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First 5 minutes of The Dark Knight!

swordpath

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Oh, lord. I'm personally thankful for that. These two movies have been too good to be concerned with shallow, pandering shit.

Hah, yeah, really I agree. But Catwoman does need to make an appearance... She's a main villain. I also want Penguin in the series, more so than Catwoman.

The Riddler is a favorite villain of mine, but I keep thinking of the campy television riddler and its hard to put that one in the current Gotham.
The Riddler is a real cool villain and despite his "campy" personality in the television series and the 'Batman Forever' movie (lol Jim Carrey), I think he has potential to kick some azz seeing as how they're doing a pretty good job with casting and the script thus far.

Perhaps, due to Ledger's untimely tragic death, people are subconsciously glorifying him, his role and the movie???

No. He just played the part well... I say that and I'm not even a "Ledger fan" per se. I think the only other movie I saw him in was 'The Patriot' and it was a minor role.
 

disregard

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Perhaps, due to Ledger's untimely tragic death, people are subconsciously glorifying him, his role and the movie???

I did not like Heath Ledger at all, and I was sure this movie was going to be lame.

Perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much.. I wasn't expecting to be impressed.

*notice the "did". I am a convert. ;)
 

Magic Poriferan

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We need Bane... an intelligent, brutal, freak Bane as he was in the Knightfall comics...

I was thinking about that... Only two problems:

How do we make the audience care? The big issue here is that it will be hard to throw in yet another villain and bring some sense of meaning with him( a problem for any new villain, really)

The publicists have their work cut out for them. Most people don't know Bane, and most of those who do will know him by his watered down depictions in the cartoons, or even worse, his insignificant part in Batman and Robin. :sick: They'll have a task they didn't have with the Joker and Two Face, in that they will have to introduce the character. They also won't have the crutch that Batman Begins had, where the villains didn't matter as much because it was a genesis story.

Hmmm... :thinking:


I suppose the mistake here is that we shouldn't even be asking who the next villain is. We should be asking what the concept of the next film is going to be, because without knowing that, we can't pick a villain that makes sense.

For example, in Batman Begins, as I pointed out, the plot is focused on the process of Batman becoming the legend that he is. It's the genesis story. The movie also has an abstract theme, which is fear. It's about how fear stifles and paralyzes people, but as Batman demonstrates, can also be redirected for the purpose of empowerment.

Then, The Dark Knight. The focus of the plot this time is Batman having his role in the city fully underway, and confronting the awful implications of the mantle he as taken up. He started it in the last movie, now he has to face it in this one. The abstract theme is chaos. With the reigns of fear removed from the city, everything goes nuts. It not only results in people trying to take stands and make power-plays all over the place, it allows openings for lunatics like the Joker. Is it worth it?

So... What is the plot focus and the abstract theme of the third film going to be?
And what color will it be? :laugh: Anyone notice that Batman Begins had a lot of yellow imagery, while The Dark Knight had a lot of blue imagery?
 

sassafrassquatch

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I think Catwoman and the Riddler could work well in the next movie. Neither are fantastical villains, a realistic plot could be created for them. The Riddler would have to be the dominant villain since Catwoman, she's a jewel thief, who cares? So the Riddler could terrorize Gotham while Catwoman is Batman's personal problem as he has work to do and wants to bone her but she's a criminal and he's a goody-goody.
 
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I was thinking about that... Only two problems:

How do we make the audience care? The big issue here is that it will be hard to throw in yet another villain and bring some sense of meaning with him( a problem for any new villain, really)

The publicists have their work cut out for them. Most people don't know Bane, and most of those who do will know him by his watered down depictions in the cartoons, or even worse, his insignificant part in Batman and Robin. :sick: They'll have a task they didn't have with the Joker and Two Face, in that they will have to introduce the character. They also won't have the crutch that Batman Begins had, where the villains didn't matter as much because it was a genesis story.

Hmmm... :thinking:

Well, as a true Batman fan (meaning I read the comics... in my case from the time I was old enough to read)... I appreciated the fact that they brought in R'as al Ghul... I think we need to take the movies as self-existent entities... for instance, Bane could be brought in just as he was in Knightfall, new and yet utterly frightening... lucifer ex machina, as it were. gotta leave now but will be back to talk about the 'tone' of the movies.
 

Ivy

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I just heard that on the radio and was going to post it here. Very weird. I had always heard what a family man he is. Maybe there's a grudge, whatever it is there's certainly more to the story than we know.
 

swordpath

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Yeah, I'm not typically one for celebrity gossip but I'm interested to know the story behind this.
 

Geoff

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I'm interested too! He always seemed to get on with his Mum, from what I can remember.

That's what celebrity will do for you.. don't imagine it's all smoke without fire if he was arrested.
 
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Perhaps, due to Ledger's untimely tragic death, people are subconsciously glorifying him, his role and the movie???

I sort of expected that this was true, because it really does happen all the time. But I found that both Ledger's performance and the film itself exceeded my expectations. It's probably the best superhero movie I've ever seen, even if I count Unbreakable, which may or may not count.

I did not like Heath Ledger at all, and I was sure this movie was going to be lame.

Perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much.. I wasn't expecting to be impressed.

*notice the "did". I am a convert. ;)

I agree. I cannot think of a role I enjoyed Ledger in before this movie, even his inexplicably (to me) nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain. When everyone started saying how great he was in this, I assumed that CaptainChick's theory explained it. But he was truly great in this, and also unrecognizable. If I saw this movie with no advance knowledge of who was playing the Joker, I could have sat there for days without answering "Heath Ledger".

