I'm surprised there isnt a thread about the new Batman movie here yet. My wife and I saw it and both loved it! My only complaint was how Christian Bale talks as Batman. I think Batman is obviously a darker character than Bruce Wayne and he would talk in a darker tone, but I didnt like how his voice was over modulated to exaggerate the deeper voice. It was just slightly too much and I think it's just me but it looked like he was making a goofy face while trying to talk in the deeper voice... a minor criticism for otherwise a great movie. I loved Heath Ledger as Joker and I loved the dark and almost hopeless tone for the movie. My aunt and uncle both complained that the theater they saw it in was too loud and harsh. I dont know if that's just the soundtrack for the movie or if the employees there cranked it up too much. I thought the FX and sounds were perfect but I like loud movies. What did you all think of the newest Batman?

What did you all think of the newest Batman?

We'll see it this week. My son (15) saw it earlier with his buddies and said it was possibly the best action hero film he's seen and..... I trust his judgment on that count. I am looking forward to seeing Heath Ledger too. I had not thought too much of his acting skill until I saw the remake of "The Four Feathers" recently and he was excellent in it. It is truly sad he OD'd but I believe he has attained a sort of immortality based on what I've heard about his performance in this film.

I enjoyed the film a lot too...people actually clapped at the end...I did notice also the voice..kinda goofy.

I think the first movie got the voice right. This movie had such a real reality The Joker's philosophy was perfect. The scenes with him and Batman were amazing. The movie made me wonder how the @#$ is Batman going to solve this. Most comic movies danger isn't "real" like a drama. This had that tangible, I'm not sure this is going to turn out well. Like Batman could and possibly very well fail, and badly at that.

I didn't care about the Batmobile or anything else, I was really caught up in the story, and I love that batmobile.

The only thing I missed, is that little bit of "Myth" that I like about Batman, just that the edge of his abilities are not quite human. Batman "Dead End" caught some of that myth. Thats a nitpick for a movie of this caliber though.

I saw it Saturday and loved it!
Ledgers Joker was great, the FX were excellent and many of the stunts looked real not CGI.
The theater I saw it in (Arclight in L.A.) had it cranked so loud it nearly made my ears bleed during some of the explosions but I liked it that way.

I took his voice as being a deliberate attempt by Bruce Wayne to keep from being recognized, unlike the old TV show where somehow no one could figure out Batman and Bruce were one and the same despite a minimal disguise.

Oh yeah, and that pencil scene, awesome. :thmbsp:

i saw batman begins and really enjoyed it, best batman movie i`ve ever saw. i`m sure the new one is great, but all this heath ledger hype is annoying. he`s a novice actor at best sprung up from teenie bopper genre. his character (the joker) looks like a physical rip off of brandon lee in "the crow".

i`m sure if he would have lived batman would have launched his career to the moon, but he would have never touched the great character actors such as val kilmer and the legendary Gary Oldman

I saw it for the second time last Friday. Just a great performance from Heath Ledger..

The Batman voice was a bit deep but overall a great movie...

4 stars here...

Oh yeah, and that pencil scene, awesome. :thmbsp:

One of the best scenes in the movie IMHO, it really set up the Joker's personality well.

I saw it yesterday & was really delighted with it. Heath Ledger hit it out of the park.

I've seen it twice on Imax (for free! My company took me to a pre-screening, and then we went again to celebrate something). I think it is one of the best action movies ever put to film. It's also great to see it IN Chicago. I sat there half the going "ok, that's LaSalle St...hey, there's the BevMore wine store, hmmm, the new bat cave is over by where I live, I should stop in and say hi."

I'm actually amazed I didn't see them filming more than I did. I saw the crew's trucks, and the bat-light once, and remember them closing down lower Wacker for the truck-chase. And by the way, they really flipped that semi, that wasn't all CG. And the police headquarters is next door to the building I'm typing this in.

Simply awesome. Heath Legder made that movie. I feel silly now for liking the '89 film. THIS is what Batman should have looked like on screen.

Now time to go again...

I first saw it on IMAX and then saw it again at a local theatre. Not quite as cool at the theatre. Excellent movie though, my favorite this year.

i saw batman begins and really enjoyed it, best batman movie i`ve ever saw. i`m sure the new one is great, but all this heath ledger hype is annoying. he`s a novice actor at best sprung up from teenie bopper genre. his character (the joker) looks like a physical rip off of brandon lee in "the crow".

i`m sure if he would have lived batman would have launched his career to the moon, but he would have never touched the great character actors such as val kilmer and the legendary Gary Oldman

I'd always considered him a lightweight myself, but imho Ledger surpasses anything Kilmer's done. He deserves an Oscar. must see to believe.
and yes, movie and Joker remind one a bunch of 'The Crow' (a very underestimated movie).

but imho Ledger surpasses anything Kilmer's done. He deserves an Oscar. must see to believe.

your funny, :D you need to watch "The Doors"...........................

