The good:
1) Christian Bale. I have an undying, unfailing, unconditional love for him. While that is all that NEEDS to be said, I could go on and on. I love him as Batman, more as Bruce Wayne, because then he is not wearing the mask or doing the cheesy whisper voice. If Bruce were more creative, perhaps he could have just organize a singing-and-dancing-strike against the city's crime bosses, or danced his way to better neighborhoods, or just slaughtered them with a chainsaw.
2) Heath Ledger's performance was amazing, and lives up to the hype. It is also quite funny, while being creepy at the same time.
3) Maggie Gyllenhaal was an improvement over Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. While not quite as pretty, in my opinion, she is just a better actress, and I am not creeped out with her in real life.
The bad (SPOILERS AHEAD):
1) This film was a fast-paced, high-energy film. I could tell what parts were shot specificially for IMAX. But, those scenes made me feel a bit sick without the EXTRA giant screen, and I was literally THIS close to having a panic attack from watching it. I left there needing some sort of anxiety medication.
2) The movie was too long. I didn't mind that it was 2 1/2 hours. But this movie lost its fluidity somewhere along the way. It could have ended about 30 minutes earlier than it did, and left room for a sequel storyline to be established. Instead, as soon as we wound down, we picked back up and tied up a loose end.
3) Shockingly, this movie would go several scenes without Batman aka Bruce aka Christian Bale showing up on screen. Here I was thinking I was seeing a movie about Batman. Part of that complaint is just selfish, though, because I wanted more screentime with my 15 year long crush. It is summed up best by this card from someecards.com:
But I still liked it. I love Christopher Nolan's take on the franchise and adore the actors who have taken on the roles. I hope there is going to be a third.
5 comments:
Not enough Batman/Bruce? That's why I believe this movie should have been titled The Joker or The Killing Joke instead of The Dark Knight. Now that you mentioned the lack of Batman/Bruce on the screen, and that lots of people believed this is a great movie, that poses the question: "Who was great, then?" Why, it's Heath Ledger, of course. Despite I like the movie, deep down I felt a bit disappointed that the storyline offered too few twists and turns.
I just think it would be so unbearably sad to watch Heath Ledger. And his Joker makeup is very creepy. Plus, I'm not a huge Batman fan. Maybe I'll just watch it on DVD. Although I don't think these big summer blockbuster action movies translate well to the small screen. Maybe I need a bigger tv!
I just saw it last night and agree with most of your assessment. I love Christian Bale, too--but Batman isn't the best role to show off his talents. Unless, of course, he happens to be shirtless...
As you know, I finally watched the movie, so I rummaged around on your blog to find your review of it. I liked your suggestions for how Bruce Wayne could have defeated the crime lords with song, dance, or a chainsaw. He could have also made them disappear, as his magician character in The Prestige would have done.
I actually didn't even notice Christian's lack of screen time, I was loving the movie so much. Besides, what we did see of him, especially as Bruce Wayne, was very nice!
And strangely, watching the movie on IMAX didn't give me motion sickness. It really was spectacular to see those "for IMAX" scenes on the huge screen.
i still wish Katie Holmes had stayed on board as Rachel Dawes for the Dark Knight; it was like the time spent getting familiar with her character in Batman Begins was wasted...
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