Dark Knight Spoiler Session.
So, the Dark Knight has come and comic fans and moviegoers everywhere are flooding theaters in what is already a record breaking weekend. Many fans have already seen the movie, many have not. For those that have and want to talk about it, here is a thread to discuss it; and let the spoilers fly. For those of you who haven't seen it and want to remain spoiler free, you might want to avoid this until after you see the movie.
So what's the verdict? Like it? Hate it? Something in between? Should Heath Ledger get a posthumous Oscar for his performance? Do I have to ask anymore overused questions? Talk!!
Elf Girl
Posted to on 20 July 2008
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: Dark Knight, movies
I miss Heath.
Why is it always the amazing ones that die young?
it was amazing. I just saw it today and it totally blew my mind. Heath was fabulous, all that and a bag of radioactive chips... The world lost an incredibly talented actor.
Yeah, seriously. :(
He was so good in this movie too. If I didn't know it was him, there's no way I would have known; totally different than anything he's played.
And his Joker is THE definitive Joker for me; scary psychotic, yet funny. And when he makes you laugh, you feel bad about it. Absolutely perfect.
I just looked at the credits on IMDB and found out that the daughter Gordon has is just called "Gordon's Daughter". I was kind of irritated that the son was the focal point between the two kids, as it would have been fantastic for the fans if Barbara had been in his place. I mean, with the son's interest in Batman, it would have been perfect if it was little Barbara Gordon. But the whole "Gordon's daughter" being her credited thing was kind of a sting. :P They don't have to have Batgirl in any upcoming movies, but an acknowledgment would have been fantastic.
I have more things to say as I think of them. ;)
Oh, I was also hoping that the certain detective was Montoya. In fact, I was sure it was until they said otherwise. :P I was glad it wasn't when you find out she sold out Rachel, even if it was to protect a family member. Maybe next time. :P
I must start by saying this is my favorite of the Batfilms to date - for the record I didn't care for the last one. Loved the first and second Tim Burton films and have enjoyed every actor to wear the Bruce Wayne mantle - although haven't liked all the films.
Now on to this film:
1) Heath was great but wasn't it really Aaron Eckhart's film? It was a pitch perfect Joker but I found the Dent arc far more appealing and interesting. Did anyone else find it odd that all the Dent/Two-Face lead up and then that ending????? Being that spoilers are okay - this better be a 'fake out' and he better be in Arkham - or why bother with ALL the exposition? Harvey got better exposition then I felt Bruce did in the last film -which I must re-state I didn't really care for all that much.
2) Who didn't see the re-casting equaling a death scene for Bruce's lady love but applauded the fact that an actress who could act it was playing the role?
3) Found the moments of violence perfect in the horror of where my imagination took me. Very uncomfortable - in the way one wants in a great film.
4) Very glad it wasn't Montoya - would have been really great (note sarcasm) for one of the coolest female characters to be added to the Batverse and one of the only lesbians to become a big old trader. Although having her look like Montoya (which she really looked like in the animated film that was meant to bridge the gap between movies) added a nice, I assume unintentional, touch to Gotham Centrals' - Half a Life arc. Talk about a future twist for old Two-Face... falling in love with a lesbian woman who is the spitting image of the woman who helped kill his GF.
5) the Barbara Gordon thing - don't get me started. I seem to remember in the last film Gordon referring to the baby as Barbara. I also remember in the last film being annoyed by "Jimmy". But I was much more annoyed at this one.
I wonder how long until a feminist comic fan does a nice piece on how a 'real world' view of Gotham reduces the female roles to a dead girlfriend, a trader, and character left to cry in her mom's arms.
Barbara would have been a nice way to wink to the history of the Batverse in the comics while slightly changing the mythos in a fun way.
Instead Daddy and 'son', who I can't remember in the comics but know he existed at some point, get the bonding moments. Comic book readers know the truly deep parent/child relationship in that family is Babs and Dad.
It annoyed me as a female comic fan who didn't go to the movie dragged by some boy or because of some sick need to see Heath's last film role. Just seemed like a way to endear the 12 year old boys more and not put a little girl power in their too.
Bend the mythos if you must but with something like that it disappointed me that such a fact was the one to get bent. They don't EVER have to give Batman his "team" but to not wink to such a major one is sad to a huge fan of said character.
Other than that plot point and the fact that I think Eckhart isn't getting his due - LOVED IT!
They never said Harvey was dead...they implied it, but it wasn't ever confirmed. While it's not necessarily anything more than a coincidence, I think they can just say they put him in a secluded ward of Arkham to heal up from the fall. I really hope he's back for the third film (and story wise it would make sense to clear Batman's name).
I do agree Eckhart did quite well, but in terms of acting, I think Ledger did better. It's not because of his death, but because of his acting. I couldn't see anything recognizable as Heath Ledger in the Joker, not his voice, not his mannerisms, nothing. Aaron Eckhart I could still see a bit of the personality I've seen in other movies and in person. This isn't to say his role doesn't deserve praise (and hell, I think he should get at least an Oscar nod, too), I just thought Ledger's Joker was better.
"I wonder how long until a feminist comic fan does a nice piece on how a 'real world' view of Gotham reduces the female roles to a dead girlfriend, a trader, and character left to cry in her mom's arms."
Which is disappointing considering Rachel Dawes isn't the typical "damsel". She freaked out, but barely screamed when she was pumped full of fear toxin, kept a kid safe when Arkham inmates escaped, stood down the Joker, and kept her wits about her when she knew she was going to die.
The positive female roles had such potential, but it's lessened by those other things.
I loved both Eckhart and Ledger in the movie, I thought they really put all of their craft into those two characters. Ledger, as Elf Girl said, is completely unrecognizable; he doesn't look the same or sound the same as Heath Ledger the man did. But while I had heard praise about Ledger long before seeing the film, critics and reviewers were mum on Eckhart's role as Dent/Two Face, and it completely blew me away when I saw him on screen. After seeing him in very average-joe roles like in Thank You For Smoking and No Reservations I wrote Eckhart off as pretty non-descript, but the emotion he put into the character just floored me. It was especially scary after his transformation into Two-Face to see one half of his face completely mauled and the other half of his face filled with despair- I was actually paying more attention to the Dent side of his face than the Two-Face side!
What really irks me about this is that Eckhart is being completely ignored by reviewers. And I'm not just saying as compared to Ledger, who of course is going to be the main point of the reviews both because of his talent and his death. But I've read more reviews that talk about GARY OLDMAN's performance than Eckhart's. Come on, guys, we've SEEN Oldman do the part, there's no mystery there. Give Eckhart his due!