Easily the best film of the summer, The Dark Knight is the most hyped as well. In a brilliant marketing campaign, Warners began sometime last year to tease us with images of Heath Ledger as the Joker. Since he died, there has been a campaign building steam to get him the nomination for Best Supporting Actor based partly on his performance and, inevitably, partly on the fact that he died before his time.
And the fans have gone nuts. Searching for images, I ran across dozens of comments gushing praise for the film from folks who, let’s just say, need a little perspective in life. Here’s an example from an anonymous poster at another site:
Well, having saw The Dark Knight last night, I can say that my life is changed and the hype didn’t live up to the movie. The movie was better than the advertisement makes it out to be. So whoever wrote that little shit column can go start hating on the next blockbuster’s hype and marketing campaign.
I would also like to voice my dissent of *****’s opinion. I have now watched the movie three times in three days, and each time it stays just as amazing. There is no amount of hype in the world that could have come close to the actual mind-blowing sensation that is that movie. And frankly, I don’t think it would too unfair to nominate Heath Ledger, maybe even give him the Oscar, because his character is so amazing. And, *****’s friend who said it was flawless was correct.
(Note that the names have been changed to protect the blogger from whose site I stole these comments)
Of course, these are the things that Summer blockbusters are made of . . . drooling fanboys (and girls) watching the movie multiple times, fighting amongst themselves about whether it’s the Second Coming of Movies As We know Them or just merely excellent. I say let the games continue . . . whichever side you’re on, it’s always good for the biz when an imaginative, above average piece of film-making makes a pile of money. It increases the chances that Hollywood will make more.
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In theory, Rick, I agree that we need more good movies. However, as an adult, I’d like to see some good movies that actually cater to MY tastes. When I go on IMDb and look at the daily question, I know that fanboy tastes will decide who is the greatest actor today (Johnny Depp) and best director (Peter Jackson), etc etc. Not that these polls mean a lot, but the sensibility of the online film world is decidedly fanboy, as in male, young, and action-oriented. As a L.A.M.B. member, what options have I been given for group participation? Imaginary battles with filmdoms top action heroes! Puleeze!
You mean, Marilyn, you’re not a 23-year-old male? I couldn’t agree more about the LAMB stuff … I don’t participate because imaginary battles between fictional characters don’t float my 50 (something) year-old boat. The LAMB has been good to me — thanks, Fletch — because it’s jump-started the readership of this blog.
Unfortunately, Summer is a time when there’s nothing much of any adult interest coming out (although this adult likes the odd superhero movie as well as more serious fare). We just have to wait until the Fall … or stack up the Netflix queue!
I’m not a fanboy (never read any comics, really) and I pretty much agree with the comments you quoted.
Cine, I KNOW you’re not a fanboy … you’re a discerning, mature movie critic.
And, you’re a snappy dresser!
There’s something a bit immoral about using a death as a way to promote how dark and awesome your movie is. The rumor that says that Ledger went crazy because of his part in Dark Knight is a prime example.
Whitney, I agree … there’s something slightly slimy about using Ledger’s death, although it was perhaps inevitable given the circumstances. As was the rumor — I doubt it was spread by anybody from Warners — that Ledger went nuts.
THE DARK KNIGHT is a great, great picture. I haven’t read a comic since I was 10-years-old, but I still think this movie is the best I’ve seen in a theatre all year.
I’m thinking a BEST SCREENPLAY would be appropriate. Possibly supporting actor too. Not only for Ledger, but for Oldman as well.
PS. I live in Chicago, so of course it was extra nice to see my city on display for all the world to see.
Hey, Joe –
It is a fine film, although I don’t think it’s a masterpiece. What I love are the brooding, dark atmosphere, Heath Ledger & Gary Oldman’s performances and the warped humor.
I think, on the other hand, the action set pieces are incoherent. Take the finale … please! You can’t tell WHAT’S going on, even with Lucius’ gizmo. Nolan hasn’t learned how to stage an action scene since his last Batman. He oughta just hire a great second-unit director and be done with it.
Rick – That’s exactly what Rod, my blog partner, said in his review.
Yeah, great minds DO think alike!
Ron Silliman’s blog carries a less than amorous review. He has problems with the pace of the movie always being the same. There are no lingering moments at all. Now that he pointed it out, I agree. There were certainly some scenes that could have used the space for a deeper exploration.
I think he was trying to get that balance of summer movie-ness, which values moving along, and a yet leave some space for pondering.
Rick-
While he’s no Peckinpah or Speilberg, the action has greatly improved since BEGINS.
I understand what you mean about the last scene. It is a bit sloppy. But, the car chase, and the hand to hand combat scenes were certainly worth their visceral thrill.
His action does fall in line with the Greengrass style a bit more than I prefer, but he’s not as bad.
The problem with both of those directors is they have no sense of geography within the action set-piece. Quick cuts alone don’t create tension. It’s making the audience understand the danger involved within the sequence.
Still, I feel this movie was great. Mostly because the action was a back-seat to the performances, writing and structure.
I love this picture!
One of his big problems in the action department is difficulty grounding the scene spatially. He cannot seem to keep us cued as to where everybody is in the scene. In an action sequence, that is absolutely critical. Paul Greengrass’ action scenes, as shaky as they are, are still (usually) very clear about the spatial relationships of the various parties.
This deficiency of Nolan’s was evident in the first sequence with the multiple batmen (I liked Cillian Murphy’s cameo), in the chase sequence, and (especially) in the penultimate sequence in the glass building. As I said, I couldn’t figure out what was what in that scene to save my life.
Maybe it’s an editing problem; if so, he oughta fire the editor. Maybe it’s a coverage problem, not getting enough shots from enough angles so the editor can put together a coherent sequence.
That said, I like the film, as will be clear if I ever get my full review written.
Rick – I’m way late to this party, but then I held off seeing “The Dark Knight” till last night (Gasp! Imagine such a thing – a cinephile waiting to see a blockbuster until half a week after the opening!)
Anyway, I think you and Joe very aptlly describe my own frustration with the all-over-the-place action sequences. I also thought it was a good 30 minutes too long, and didn’t so much have a developed story as one-damned-thing-after-another series of explosions and murders.
Even so, there were some flashes of brilliance and near-brilliance (particularly in Leger’s performance) and overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie.
Pat, you’re always welcome around here. And I agree — it probably was a bit too long, but I didn’t notice it as much as other things. I actually thought the story was one of the film’s better elements: complex and interlocking, it continued on from Batman Begins and advanced several of Nolan’s themes through the plot machinations (albeit rather heavy-handedly). The dialog, where he wasn’t being preachy was smart and the humor — though black — was pretty funny.