The Dark Knight What aspects of The Dark Knight do you think will influence future films in Hollywood

[rohitiyer]

Batman Begins was a landmark film. I don't mean that in terms of cinematic brilliance or great storytelling, but in approach. The gritty, back-to-the-basics approach of the film influenced so many mainstream franchise films that came after it. This is especially noticeable if you look at the superhero/action movie landscape before 2005 and after:

1) Casino Royale rebooted the franchise and made it leaner and meaner. The producers often mentioned that they were following in the footsteps of Batman Begins.

2) Iron man basically aped Batman Begins in a more self-conscious and light-hearted manner.Jon Favreau often name-dropped Batman Begins when referring to his approach.

3) Terminator Salvation is using Batman Begins as a template. McG has stated this in many interviews.

4) A script review of The Masters of the Universe by El Mayimbe at Latino Review also mentioned Batman Begins.

In short, the film definitely changed how writers, producers and directors looked at supposedly worn out, campy and escapist source material.

After Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan could easily have just updated the same formula for the sequel. But like any great artist, he made a film that while true to the original one, is vastly different in tone, structure and in its goals.

There is no question that The Dark Knight is going to influence future films much in the same way that Batman Begins did, perhaps even more so. The film has many firsts and yet it is characteristically different from it's prequel. I'm curious to see how other creators react to this and how it changes the films.

Specifically, I think it will make other creators a little bit more fearless and it has already shown us that popcorn entertainment does not necessarily equate a comfortable and jolly good time at the movies.

What aspects of The Dark Knight do you think will influence future films in Hollywood?

 

[hatebox]

A corny romance isn't necessary for big bucks (coughspidermancough).

A genuinely dark, intricate story is not a hurdle but an attraction.

 

[Mog85]

I reckon they may try to take a more realistic approach to future comic book adaptations. One aspect I loved about TDK was that it was very close to reality.

 

[Bads316]

I just hope that it sets the template for a new era of Hollywood blockbusters. Films with depth, and intelligence. On the other hand I thought Lord Of The Rings might do the same for the fantasy genre and er..........well thats not done too well since.

I just hope that TDK doesnt end up being this one off film that united critics and the crowds for one glorious summer. I hope this goes someway to increasing the quality of 'event movies'. TDK goes along side Jaws and Raiders for me. A summer movie thats brave and that doesnt treat its audience like kids.

Just because something is successful and critically acclaimed doesnt mean it will have this everlasting influence. At least over mainstream pop culture - look at Nirvana or the punk movement, both died out pretty fast and any influence of them on mainstream radio today is rare at most.

Lets just hope Watchmen doesnt bomb at the box office and send the studios running frantically back to their cookie cutters.

 

[rohitiyer]

I just hope that it sets the template for a new era of Hollywood blockbusters. Films with depth, and intelligence. On the other hand I thought Lord Of The Rings might do the same for the fantasy genre and er..........well thats not done too well since.

I just hope that TDK doesnt end up being this one off film that united critics and the crowds for one glorious summer. I hope this goes someway to increasing the quality of 'event movies'. TDK goes along side Jaws and Raiders for me. A summer movie thats brave and that doesnt treat its audience like kids.

Just because something is successful and critically acclaimed doesnt mean it will have this everlasting influence. At least over mainstream pop culture - look at Nirvana or the punk movement, both died out pretty fast and any influence of them on mainstream radio today is rare at most.

Lets just hope Watchmen doesnt bomb at the box office and send the studios running frantically back to their cookie cutters.

I was watching the Watchmen trailer (for the umpteenth time) the other day and someone saw it over my shoulder and asked if it was a spoof. I muttered that it was actually a deconstruction of the superhero genre, I guess that was just my geekiness kicking in.

But based on 300, I don't have very high expectations from Zack Snyder. He does many interesting things visually, but I doubt that he can bring any more depth to the material than is already present in the writing.

There's a thread over in the Watchmen section about how The Dark Knight might just ease audiences into Watchmen and prepare them for something intelligent. Somehow I don't know about that. I think the material is quite dated and Snyder is too literal a filmmaker to do anything about it.

Having said that I look forward to more promotional material from the film and hopefully it can convince general audiences that it is definitely not a spoof. Or perhaps, it's just better for them to read the books.

