The Dark Knight (2008)

[Cricket]

I do agree with Scion- it should have been R. This is no movie for kids. I wish they had never started that whole pg-13 rating- parents bring young kids to them all the time.[/QUOTE]


A lady sat behind in the theater with her son who looked like he was 10. She also had her infant with her as well. We left our baby at grandma's.

 

[Doh!]

Well, people bring kids to "R" rated movies as well. I saw Scream at a midnight show and about a 10 year-old boy started crying when Drew Barrymore got killed. Stupid parents.

I think Dark Knight depends on the emotional age of the kid. And that goes for any age. Some 17 year-olds might not be able to handle the material. My folks let me see Jaws when I was only 11 -- and I loved it!

 

[MudInYerEye]

I saw it last night.
Overall, disappointing:
Too much muddy plot.
Too many characters that didn't really matter.
Horribly awkward "romantic" aspect.
Too much James Bond gimmicky crap.
Heath Ledger was woefully miscast as the Joker. He did about as much as he could with the role, but it wasn't enough. The Joker should be hungry and sickly, sallow. Weak, desperate, demented. Steve Buscemi would have been a more apt choice.
I did appreciate some of the script's explanation of the Joker as a character. His conversation with Two Face in the hospital room was a rare highlight.
Two Face's humorless, mechanical, instantaneous shooting of his victims after the coin toss was good.
There, were steps in the right direction, but to make the franchise truly interesting again would require a much more severe re-vamp than Nolan was able or allowed to do. Take the character back to his real roots, 1939 (certainly a world at the brink of chaos). Drop the technological weapons and vehicles. Give the Bat-Man a roadster and an automatic. Let the Joker torture and rape.
Also, bring back Alfred the butler, can the smarmy eye-rolling father figure.
***
Overall BATMAN BEGINS was a far more compact successful venture.
But what do I know, really?

 

[Quigley Brown]

I went to see it last night. I nearly fell asleep it was so boring. I don't say that about too many films. I think the film did well money-wise because people came just to see Heath Ledger's last film.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Saw TDK last night, absolutely loved it. I was also surprised that they killed off Dent, unless he's going to do a typical comic comeback from the dead later on. I also find Bale's 'Batman voice' to be a little silly, though I understand the need for it. But Heath Ledger, well, it's already been said. At no point did I think of him as Ledger, he *was* the Joker. And though it's a complete about face from the typical Joker, a ruthless sociopath who was *also* charming and dapper, to the manic and utterly deranged villain he is here, it worked perfectly.

And Michael Caine! Despite the fact he only ever really plays Michael Caine, I love him for it. Great film - I hope to see it again in IMAX before it ends.

 

[PADDY]

All the above ^^^

But I cannot understand 'why' Batmans' voice changes to a deep/husky tone...?[huh] Maybe 'that' mask has something to do with it. Love the way it's almost woven into the fabric of a modern/current US city.

 

[Laura Chase]

But I cannot understand 'why' Batmans' voice changes to a deep/husky tone...?[huh] Maybe 'that' mask has something to do with it. Love the way it's almost woven into the fabric of a modern/current US city.

Well, Batman is all about theatrical effects, since he has no real super powers, he has to intimidate his foes by being gloomy and scary. So the change of voice is necessary not only for disguise, but also for intimidation. Batman himself says that "Criminal are a superstitious, cowardly lot.", and that's why he is dressed up as a bat at all. So the voice just completes that whole scary thing.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I loved the movie and thought it was operatic in scope. Ledger was amazing as The Joker. It was great they never gave him a backstory. He just shows up all evil and ready to kill The Batman. I don't buy the complaints about Maggie G. She is a fine actress and is one of the few who could hold her own with such intense actors as Bale, Legder, Oldman, Caine, and Eckhart. My only complaint was Bale's voice as The Batman. I could barely understand him at times. Other than that, I can't wait to see it in IMAX. They need to make a #3 though so we can see the rebuilt Wayne Manor and the new Batcave.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Why he has to pull that silly gurn as well as the voice though...who knows! lol

Agreed on Maggie G. She was great, but then anyone is next to that awful Katie Holmes.

 

[dollydaydream]

I just went to see it and it was excellent. Hated Batmans silly voice, loved loved loved Heath Ledgers Joker (I already had a massive crush on the Joker, pre Ledger) Maggie G looks old, Scarecrow wasn't in it long enough. Liked how 2 face was explained. Is he really jed?

