Batman: The Dark Knight

[SkyLounger]

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.

[mpdhrd]

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.

[JohnVF]

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.

[mpdhrd]

... 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.

[JohnVF]

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. ???

[2DualsNotEnough]

Heath Ledger was already amazing in Brokeback Mountain.
Jimmy

[mpdhrd]

Originally Posted by JohnVF

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. ???

Originally Posted by 2DualsNotEnough

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.

[JohnVF]

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".

[dBfreak]

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.

[tensleep]

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.

[Kptn Howdie]

Originally Posted by JohnVF

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.

[soundmotor]

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