 

[Bads316]

Problem is, its not us that will determine the effects of this, its Joe public. After I saw TDK again last weekend most people walking out around me were just complaining about the length and how they could of cut loads out!!!!! Fortunately for them I was unarmed at the time, why dont you look at the f%#@!&* run time before you go see it!!

 

[Odin's Lapdog]

I don't think the dark knight is really going to influence anything.

let's not beat around the bush. It not for heath's death and the publicity around it, it would not be doing as well as it did today. it was a well made film with some tradgedy behind it. People are watching it to see whether his performance is truelly oscar worthy.

The only thing I may say is that it shows a superhero comic does not need to cater to a young or family audience BUT BURTON already proved that all the way back in 89 so....

I hope it also proves that people are willing to watch a good story over slugfest.

 

[ThePoisonPuppet]

While they certainly are not the first to do a heavy viral campaign, I think we will see a lot more of that kind of thing in the future since this one was so successful. I mean think about how much easy advertising for not only the movie, but also dozens of other products they can squeeze into those things.

While its not just The Dark Knight, This summer definitely showed that comic/super hero movies are still going strong. (Though I think this summer was probably their peak, and it will be a slow decline from here).

 

[Ace of Knaves]

i have to disagree odin, people didnt go see TDK just because of heaths death. they went and saw it because basically i think everyone in the entire world knows who batman and the joker are, also Nolan and his production team are very well thought of. The hype surrounding it obviously helped aswell. I think TDK may influence some directors to cut down on the CGI and only use it when needed. thats what i loved about this film it just seemed so real and gritty and you could sorta feel the car crashes and explosions unlike other films where its clearly green screen and all that. Dont get me wrong CGI has revolutionised film-making in a good way, but directors and producers who over use it just come across as lazy to me and are copping out of real hard work.

 

[hatebox]

I don't think the dark knight is really going to influence anything.

let's not beat around the bush. It not for heath's death and the publicity around it, it would not be doing as well as it did today.

Since the film's on course to make half a billion in the US alone I'm surprised there are still people there who really think this.

At the very least i think one should appreciate the difference between the allure of watching a dead guy onscreen and watching batman take on the Joker. I'd suggest the latter is the real reason behind the success.

Anyway, most people are saying the potential Venom movie is "Dark knight envy" on Marvel's part, so perhaps we're already seeing the after effects of TDK.

 

[rohitiyer]

I don't think the dark knight is really going to influence anything.

let's not beat around the bush. It not for heath's death and the publicity around it, it would not be doing as well as it did today. it was a well made film with some tradgedy behind it. People are watching it to see whether his performance is truelly oscar worthy.

The only thing I may say is that it shows a superhero comic does not need to cater to a young or family audience BUT BURTON already proved that all the way back in 89 so....

I hope it also proves that people are willing to watch a good story over slugfest.

I think the film actually has many firsts (for a big budget superhero movie) which others just might follow (in spirit):

1- The hero loses.

2- The love interest dies.

3- The villain has no back story.

4- Even bit characters HAVE a back story.

5- The hero is reckless and irresponsible at times (blowing up parked cars, injuring mob bosses).

6- Of course, the IMAX photography.

7- In spite of not leading into a sequel (a la The Matrix: Reloaded), it still ends on a feel-bad note - unlike so called "darker" sequels, it is ACTUALLY DARK.

I concede that these things may have definitely been done before, but not all together and that too by a summer tent-pole film meant for a wide audience.

I know when I'm watching, say Irreversible that I'm gonna feel uncomfortable. But I never thought I'd feel like that while watching a Batman movie, and I mean that as a compliment.

 

[fabman]

Well, The Dark Knight and Iron Man are / were successful.

The Incredible Hulk, which was quite bland, didn't do well. Personally, I hope we got more Dark Knights and Iron Mans (but especially Dark Knights, LOL), even if that means that we won't get 50 films based on comic books every year.

 

[rohitiyer]

Also,

8- The secondary villain is not even a villain but an anti-hero (Two-face).

Just wanted to add that.

 

[Darknightnomis]

MAny of you have already mention some of the important aspects that DK will (hopefully) contribute to Hollywood making better Summer Blaockbusters so I won't repeat them.

But for me, I hope it reminds movie makers you can make an action packed summer blockbuster WITHOUT it being over saturated with CGI effects.

I'm not against CGI but it would be nice for filmaker to be a little more restraint with it.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

exactly what i said, i think its just lazy to use too much CGI. they cant be bothered to set up a truck crash or summin so they do it with green screen.

