Looked around but couldn't find a thread for fan reviews with no spoilers, so here it is!
Here's my review. I posted this in the spoiler forum, but have removed all spoilers for this thread.
What I knew and had seen going into the film:
All the trailers, 12 IESB clips, [BLACKOUT]Two Face[/BLACKOUT] test photo
SUMMARY
Well, TDK is exactly what everyone has been hyping it to be. It truly is as good as the reviews are saying. Heaps of character development for all the players and the story keeps moving along all the time. The talk of Oscar nods is completely worthy and this film is definitely the best Batman I've ever seen. It has raised the bar in so many ways and it will be hard not to look on Begins in a less positive light now that I've seen the film. It's that good. I was brought up on the previous Batman film series and always respected the films (particularly Batman 89), but having seen TDK it will be hard not to see them as a little two dimensional from now on.
Bottom line - I have been very hyped for the film and there was the potential for me to be majorly disappointed (though I didn't think I would be), but it exceeded all expectations and really left me wanting more. I mean, where do you go from here with the bar raised this high? But how can you not? This film and particularly the character of Batman deserve and need continuation, so it'll be interesting to see what happens from here.
STORY
The title of the film is perfect. The film has some very dark times for Batman and Gotham City in general.
The story weaves all of the characters together in so many ways that it really does become a fully realised world. Batman Begins started this approach, but much like us seeing Batman now fully realised in TDK, so too has the world of Gotham. Everything is given greater depth from characters to aspects of Gotham like law enforcement, health, news, justice, socialites etc.
There are no "microwave emitter" moments in this film. The fact is that it's far more realistic than Begins even though it deals with even more fantastical characters.
The threats made by the Joker and the approach to his craft is fantastic. His motivation is just to do things, not caring for the consequence or even if there is one. It makes him more threatening because with no reason behind his actions but to have fun and create anarchy.
All I will say in this forum regarding the Joker and [BLACKOUT]Two Face [/BLACKOUT]is that I didn't expect how either of their story arcs concluded. The finale was fantastic and there'll be hell to pay if Nolan doesn't return for a third.
CAST
Christian Bale - So much focus has been on Heath, but Batman truly is the centre of the story and Christian Bale is great as usual. Batman is absolutely brutal in this film. You see him tested and pushed to breaking point. He once again captures the three characters perfectly, with Bruce the socialite being as extravagant as ever, regular Bruce confronting serious issues on how his decisions have affected Gotham and Batman being Batman. He gets plenty of screen time and each time it's effective.
Heath Ledger - Yes, the hype is accurate. He inhabits the role so completely that you will be left thinking Jack Nicholson who??? even if you don't plan to. For a character who has no background by design, Nolan and Heath managed to create a fully fleshed out Joker. He's a lying, thieving, cheating, vicious psychopath and even though he's a completely over the top character in a real world, somehow he doesn't come across as being outside the realm of possibility.
Aaron Eckhart - [BLACKOUT]He plays both characters so well. His fall from grace is well played and as Two Face he's great. I thought the cgi and makeup was fantastic for the look and I was extremely happy they didn't water it down.[/BLACKOUT]
Gary Oldman - he's got heaps to do in this film and he does a great job of it. The team he forms with Batman in Begins becomes more fleshed out in TDK and he really gets his dues in this film. For me, Gordon is the Robin of this series. Why does Batman need a sidekick when Gordon is such a great ally. The team dynamic works really well. I wasn't as put off by Oldman's sometimes changing accent. He's normally really good at it and only in a few moments does it really show.
The rest - Maggie wipes the floor with Katie Holmes. She's far more of a commanding pressence and completely believeable as someone in the legal profession and able to have two of Gotham's most notable people after her. Michael Cain delivers a fantastic performance as Alfred and the father/son dynamic is played up very well. He still has his comedic moments, but he also deals with some far more emotional scenes this time around and they play very well. Morgan Freeman is as usual a legend. You can't help but like what he does and he gets more to do this time around as well.
All the other players do great jobs such as Anthony Michael Hall's Engel. Nobody seems out of place in the film and the quality of the acting is fantastic.
CREW
Nolan has outdone himself. I can't fault him here at all. I was surprised we didn't get any flashbacks or unusual continuity throughout the film as that's generally a trademark, but the film plays very straight and it actually allows you get get into the film more because of it.
The soundtrack is very nice. I like the approach to the Joker and I think it works well. I personally have never been a huge Hans Zimmer fan, but the work he does here is good. Having said that, James Newton Howard really outshines him and his Dent theme and other contributions stand out as the best parts of the soundtrack. In much the same way Howard Shore did for Lord of the Rings, JNH really captures the motivation of Dent and the general feeling of Gotham and approaches each of the themes throughout in different ways depending on the tone of the scene and the motivation behind the characters. Joker's theme by Zimmer works for the same reason - as his motivation is simply to create chaos the theme is abrasive and jarring.
Wally Pfister etc do a great job of capturing tone, so kudos on the cinematography as well as lighting and production design. I really hope Wally gets and Oscar nom because the film looks great.
We've all heard the gripes a number of people have about the batsuit. I find it a bit over designed myself, but not to the point of having a heart attack over it like some. For those people they'll be pleased to know that it looks great on film. Many people seemed concerned about seeing Batman in daylight too much. The truth is you don't so don't be concerned.
Well, I could keep going on forever, but all I need to say is that it is definitely this year's best film for me and the best Batman film to date. Kudos to all involved.
Here's my review. I posted this in the spoiler forum, but have removed all spoilers for this thread.