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Batman has the best gadgets too.

I'm going to write my dissertation on the Joker

 

[flat-top]

I doubt they'd ever go this route, but look:
http://news.aol.com/entertainment/m...e/109652?icid=200100397x1206819129x1200349054

 

[dollydaydream]

I doubt they'd ever go this route, but look:
http://news.aol.com/entertainment/m...e/109652?icid=200100397x1206819129x1200349054

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! I hate that woman

 

[Rachael]

I hear Sean Young is available.

 

[flat-top]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! I hate that woman

I wouldn't worry about this. It just doesn't seem like a direction they would go. ALTHOUGH, many fanboys feel that Lucious Fox's comment about Batman's new suit ("well, it'll hold up against cats") was a hint.

 

[Feraud]

I doubt they'd ever go this route, but look:
http://news.aol.com/entertainment/m...e/109652?icid=200100397x1206819129x1200349054

This is a shark jumping move.

 

[dollydaydream]

A short slightly squidgy catwoman would be good

*ahem*

I am catwoman hear me roar. Well, mew anyway...

 

[Eyemo]

A nice little story and completely true...
My Business Partners daughter and son-in Law worked on the Dark Knight in the costume department. Their little boy Teddy (aged 3) wanted to meet Batman. Teddy’s Dad asked Christion Bale if he would stay in costume after that days shooting… He said it wouldn’t be a problem. On meeting Batman Teddy’s first words were to him….”Batman, someone’s in trouble”!!..Batmans reply was, “Well we better go and help then”!!..Christion Bale took Teddy by the hand and sat with him in the Bat mobile for ten minuets chatting away….

HOW COOL IS THAT!!

 

[Andykev]

Batman Deleted Scene, check it out.

But I cannot understand 'why' Batmans' voice changes to a deep/husky tone...?[huh] Maybe 'that' mask has something to do with it. Love the way it's almost woven into the fabric of a modern/current US city.

That is EXACTLY the point, Paddy! Here is a deleted scene from the movie. It is worth the laugh.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1824339

 

[Laura Chase]

That is EXACTLY the point, Paddy! Here is a deleted scene from the movie. It is worth the laugh.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1824339

Oh my God, that had me rolling on the floor! lol

 

[Edward]

Meh.... I would'nt actually mind a Jolie Catwoman so much. Actually, I think she would be rather good, however, I'm not sure that she would fit in with this 'reality rules' version of the franchise - too much of a "Hollywood" image or something? Not sure who I'd like to see in the role.

The "reality" format certainly places a limitation on which villains are workable - Clayface is right out, for one. The latest rumour I read - in this morning's Metro, no less (take that FWIW) - is that Johnny Depp has ben approached to play the Riddler. Hmmn. That might be interesting, but I personally would prefer there only to be the one villain next time: this one worked just fine with the Joker there as the main villain, and Dent as a subplot pointing towards the rise of Two Face in the next one. Why bring in the Riddler to the next as well? Unless..... I did read that the plan for the Joker in III was that he would be locked up in Arkham Asylum, and Batman would consult him on the matter of dealing with Two Face - think Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. I can see the Riddler worknig in very nicely to that slot.... imparting his 'wisdom' in the form of riddles that Batman has to try and solve so he can understand what the ridler has to say about Dent's likely next move...

Seems slightly bizarre that, afterf establishing itself in the first one, this take on the franchise is recycling villains already used before - maybe they're hammering home the point that the Schumacher abominations never happened as far as any decent person is concerned? lol

Well, Batman is all about theatrical effects, since he has no real super powers, he has to intimidate his foes by being gloomy and scary. So the change of voice is necessary not only for disguise, but also for intimidation. Batman himself says that "Criminal are a superstitious, cowardly lot.", and that's why he is dressed up as a bat at all. So the voice just completes that whole scary thing.

Possibly, though personally I don't think it's quite as straightforward as that. As I see it, Batman is every bit as psychotic as the villaisn he goes after. Batman is not the guise adopted by Bruce Wayne to fight crime so that others need not be victims as his family was - he's a fascistic vigilante, driven to strike out by primitive psychological urges - a criminal took his parents, so he goes after them.... As I see it, the Batman is a totally separate personality to Wayne, the side to Wayne that he has boxed up in the costume in order to keep it under control. The change in voice when he is in the costume is a reflection of that, IMO. [huh]