As for the Christian Bale allegations, it's starting to look like a shakedown. I read that he's been estranged from his mother ever since she divorced his father and made him choose between them. The mother and sister showed up uninvited, and apparently more heated words were exchanged than shoves.
 

Synapse

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In some ways The Dark Knight was excellent.

Easily a quality movie to see because Batman and The Joker and the entire cast are intense and make the movie fantastic especially with the acting, special effects, and cinematography. I loved the way this interpretation progressed. Though I think what I most dislike only Maggie was given credible female presence and it wasn't enough. And that The Joker wasn't true chaotic, lawful chaotic maybe but truly chaotic he'd not be so predictable. The scenes where Batman had to choose reminded me of Spiderman and The Goblin scene, what did batman value more.
 

arcticangel02

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I am not really one for superhero movies (although I did enjoy Iron Man), and I can't remember whether I saw Batman Begins, so I was a little adrift for maybe the first hour or so, but once it got into it, it was actually really enjoyable. :nice:
 

spartan26

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I'm gelus. I will likely go see it next week. Tried to get tickets for IMAX and they were sold out a week in advance.
Did you see it on IMAX? Here's the nuts & bolts Entire opening scene shot on IMAX cameras.
I think a lot of people who die young in the entertainment industry have a kind of narrative built up around them about how talented they were.
I did not see Brokeback Mt but I know he had two strikes before it. That Oscar nod made him relevent, otherwise no way would WB had called after Damon opted out of the role. I actually wonder how far down the list he was.

The publicists have their work cut out for them. Most people don't know Bane...They also won't have the crutch that Batman Begins had, where the villains didn't matter as much because it was a genesis story.
I think the "crutch" was the Batman franchise itself. If you go back over the boxoffice records, starting in '89, the first three Batman movies broke the record for highest opening w/e box office receipts at the time of their release. The record again just broken on the 6th installment. Of course they'll have a big name as a villian but people are going to see Batman, even if they create a new character.

Scarecrow may be a pretty good bet. Bane also has high odds. The Eartha Kitt rendition of Catwoman would fit nicely.

We should be asking what the concept of the next film is going to be, because without knowing that, we can't pick a villain that makes sense.
So... What is the plot focus and the abstract theme of the third film going to be?
Too soon to tell. I wouldn't be surprised if Nolan directs a couple of films before he does another Batman, though I'm sure WB would like for him to come in w/a few ideas to pitch Monday morning.

I think the theme of destruction of society will be brought up again as it was in the past two. External on the first, from w/in on the last one.

**SPOILER ALERT**
It's kinda set up as Batman as the redeemer. What would he feel in this role?

**END SPOILER **

And what color will it be? :laugh: Anyone notice that Batman Begins had a lot of yellow imagery, while The Dark Knight had a lot of blue imagery?
I saw more purple and goldish brown and black in Batman Begins. Blue & black in Dark Knight. I imagine more blue/black but a heavier lean towards red early on in #3 and white towards the end. Save this post and see how dumb I look.
 

swordpath

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This has been stated and covered in the "First 5 Minutes of The Dark Knight" thread. ;)


In response to your question: God knows... Maybe they don't like him and want to get a hold of some of his money.
 

GZA

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This is a sort of mini-review I made in an e-mail to a friend...

-------
I loved it, but I have a few minor things I would have done differently. I didn't see the first one, by the way. I also know nothing about the Batman comics at all.

First, yah, Ledger was incredible. All the actors were great, but his character was so far removed from any kind of normal person and he did it so absolutely flawlessly that it just blew me away. It had so much subtlety in the lip licking and eye rolling and everything when he spoke. I bet his co-stars were scared shitless whenever he was in character. That said, I think the plot itself could have developed him a bit more, or at least push some of his actions/thoughts further. The scene with the boats could have been better. He said it was a social experiment, and I was hoping that the detonators didn't actually do anything and he just wanted to know if people would do it and then blow them all up anyway, as if he is just exploring a glitch in a game that has no effect on if the game can be beaten or not. But it ended up being what he actually said it was, which I don't think was nearly as cool as if he was just fucking with the world like a big toy. He did treat the world like that for the most part, but that scene fell just short of being mind blowingly orgasmic. I loved how he had no real background and made up stories about his past.

Two-Face was cool, but I don't think they developed him enough, because he wasn't Two-Face for very long. I really hope they use him in the next movie as the main villain and explore him as Two-Face more, because that would kick ass (even though he's supposed to be dead). Harvey Dent was an interesting character, and he made Bruce Wayne more interesting. To me, Bruce Wayne seemed torn between being sort of jelous or maybe annoyed that Harvey Dent was dating Rachel and really liking his politics (or at least that they allow him to not be Batman anymore). I really hope they use that as the foundation for the next movie's plot.

Most people seme to think this movie had more themes and ideas than most superhero movies. I think that is true, but I still think the themes in this movie could have been pushed further. It wasn't a theme based movie to me, it was just a really awesome action movie with some subtle themes. To really enjoy the themes, I feel like I'm overanalyzing it. They could have used the theme of hiding behind a mask and morality in much stronger ways where it was right at the front and centre of the plot and the scenes and everything. The characters all seem to have a different sense of morality, but they never totally duke it out as much as they could have. It could have been a very dark movie with dark themes and tragic heros eploring human anture, but instead it was a really kick-ass action movie with a few subtle themes.

I loved the Joker's humour though... it was very dark. The magic trick was amazing. I love my humour to be jet black. If I don't feel like I'm a murderer for laughing at it, I'm not satisfied!
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Ivy

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I saw it today. I really liked how the Joker kind of gives you a big ol' "fuck you" for wanting to know what made him that way.
 

swordpath

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