The Dark Knight

[KING GHIDORAH]

As the Title reads what are your thoughts and opinions on this film? Do you think it will live up to the hype? Whats your take on the cast? etc etc

Edited July 2, 2008 by KING GHIDORAH

[*Jess♥]

i feel like I don't like batman anymore.

I liked the ones that time burton did..

but these new ones seem a bit too 'standard'.. I mean batman doesn't seem speial at all. they don't really make the character anything special.

I much prefer the depiction of tony stark. similar characters, but tony stark just seems more interesting.

batman just seems like a guy who sulks a lot.

in hte old film, it seemed to add some depth to him with his odd humour on ocasion.

or rather.. the way he reacted to situations in a deadpan way.

[durendal]

I think that what they are doing here is to emphasize the begining of Batman. Batman is known to have the great detective skills and being always 2 steps ahead of everyone. But during these early years, Batman is still learning to adopt to his surrounding and his new persona. If I'm not mistaken, "Batman Begins" was based on the comic Batman: Year One with a mixture of others. His attitude and demeanor might be appropriate for the first movie. But in the second movie, I'm just not sure where they based this. I would like to see batman use his head more than his toys. And judging from the movie posters, I'm inclined to believe that this movie is a showcase of his toys. Better not judge before seeing the movie.

[*BananaKing]

I don't know if Christian Bale is making a bad batman, he's a good actor and if you read the Dark Horse Comics version of batman, Batman is darker and more grief stricken. These new batman movies aren't adding to tim burton's films, but rather starting a new version of the story, looking at it in more darker and realistic perspective. Tim Burton focussed more on how things looked, these new movies are exploring Batman's true persona: A warrior of the night who uses fear as his weapon rather than a superpower or a gadget. His only new gadgets appear to be a glider and the batcycle.

On a differant note, Heath Ledger as the Joker is proving to be quite an awesome joker. I don't know if you guys heard this before:

When the movie was still in production and Heath was cast as the Joker, he recieved a call from the legendary Jack Nicholson. Nicholson told Ledger that the role of the Joker was going to be too dangerous and that he couldn't do no matter how hard he tried. So apparently, Ledger decided to prove him wrong. So he decided to stay in character, even off the set. He made sure to get into the Joker's twisted mind by staying as the character 24/7. His friends were creeped out by him, always talking like the Joker and thinking like him. He'd also keep tons of journals, all in the Joker's mindset expressing the villains chaotic thoughts. Many believe that this was cuased by the constant drugs he took may have kept his mind in this constant state. All we can say is, that he's going to do a phenominal job as the joker. All though it cost him his life, his method may have been the key to becoming any character

[Larz Zahn]

i really liked batman begins brucewayne and batman. in all the comics i read of him, batman used the persona of bruce as a disguise, where him being the "bat" was his true nature. hince why he couldnt keep a steady girl. haha.

but i liked how he was all aloof and irresponsible in the movie.. buying hotels swimming in fountains. bad mouthing guests, he allowed his bruce persona to take hits and get publicity so he can get to the real business as the batman.

i do agree with durendel, i wanna see more of his near omnipotent intelligence then i do his new batgadget. i wanna see some csi mixed in with this movie.

jokers gonna rock, if they do it right and have him truely sinsister yet still have that... unique humor about him like in the cartoons played by mark hamil, if they can combine that with a joker more... scary than the jack nicholson joker.. then this joker will rock. and from all that i heard, this will be that joker.

i didnt know about nicholson calling him up nor did i know about his constant being in character... that would creep me out too.... but i read on the news that he died from a misuse of two specfic drugs... from what i heard doctors either didnt warn him or something but when these too drugs are combined.. it tells your lungs to quit breathing. i think.

its been a while. but i do know that both prescriptions he got from doctors. a pain killer and a sleeping pill.