 

[Odin's Lapdog]

Since the film's on course to make half a billion in the US alone I'm surprised there are still people there who really think this.

At the very least i think one should appreciate the difference between the allure of watching a dead guy onscreen and watching batman take on the Joker. I'd suggest the latter is the real reason behind the success.

It's not just a dead guy, it's a dead guy who's on course to receive one of only a few accolades ever handed out.

I mean, it's not the best action film of the last decade
It's definitely not the best written story of the last decade
It doesn't have the best comic book/fantasy based elements of the last decade.

It didn't even have a buzz with the mainstream when it came out and he was still alive, not even with the fanbase with the first teaser or so so it built late momentum which all tied to his death.

It's a very good film for its genre and touches a lot of places but unlike most summer blockbusters, it's rewatchable because it has depth and you want to appreciate all the details the actors put in. The fact that heath is taking up all the acting jibe when arguable it was oldman and eckhart who held the film together (there roles were vital for the story to pull off what they wanted) and the hero and villain played second flute to this...I dunno.

If respect was given out where it was due across the whole board, then fair enough but the attention is still on the joker performance.

I mean look at batman begins and the dark knight. batman begins started falling apart in its third act but the dark knight was strong and consistent all the way through with a better known villain. Does it warrant this much cash on its own merit? It's impossible to tell. Personally I doubt it.

saying this, I don't think it takes anything away from the film but does highlight my points that I don't believe it brings anything necessarily worrying to the table.

I do feel though that it will take away from the watchmen experience but i'm not sure whehter that would mean a good thing for the book sales which people should buy for the comparison.

 

[jackjack924]

I think the use of the IMAX cameras will be a HUGE influence not only to the comic book genre but to other action movies in general. Unfortunatly, IMAX usually just shows action/adventure movies and that's a shame because I would love to see a visually stunning drama on the IMAX.

Hopefully the combination of action and smart filmmaking will catch on. In a perfect world, I would love to see more depth (and success) in this genre, which would hopefully weed out the idiotic 5,459,928.66667 "Scary Movie" spinoffs. But that's a perfect world.

 

[metalhead_dave]

I'd hate to point out the negative effects, but it might influence Hollywood to think "dark is the way to go." And then dark movies will start being thrown around like rice at a wedding to the point where dark becomes the new campy.

And then Seltzer and Friedberg create "Dark Movie" and the entire world goes to hell.

 

[rohitiyer]

I'd hate to point out the negative effects, but it might influence Hollywood to think "dark is the way to go." And then dark movies will start being thrown around like rice at a wedding to the point where dark becomes the new campy.

And then Seltzer and Friedberg create "Dark Movie" and the entire world goes to hell.

There's no need to worry... Hollywood has been using the "dark angle". For quite some time now. Each Harry Potter sequel that has come out was touted as being darker than the last. Revenge of the Sith was literally all about "the dark side". Spider-Man 3 equated darkness with a black suit. Few of these actually delivered on the dark factor.

Of course, Batman is inherently dark. But the late nineties proved how wrong that can be.

 

[rohitiyer]

Another film that took a leaf out of the Batman Begins book was The Incredible Hulk. The "requel" tried to stick closer to the source material and went back to the basics of what the producers thought made the Hulk work in the first place.

I thought the film was neither better or worse than the Ang Lee one. But it was definitely a different one.

 

[Shane Diesel]

The fact that its making a ton of money.

 

[jackjack924]

I'd hate to point out the negative effects, but it might influence Hollywood to think "dark is the way to go." And then dark movies will start being thrown around like rice at a wedding to the point where dark becomes the new campy.

And then Seltzer and Friedberg create "Dark Movie" and the entire world goes to hell.

Dark doesn't mean good. It's more of a quality factor.

 

[Bads316]

A huge influence from these Batman films will be the soundtracks. Ive heard countless rip offs of the Begins soundtrack in loads of movies since it was released.

 

[Darknightnomis]

Dark doesn't mean good. It's more of a quality factor.

Exactly.

Spidey 2 has an happy, upbeat ending and it's the best of that series and definately one of the best movies in the Superhero genre (for me it's 3rd after Batman Begins/Dark Knight).

Quality should be the only factor in any movie.

 

[ThePoisonPuppet]

Dark only seems so good to us now because its still a fairly unexplored concept as far as movies go.