What I knew and had seen going into the film:
All the trailers, 12 IESB clips, [BLACKOUT]Two Face[/BLACKOUT] test photo
SUMMARY
Well, TDK is exactly what everyone has been hyping it to be. It truly is as good as the reviews are saying. Heaps of character development for all the players and the story keeps moving along all the time. The talk of Oscar nods is completely worthy and this film is definitely the best Batman I've ever seen. It has raised the bar in so many ways and it will be hard not to look on Begins in a less positive light now that I've seen the film. It's that good. I was brought up on the previous Batman film series and always respected the films (particularly Batman 89), but having seen TDK it will be hard not to see them as a little two dimensional from now on.
Bottom line - I have been very hyped for the film and there was the potential for me to be majorly disappointed (though I didn't think I would be), but it exceeded all expectations and really left me wanting more. I mean, where do you go from here with the bar raised this high? But how can you not? This film and particularly the character of Batman deserve and need continuation, so it'll be interesting to see what happens from here.
STORY
The title of the film is perfect. The film has some very dark times for Batman and Gotham City in general.
The story weaves all of the characters together in so many ways that it really does become a fully realised world. Batman Begins started this approach, but much like us seeing Batman now fully realised in TDK, so too has the world of Gotham. Everything is given greater depth from characters to aspects of Gotham like law enforcement, health, news, justice, socialites etc.
There are no "microwave emitter" moments in this film. The fact is that it's far more realistic than Begins even though it deals with even more fantastical characters.
The threats made by the Joker and the approach to his craft is fantastic. His motivation is just to do things, not caring for the consequence or even if there is one. It makes him more threatening because with no reason behind his actions but to have fun and create anarchy.
All I will say in this forum regarding the Joker and [BLACKOUT]Two Face [/BLACKOUT]is that I didn't expect how either of their story arcs concluded. The finale was fantastic and there'll be hell to pay if Nolan doesn't return for a third.
CAST
Christian Bale - So much focus has been on Heath, but Batman truly is the centre of the story and Christian Bale is great as usual. Batman is absolutely brutal in this film. You see him tested and pushed to breaking point. He once again captures the three characters perfectly, with Bruce the socialite being as extravagant as ever, regular Bruce confronting serious issues on how his decisions have affected Gotham and Batman being Batman. He gets plenty of screen time and each time it's effective.
Heath Ledger - Yes, the hype is accurate. He inhabits the role so completely that you will be left thinking Jack Nicholson who??? even if you don't plan to. For a character who has no background by design, Nolan and Heath managed to create a fully fleshed out Joker. He's a lying, thieving, cheating, vicious psychopath and even though he's a completely over the top character in a real world, somehow he doesn't come across as being outside the realm of possibility.
Aaron Eckhart - [BLACKOUT]He plays both characters so well. His fall from grace is well played and as Two Face he's great. I thought the cgi and makeup was fantastic for the look and I was extremely happy they didn't water it down.[/BLACKOUT]
Gary Oldman - he's got heaps to do in this film and he does a great job of it. The team he forms with Batman in Begins becomes more fleshed out in TDK and he really gets his dues in this film. For me, Gordon is the Robin of this series. Why does Batman need a sidekick when Gordon is such a great ally. The team dynamic works really well. I wasn't as put off by Oldman's sometimes changing accent. He's normally really good at it and only in a few moments does it really show.
The rest - Maggie wipes the floor with Katie Holmes. She's far more of a commanding pressence and completely believeable as someone in the legal profession and able to have two of Gotham's most notable people after her. Michael Cain delivers a fantastic performance as Alfred and the father/son dynamic is played up very well. He still has his comedic moments, but he also deals with some far more emotional scenes this time around and they play very well. Morgan Freeman is as usual a legend. You can't help but like what he does and he gets more to do this time around as well.
All the other players do great jobs such as Anthony Michael Hall's Engel. Nobody seems out of place in the film and the quality of the acting is fantastic.
CREW
Nolan has outdone himself. I can't fault him here at all. I was surprised we didn't get any flashbacks or unusual continuity throughout the film as that's generally a trademark, but the film plays very straight and it actually allows you get get into the film more because of it.
The soundtrack is very nice. I like the approach to the Joker and I think it works well. I personally have never been a huge Hans Zimmer fan, but the work he does here is good. Having said that, James Newton Howard really outshines him and his Dent theme and other contributions stand out as the best parts of the soundtrack. In much the same way Howard Shore did for Lord of the Rings, JNH really captures the motivation of Dent and the general feeling of Gotham and approaches each of the themes throughout in different ways depending on the tone of the scene and the motivation behind the characters. Joker's theme by Zimmer works for the same reason - as his motivation is simply to create chaos the theme is abrasive and jarring.
Wally Pfister etc do a great job of capturing tone, so kudos on the cinematography as well as lighting and production design. I really hope Wally gets and Oscar nom because the film looks great.
We've all heard the gripes a number of people have about the batsuit. I find it a bit over designed myself, but not to the point of having a heart attack over it like some. For those people they'll be pleased to know that it looks great on film. Many people seemed concerned about seeing Batman in daylight too much. The truth is you don't so don't be concerned.
Well, I could keep going on forever, but all I need to say is that it is definitely this year's best film for me and the best Batman film to date. Kudos to all involved.
It's not like huge like the fate of the Joker or anything but it's still kinda big. It doesn't sting as much (but it still stings a lot) cause it was something I kinda predicted was going to happen, so it just proved my prediction correct. Oh well, I still wanna see it acted out and whatehave you.