[durendal]

Well, for one thing, I do hope that the story is as good as the titles name sake. Frank Miller re-imagined the image of Batman by giving him the title of Dark Knight, let's hope the movie not disappoint us. But at this stage, I'm not going to have a high expectation, lest I get disappointed.

[*BananaKing]

Dude, it won't dissapoint, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger are such good actors and they really worked hard on this film, they won't dissapoint us. I'm seeing it July 17th @ midnight!!!

[Larz Zahn]

Im taking off the day it comes out so i can see it matinee. and it wont disappoint im sure. but i think durandel has a great idea... lets go to this movie thinking its gonna suck, so when it rocks really really good we will all love it that much more!!!!

im just joking about u thinkin it sucks too. i understand the difference of low expectations and thinking it sucks. i just took... theateratical(?) license. i hate spellin...

hope i cleared that up a bit.

[durendal]

The actors are certainly not an issue. I know they will do a superb job portraying their roles. Christian Bale is certainly no Georce Clooney. (I hated clooney for protraying batman gay. Die clooney, die!!!) It's the story I'm worried about. Well, irregardless, I will see the movie. I'm dead set on seeing it when they announced it.

Edited July 6, 2008 by durendal

[Larz Zahn]

its more like die clooney, val kilmer, arnold, jim carey, tommy lee jones, uma thurman, and all teh other People who had a hand in... ruining a good story.... i love these actors... well... not uma but thats just me... i also dont like anglina jolie, but i digress. i love these actors but they just shouldnt of done those parts... espeically when they read the script... the script and the character portrayal's just reeked...

[Super Existence]

I was never keen on Batman Begins and this one looks even more dull. I t's got too many villains and characters and too hi-tech looking. Batmans gothic and this movie's set in the same city as Iron man or something with everyone driving flash looking Audi's.

Bale doesn't really look good as Bruce Wayne or Batman. I also think the batsuit looks WAY too hi-tech looking. If it didn't have the hood the cape and the gauntlets it would be something solid snake would wear.

[*Jess♥]

I just took a look at the website.

omg, that site is ridiculous... it took 5 minutes to load the friggin' website..

I don't wanna wait around for a page of information. the idea of a website is to quickly and efficiently deliver a message or information. that website completely fails..

anyway, i got to see the suit.. i agree, that's just wrong...

and the city itself.. well it's way too modern looking. I mean, there certainly isn't enough shadows, it's all lines and geommetry.

batman is supposed to be all about shadows and ambiguity. he is supposed to instill fear, how can he do that when the city is such a stark contrast against him.

gotham city is supposed to compliment batman as a character.

that's a thing about the first film that i didn't really like.. it showed that the criminals were afraid of him due to drugs.. it kinda downplayed everything that batman is supposed to be.

[Guest Unknown_Guyver]

I must say this... The first two Batman films were the best Tim Burton was the perfect person to direct while Michael Keaton played as Bruce Wayne was the best duo for the film series. Keaton I believe pulled off the best Bruce Wayne because he had the image of normal person but yet has this slight side to him what makes him look iffy.

I thought what made the first Batman film more interesting was that he was more of an anti hero rather than the typical good guy. This is the kind of Batman I always found appealing, the dark anti hero rather than what they made him out like in Batman: Forever and Batman&Robin both of them screwed up big time.

With Batman Begins they tried to bring back the Keaton style Batman but it just didn't work out because I don't believe it had that appeal like the old one did because it's too hi-tech as SE said.

The Dark Knight appears to look like its copying the Tim Burton '89 film, because someone on youtube or gametrailers actually did a comparrasion between the latest Dark Knight trailer and the old trailer for Burton's Batman. They look quite identital and I personally think the film might flop if it don't, it would most probably be due to out of respect for it having Ledger in it.

[durendal]

For the non-burton batman, it's all the fault of the director. Schumaker killed the batman franchise. Nipples on armor? What the hell?

