or even close there was a lot more GREAT Bale in cowl then just his voice.


Main thing is that he was too much percieved as a human being in a costume now than a dark menace so the voice thing was good to mask but also to add the dark mystic creature thing to it was pointless cause he really wasn't scaring anyone anymore. TDK lost that aspect that Begis created. The BATman. We got a very humanistic Batman in this one which is also in the comics big time, but still I mist the scared criminals and no Batman himself scene stole the harbor from the first one.

 

[Batman jr.]

Bale is a very dedicated actor. Imagine him, Norton & Daniel Day Lewis in one film...

His Batman voice isn't the best, but I can live with it. At least it's different enough from his "normal" voice...

 

[TheComicbookKid]

I think the hype hurt the movie for me.

9/10

Transcends the genre? Then why did I see so many comicbook moments in the film?

It was certainly ambitious and it's a very well-made, thought provoking film, but it ain't no masterpiece.

Joker was the sh** thought!