Post by Alf on Sept 17, 2008 16:43:44 GMT -5
THE DARK KNIGHT – A REVIEW
Ok, so this is my first review of any movie. . .at least online.
Recently the wife and I went to see The Dark Knight. I’m a huge fan of Batman Begins, so I was psyched to see this bad –boy! All the hype and extreme excitement made this movie seem like the second coming or something. Even comparing it to HEAT and THE EMPIRE STIKES BACK. Those are BOLD statements, but I went in with normal expectations. So, what I did I think? Well, it’s a good movie. . . .not a great movie. Some are calling it ‘the greatest comic book movie ever made.’ I whole heartily disagree! This movie had awesome achievements, but it has major flaws.
[ MAJOR SPOLIERS AHEAD SO IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE SKIP THIS SECTION] First, it was too d**n long! They could have cut at least 30 minutes from the movie. . . . you know I’m right! They had so many unnecessary sub-plots it was ridiculous, For example: the whole thing with the Chinese guy? They could have cut that whole thing out and it would have never affected the movie as a whole. Harvey Two-Face, they should have ended Harvey’s part in the hospital after the Joker left. That would have been an awesome set up for the third movie! Both, the thing with Gordon’s family and Harvey, and the guy who knows Bruce is Batman, were the stupidest parts of the movie. These are the reasons why I never liked Chris Nolan (Writer /Director), besides not knowing how to stage fight scenes, he doesn’t pace his movie well (Batman Begins and The Prestige are exceptions), the latter gave me hope that I would like him as a filmmaker, but he’s back to his old ways with this movie. With its flaws, there were some triumphs. The late Heath Ledger as The Joker. Man ol’ man, he saved this movie for me. His portrayal was spot on. Now, I don’t know if it was Oscar caliber, but d**n, he was good. I won’t go in to what he does in this movie, but he made The Dark Knight what it is. As for the other performances, Bale did the same good work he did in Begins, but his Batman voice was starting to get my nerves by the third act. On the other hand his Bruce Wayne was perfect. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes was an odd choice at first, but I can see why. The role needed someone who could play mature, and Katie Holmes just wasn’t believable. But I have a feeling if she had come back, and what happens to the character stayed the same, there would have been applauses. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent was ok. Michael Caine and Morgan Freedman did their parts respectively.
Overall, The Dark Knight would be an 8 out of 10 stars movie. It has some great moments (the truck and BatPod scene), but it’s not a great movie. And it is not, I repeat! NOT THE GREATEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE EVER. I think we have yet to see it. Can anyone say, WATCHMEN?
Ok, so this is my first review of any movie. . .at least online.
Recently the wife and I went to see The Dark Knight. I’m a huge fan of Batman Begins, so I was psyched to see this bad –boy! All the hype and extreme excitement made this movie seem like the second coming or something. Even comparing it to HEAT and THE EMPIRE STIKES BACK. Those are BOLD statements, but I went in with normal expectations. So, what I did I think? Well, it’s a good movie. . . .not a great movie. Some are calling it ‘the greatest comic book movie ever made.’ I whole heartily disagree! This movie had awesome achievements, but it has major flaws.
[ MAJOR SPOLIERS AHEAD SO IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE SKIP THIS SECTION] First, it was too d**n long! They could have cut at least 30 minutes from the movie. . . . you know I’m right! They had so many unnecessary sub-plots it was ridiculous, For example: the whole thing with the Chinese guy? They could have cut that whole thing out and it would have never affected the movie as a whole. Harvey Two-Face, they should have ended Harvey’s part in the hospital after the Joker left. That would have been an awesome set up for the third movie! Both, the thing with Gordon’s family and Harvey, and the guy who knows Bruce is Batman, were the stupidest parts of the movie. These are the reasons why I never liked Chris Nolan (Writer /Director), besides not knowing how to stage fight scenes, he doesn’t pace his movie well (Batman Begins and The Prestige are exceptions), the latter gave me hope that I would like him as a filmmaker, but he’s back to his old ways with this movie. With its flaws, there were some triumphs. The late Heath Ledger as The Joker. Man ol’ man, he saved this movie for me. His portrayal was spot on. Now, I don’t know if it was Oscar caliber, but d**n, he was good. I won’t go in to what he does in this movie, but he made The Dark Knight what it is. As for the other performances, Bale did the same good work he did in Begins, but his Batman voice was starting to get my nerves by the third act. On the other hand his Bruce Wayne was perfect. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes was an odd choice at first, but I can see why. The role needed someone who could play mature, and Katie Holmes just wasn’t believable. But I have a feeling if she had come back, and what happens to the character stayed the same, there would have been applauses. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent was ok. Michael Caine and Morgan Freedman did their parts respectively.
Overall, The Dark Knight would be an 8 out of 10 stars movie. It has some great moments (the truck and BatPod scene), but it’s not a great movie. And it is not, I repeat! NOT THE GREATEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE EVER. I think we have yet to see it. Can anyone say, WATCHMEN?