I do agree that the Burton Batman was good. Burton being known for his dark and gothic interpretation, which is suitable to the setting of Batman's background and character. With Batman Begins, I think what they were doing was to depict the characters and settings as close to reality as possible, which would be quite a difficulty for Burton because of his imagination and his knack for experimenting. The Nolan Batman would fit into the category of realism, except that the costume designers had way too much fun. to be honest, I'd prefer the costume of the fanmade batman movie in Youtube, where you only see a cloth costume and all the muscles are pure flesh, not the synthetic type (see Batman Dead End on youtube. company firewall restricts me from searching it myself right now. Check this link instead: metacafe). What really amazed me was how detailed his cape was when he was trying to get up coming from a jump. How he blends in the shadows and how smooth his cape moves. See how relatively effective simple lightings would do without the neccessity of fancy gadgets and designer armor. I wish hollywood would learn from this.

[*BananaKing]

Thats just thing, People like flashy gadgets and awesome fights with lots of kick ass explosions and fists flying everywhere. Sadly Batman has to suffer from this as well, because the directors want to appeal to not only Batman fans, but those who aren't familiar with the story and want to see a good action film. If anyone is at fault here, its the People

[*Jess♥]

not people. hollywood.

yeah, I thought batman dead end ws pure genius.

that guy ws perfect for batman. the right physique and everything.

and that joker was awesome.

those People deserve to make the feature film instead.

[Super Existence]

I also despise the new batmobile and I do mean DESPISE. They're trying to root everythign batman has too much in reality when it doesn't matter where his stuff came from. It isn't relevant to his character or the plot, he's a multi millionaire. Who gives a damn?

Also what's the Bat Bike he rides in? It look like a complete ripoff of Batman Begins when the Batmobile goes through that alley sheds it's sides and turns into the bat bullet only less good.

I think the biggest mistakes they're making are stylistic ones they are trying too hard to root batman into today's reality and it's such a ludricous concept there's no point. That's why Burtons worked so well, it was in all respect a fantyasy film set in film noir gangster backdrop which was perfect and it hasn't been beaten yet. My only gripe with the Burton movie was it was a little slow and The Joker did upstage batman here and there but it still hasn't been beat.

It really wound me up though when it came out and suddenly THAT was the greatest comic book movie ever made. Now that it's been out for some time most People are seing it's weaknesses and the same will happen with this one too probably.

I mean come on. If the sequel wasn't coming out most People would have utterly forgotten about Batman Begins just as they did with King Kong.

Something's new that makes it amazing...Yeesh.

[*YoungGuyver]

I still love Batman Begins.

And as modern as the environment was, they still let Batman hide in the background. I mean, take the highway, a modern highway, and the batmobile faded into the shadows.

Take the scene where Scarecrow goes into the apartment to burn it down. Batman was standing in the background, and nobody noticed because he was in shadows. Or the dock scene, where for 3/4 of it, nobody could find the batman, he was intentionally freaking them out by again, hiding in the shadows and whatnot. THIS is batman. This is the way he fights, and how it should be filmed.

I think the only thing the drugs really did in the first film, was possibly explain why so many People would do something stupid, like take up a secret identity to be a super villain. But thats just me. That, and help People spread rumors about him. Help make him an urban legend.

[Guest Serious Senryaku]

I thought Batman Begins was the best one yet, surpassing Tim Burton's first Batman, which was my favorite for a long time. To me, I found it to be the most "realistic", which isn't saying much because this is fiction and Hollywood, but there was a certain "dark realism" about it that I liked. But my enjoyment of it also stems from the fact that I absolutely despised the previous two films (in short, the ones with Robin, but that wasn't the only reason) and was heavily awaiting Batman's redemption on the big screen.

I cannot wait for The Dark Knight. It is probably one of my most anticipated movies in a long time. But at the same time, after watching the trailer an unhealthy amount of times to sort of catch a glimpse of the story, I have my doubts. I remember how long I waited for the new Indiana Jones, and except for a few parts, that movie fell flat on its face. Still, you'll see me there on opening night

[durendal]

One thing about sequels, is that they owe it to the first movie. it is a rarity that the sequel do better than the first movie.