Although more of a drama than a silly comic book, it was one of the best of this genre that I have had the pleasure watching. The hype got me out to the movie theater (first time in 3 years!) and I thought it was great.

Heath Ledger may be considered a lightweight but his performance was fantastic. he brought out a real personality as the Joker and played it so well that you really got caught up in his character and not the hype and circumstances leading to his demise. A shame he won't have an opportunity to show what he was about but that's the way it goes.

Just my .02 but I would go again.

Barry

he brought out a real personality as the Joker and played it so well that you really got caught up in his character and not the hype and circumstances leading to his demise.

Yep, he played it serious too and not as the fool. My wife made the comment that his performance was "sad" as if the Joker truly had some deep, inner torture going on and that drove him towards his violent nature. After she said it, I had to agree with that observation. Anyways & whatever, I'll be back to see it again soon.

Has to be the best Batman movie yet...

Indeed very dark but oh so close to reality. The Joker is true to himself, never betrays his beliefs, and always coherent in his own twisted, sick way, and Ledger portrays it very convincingly.

I think the analogy with "The Crow" is right on , but as someone else said, that was a very underestimated movie.

I like all the responses! There's a little bit of everything in here.

I'm a fan of Heath Ledger long before Batman came out. He's been in a lot of good movies prior to playing the Joker that he's gotten aclaim for... Brokeback Mountain (if you are mature enough to get past the gay themes, it was well acted), The Patriot (as Mel Gibson's oldest son), and he was good in A Knight's Tale (which could have been a really good movie if they didnt have rock music in a medival setting). I think a role like the Joker would have gotten him Oscar consideration if not an actual nomination (it wouldnt have won I dont think) even if he didnt die because it was that good and it would have certainly launched his career from a young actor on the cusp to that of a true movie star.

As far as the rest of the movie goes, it had a good story although I think it lost focus a little because the antagonist of the movie switched between the Joker and Two Face when one main villian would have been good enough, but was still a good enough story to completely keep my interest. I loved the characters and actually cared what happened to them which is really rare in most movies. Like someone said earlier in the thread, it felt like there was a serious chance that Batman would fail (and in a sense he did). Good guys dont always win and you dont always need to send your audience home with a happy ending... but i'm sure most people went home liking this movie.

I think what I liked most about it was that it didn't feel like a comic book movie. It felt like something that, however unlikely, could happen. With somethingn like Superman, it's just fantasy and I never really feel like any of it matters. This just felt real, in an, of course, over the top manner.

Val Kilmer? Wha? "I don't like you, Maverick. You're DANGEROUS." "That's right ice...man. I AM dangerous."

Yeah, he's was never been in teen movie crap. Ha aha. Criticize Ledger's performance all you want, it's completely fair after you've seen the movie. I saw it, I think his performance was amazing. It brought sadness, depth, and a surprising amount of humor to a character that could have really easily just been a two-bit bogeyman type.

... and yes, The Crow was a great movie and ahead of its time. It was an edgy, dark movie when most action movies were goofy and campy and tried too hard to fit in one-liners. Brandon Lee was another young actor with lots of potential (at least in the blockbuster action genre) that was killed before really making his mark in hollywood. I believe he was shot on set when a real bullet was put in a gun instead of blanks and the conspiracy theorists want to blame the same chinese mafia that was supposidly responsible for the early death of his father Bruce Lee.

And all this talk of 'launching' Heath Ledger's career. He was one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, and was nominated for an Oscar. ???

Heath Ledger was already amazing in Brokeback Mountain.
Jimmy

And all this talk of 'launching' Heath Ledger's career. He was one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, and was nominated for an Oscar. ???

Heath Ledger was already amazing in Brokeback Mountain.
Jimmy

That's what I'm saying. He was already nominated for an Oscar... but I think this movie would have taken him from "young hollywood" to a true "A-list" actor.... his generation's big BIG star. I guess we'll never know.

What was amazing to me about his performance was the fact that the last thing I saw him in was Brokeback Mountain, and the Joker couldn't be more opposite in tone than his character in that movie. I mean night and day. Quiet, moody and silent to extroverted, insane, affected, madman. That's the sign of a great actor, not a Jack Nicholson (to bring it back to the Joker) doing the same performance in every single role. Ok, Nicholson is great and amazing at that one performance he does but you get the point. Ok, I forgot about "About Schmidt".

Haven't seen it yet, although I've heard a lot of good reviews. I'll see it once it hit's the shelves at Walmart, has been discounted and I can stretch my legs at home during the viewing.

On the Heath Ledger tangent, I thought he was great in The Brother's Grimm with Jason Bourne.


;)


Heath usually plays the heartthrob, but in this one, he plays the bungling nerd - a great departure role and a whole lot of fun.

Val Kilmer? Wha? "I don't like you, Maverick. You're DANGEROUS." "That's right ice...man. I AM dangerous."


and what about........"i`m your huckleberry", (Tombstone) kilmer`s greatest performance next to Jim Morrison. heath could never touch this guy dead or alive.

I see this thread converging on a point.....

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