The Dark Knight (2008) (1 Viewer)

[DavidJ]

On second viewing, I had less of a problem with Gylenhall as Rachel. I think on the first viewing I was thrown off by the fact that it was not Holmes. I did not like Holmes performance in Begins, but it was a change that was a bit distracting. Seeing it a second time the newness and distraction was gone and I think she did a solid job in the role. It may still be the weakest link in the film, but that is not an insult in a movie of this caliber.

And whoever posted earlier about Oldman's Gordon being underrated is right on target. He is crucial to the film and delivers a great performance.

 

[Michael:M]

Actually, I think it's Bale who's underrated in this one. Ledger's getting deserved Kudos, Eckhart's getting rightly noticed, and I'm reading a lot of folks who are giving Oldman's performance as the solid, hopeful Gordon praises. Which are deserved.

But I think Bale does a lot with the role here; we feel his tiredness, his sense of being very alone, and his desire to get back to living without Batman...except he can't, for internal and external reasons. I think we're seeing what Rachel said in the first film becoming true: Bruce Wayne is merely a mask for Batman.

The moment when Batman pulls himself up from the parking garage; talking with the Joker in the interrogation room; being Bruce Wayne pretending to be a no-substance socialite at dinner with Dent and Rachel; and more moments. He didn't have to carry as much as the movie as he did in Begins, but I think he really brought a lot to the role.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Intially I was really bugged about them not using Barbara in that situation. I don't have a vivid memory of Year One, and honestly didn't know a son was in the comics.
I just rationalized the choice for two reasons:

-It's been less than a year since the events of Begins. In that film Barbara was still in a high chair,IIRC. Her age at this point would probably be too young too work well in the end sequence. (I am disappointed there wasn't even one reaction shot of her, which would have been nice to see)-Since casual fans will probably know about Barbara but may not know of the son, that leaves the character in a greater sense of jeopardy. "Maybe the reason I don't know him is because he was killed as a child?"
If Barbara had been established as older in the previous film it could have worked out.

 

[aldamon]

I have to say this scene bothered me the most. Not only do we not know what happened to everyone at the party, we also have no idea how Bruce knows Joker has crashed the party. One minute he's on the balcony and the next he's knocking out Harvey and sneaking off with Rachel. It seems like a lot of material was cut from that scene.

Besides nitpicks like this, this was a great movie. We've seen it twice already.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I agree wholeheartedly. His role is less showy (yes, it's weird typing that), but he's exceptional at conveying a man in total control under emotional siege. He plays very well with the other actors. His showy stuff was in BB, but he's the best actor to play the character ever. He's the center, and the other characters, even the Joker, orbit around him. I'm glad you brought him up. Seriously, this cast is one for the ages.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

It works great with the movie, but as a standalone listen it doesn't really have the structure to keep your attention. With Batman Begins there were longer cues and you had that great action piece from the Batmobile sequence. TDK is far more broken up and can be very quiet much of the time. It's still very good though, and I really like tracks 4, 8, and 10.

EDIT; Also, I caught a second viewing today and it reminded me of something. What was up with Batman's original costume? It looked HORRIBLE here, the mask was all stretched out around his nose and it looked like he could barely see out of the thing. Weird.

 

[Phil Florian]

I disagree. This was our first real post 9/11 movie to deal with terrorism in a way that isn't as obvious as doing a movie about Terrorists or 9/11 itself. By giving us a comic book terrorist doing things in funny makeup with a macabre sense of humor, we can look at it a bit differently. Look at the discussions we have today about terrorists that date back to the 60's and 70's. The whole discussion around "if we negotiate with the terrorists, we have already lost" mentality vs. the "let's just talk this through" mentality. I think it is very realistic for people to hold on to the idea that maybe, just maybe, people willing to blow themselves up (or wear makeup and hang fake Batmen from buildings) might have a line they won't cross or a reason to defuse if we can just figure it out. I think the movie handles this idea well. It is some of the meatier themes from this movie. There are always people willing to, as Jack said, dance with the devil.

 

[Nick Martin]

I loathe Zimmer's music, but I like that Zimmer's trademark synthetic brass sound was largely ditched in favor of real musicians. That's a step in the right direction. I have nothing against synthesizers but time and place, know what I mean?

The music in its more frenetic moments is sloppily performed (just like in Begins), and while I don't enjoy it outside of the film that much (except for Howard's Harvey Dent music and the overall tone for Batman) it works as a film score. WAY too loud at parts, but that could be toned down when the film hits store shelves. At least I hope it will.

 

[MikeRS]

"Gordon does have a son. That's who Bruce saved (as a faceless stranger) in Batman: Year One"


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[MikeRS]

Such a great moment. The audience was on the edge of their seats.

Bale definitely brings the fury.

 

[Patrick Sun]

 

[Patrick Sun]

 

[Brian D H]

Thank you Patrick! I almost busted a gut on those, but especially the interrogation.

 

[Marianne]

I agree that Bale might be feeling that his performance is not being recognized among all the other great performances in this movie. When he is discussing his role all the focus seems to be on Heath Ledger - which is understandable in the circumstances.

Maybe his frustration has boiled over:

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Batman star held over 'assault'

The incident took place on Sunday, the day before the UK release of the movie.

 

[Brian D H]

Maybe he lashed out when they couldn't understand what he was saying. (Sorry, I'm still laughing from the youtube video)

 

[Marianne]

This is a quote from Bale in a red carpet interview from the UK premiere:


This was after "the incident" and before his arrest on Tuesday.

 

[ThomasC]

n/m

 

[todd s]

With regards to the change in the suit from the beginning to the end of the movie. It was cool to see how he labored taking out the bad guys in the parking garage. Then at the end when he has the new more flexible suit he seems to fight better against the SWAT and kidnappers.

 

[Michael:M]

I had an entirely different read on his fatigue in the parking garage - I didn't attribute it primarily to the suit, but to the metaphorical weight of his crusade; his alone-ness and feeling that there's no one else to fight like he does. That quick, quiet moment of Batman straightening, taking a breath, and getting ready to leap down on Scarecrow's van was gold. Said a lot about where Batman was, internally.

 

[WillG]

You're certainly right about that.....alledgedly