With the first batman franchise, we see the first movie (Batman) being better and it's last sequel (Batman & Robin) as the worst. Hopefully with Nolan in the helm, this won't be a trend.

If they want to showcase the gadgets of Batman, fine, they can do that, Batman's gadgets in the comics are way to unbelievable, but they are not to focus of the story. In the Dark Knight Movie, even though he has new gadgets, I don't want them to waste quality story time to feature a new bike riding through the highway showcasing it's thingamajig. Realsim isn't really much of an issue, it's the detective skills thats most important.

One thing I regretted in Batman Begins, Ra's Al Ghul never called Batman "Detective".

Or did he? I forget.

[*BananaKing]

Say what you want about the dark knight, but Indy 4 (except for the ending) was great! I thought Batman Begins was great, I just liked this whole new aspect of taking the whole idea of batman and throwing it into a whole new perspective. Say what you guys want about The Dark Knight, until we see it, I don't think we should say its gonna be bad

[durendal]

We're not saying that it will be bad. It's more like based on the trailer that was being shown, we won't be expecting much. If the movie would be great, then there would be a greater impact to me. I can say that most of us are saying that batman should be like this and batman should be like that, but in the end, I think everyone will still watch the movie.

[Larz Zahn]

i dont think anyone here is dissing dark knight yet, thats gonna happen after it comes out, and only if it doesnt meet everyones criteria. i myself am very picky. heres what im looking for.

his detective skills in action, with him going thru all sorts of sciencey and technical blah to get the answer, then ending the problem thru violence, i like that sorta math.

his new gadgetry. im with durandel, its really hard to take some of his tech seriously, but in the comics his skin tight suit is probably so hi-tech it probably makes the movie suit look like a tonka toy.... that may be why they're goin with the suit's armor version. ya know, to give it the same effectiveness it has in the comics but to also make it look believable. i dunno.

ok this is the most important.

joker.

they are going to have to nail this character or i will hate it. this is the anti batman villain... if they dont get him right or if they kill him, i will not be happy. hes gotta be like, wow he is soooo evil and mean. but at the same time hes gotta be like... holy crap thats freakin hilarious!!!!

im picky. sue me.

and his moviemobile looks sorta like his newest bmobile combined with the no mans land mobile. but you gotta close one eye and turn ur head at an angle.

[*BananaKing]

Well I'm sure they're gonna have him make a satirical comment here and there but I think what more People are interested in is the insane side. From my opinion; Nichalson didn't do a good job of making us believe that the Joker was crazy; from what I've heard, Ledger nailed the insane part. I wouldn't be too worried about the Joker, though. Everyone knows that the joker is a psychopath that loves the make jokes, so thses guys won't screw him up.

I am in agreement with you all in one aspect, I've been watching the old Batman cartoons, and I do wish they did put in the detective side of batman in these moves, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. If they didn't do it in the last movie, I doubt the People making this movie would want to throw their Batman into a new tangent, I think they'd be too afraid of the public seeing it as a let down. Ironically, I think a lot of People feel the opposite way and want to see the detective side a little bit more. But I don't think it would fit the first movie if Ras Al Gul (sp) called batman, "Detective" like he did in the cartoon.

As for gadgets, everyone has gadgets. Everyone has them and everyone uses them, theres no escape from it. Its Hollywood's way of saying, "look how cool we are and how cool we can make things look!" I agree though, the Bat-Bike is kind of stupid, but they wanted to expand on his modes of transportation. After all, Batman did have a boat and a jet!

[Guest DekaRed]

you know whats daft about this whole detective thing?...

the fact that these movies are trying to go back to the basics of batman, and yet batman started in DETECTIVE comics. that was the whole point of him. lol