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holy s***...i just came back from this movie....just. wow. that may have been the best movie i have ever seen in my life. if you havent seen it. go. now.

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

It was my assumption before I saw that movie that I was just going to march right up back up to box office and grab another ticket for another showing, but I just couldn't. This is a movie that is simply too powerful to be seen more than once in one day. I'm gonna be spending the rest of this afternoon just shaking of the...well...shakes it gave me!

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I saw it last night at midnight. It was so ridiculously intense.. .that I definitely want to see it again, but not right now. I still need to recover from last night. Give Heath Ledger that ****ing Oscar. He deserves the first posthumous nom since the guy from Network - like James Dean or something. Totally incrediculous.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. This was easily Nolan's masterpiece. It's everything Batman is supposed to be and then some. Not only in terms of the way it was filmed, not only because it was a brilliant performance by every single one of the actors, not only because it was extremely well written and delivered, but because it truly felt like they captured the spirit, finally, of Batman.

It was one hell of a ride and I can't wait to see it again.

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Okay, but there was a goat!

I went with my roommates today, and told them, "Wow! The only bad thing about this movie is that it's going to be, like, a year before it's gonna be on DVD!"

Fantastic, start to end. Character continuity relatively preserved. In the original comic book series, Harvey Dent was the prosecuting attorney on the Boss Maroni Case, but had acid thrown into his face by Maroni while he was on the stand. This is not as it happened in the movie, but for all intents and purposes, all the actions lead to a similar end. Excellent CG work on Two-Face as well.

I also like that they let character's morality interject into the "coolness" factor of things that really aren't, such as:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Lucius Fox's desire to not use, operate, or work in the same building as the sonar phone tracking device Bruce creates.

^^You know they're gonna market the hell out of that in toys tho...

I also don't want to see anyone else other than Heath Ledger play The Joker, but as it seems he could possibly make appearances in other movies (if they decide to make them), that could be an issue. Amazing final acting job.

Also, the way that they "coined" the term, "Dark Knight" was very original. I liked that.

I want to see a new Riddler or Mad Hatter, with Batman playing a game of chess as the Black Knight, mostly as it was depicted in Batman: The Animated Series. They've proven lifesize chessgames work with Harry Potter, so let's see it done!

Also, in the spirit of, Will They Make Another? Do you think they'll introduce Robin? Will it be Dick Greyson? Will they stick to his story? And who would play him?

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If internal struggles were as enjoyable and glamorous as the self conflicted wars within video game characters, we would all be statues, reveling in perpetual self war. -Me

Play me on Rock Band 2, GH-WT, or any other Xbox GH!
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Christian Bale has said from the beginning that he will not play Batman in any script that has Robin.

I'd like to see a new interpretation of The Riddler, as he and The Joker are my two all-time favorite Batman villains. Of course, if there's a sequel with the same cast and crew, it will probably strongly feature Two-Face (not a bad thing).

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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Quote (leilong @ 18th July 2008 20:15)

Also, in the spirit of, Will They Make Another? Do you think they'll introduce Robin? Will it be Dick Greyson? Will they stick to his story? And who would play him?

As much as I would love to see Dick Grayson represented in film format in a way that actually does him justice, (Batman Forever was terrible) I don't think we can be expecting that any time soon. Nolan himself has said that he has no desire of bringing in the Robin character, as he feels there is no way he could preserve the essence of Batman with him involved and does not want to have to resort to the campy-ness that comes with a sidekick.

I love Dick Grayson, don't get me wrong, Nightwing is one of my favorite heroes to date, but I don't think they could possibly fit his complex story into film format without ruining it.

Personally, I'd love to see a return of Catwoman to the big screen, in a way that is not butchered (Hale Berry, god, why?!) and I wouldn't mind at all seeing a new Riddler. Speculation has been going around that if another film happens, it would involve the Penguin. At some point, I'd love to see Bane given a second chance with his "true" personality portrayed, as he is both brilliant and terribly strong.

I've heard rumor that one of the animation teams that did Batman: Gotham Knight is developing an animated adaptation of the "Hush" arc, which would be unbelievable if done properly.

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Okay, but there was a goat!

havent seen it yet but i cant wait. i hope its better then the first but so far i think it will be better then iron man.

I absolutely love this movie. I saw it at midnight with a few friends of mine who were really pumped about it. Initially, I was a little skeptical about it, mainly because I'm just getting sick of all these super hero movies that don't live up. But as soon as Dark Night got going, I saw that this movie stands above every other superhero movie.

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Quote (laszlow @ 18th July 2008 20:23)

Of course, if there's a sequel with the same cast and crew, it will probably strongly feature Two-Face (not a bad thing).

wait a second....

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

harvey dent died in the dark knight, so how could they have a two-face in the sequel?

anyway, jim carrey ruined the riddler for me...i'd like to see a decent clayman, or a live remake of the mask of the phatasm, or w/e that was

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

It was pretty rad; I enjoyed myself.

Quote (dont chocobos rule? @ 19th July 2008 14:17)

Quote (laszlow @ 18th July 2008 20:23)

Of course, if there's a sequel with the same cast and crew, it will probably strongly feature Two-Face (not a bad thing).

wait a second....

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

harvey dent died in the dark knight, so how could they have a two-face in the sequel?

anyway, jim carrey ruined the riddler for me...i'd like to see a decent clayman, or a live remake of the mask of the phatasm, or w/e that was

You're thinking of Clayface. Also, I think that Mask of the Phantasm was an adaptation of The Reaper from the so-so Year 2 comic, so it only exists in the BtAM world.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

As for Harvey Dent's death, I was under the impression that Two-Face was imprisoned and Harvey Dent was given a funeral to cover up his recent murders and crime spree in order not to ruin his reputation and the work he did as DA - I don't think he's dead, just incarcerated.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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I actually like Jim Carrey as the Riddler lol. And I thought Tommy Lee Jones played a great absolutely insane Two-Face. Hell they were the only good parts of Batman Forever. As for seeing Clayface in a live-action film, I hope they make him Really grotesque and disturbing. Only way it could work for me

Awesome, awesome movie. Hands down, best Batman movie I've ever seen. It really captured the mood of the "Dark Knight" style of comic books that began in the 70's w/ Dennis O'Neil and Neil Adams and climaxed, of course, with Dark Knight Returns. I really loved all of the performances. Heath Ledger's is getting the most press, for a number of reasons - it's probably the best in the movie, and the recentness of his death. But I also really liked Aaron Eckhart. Two-Face is one of my favorite Batman villains because of the friendship that existed between Batman (as both Batman and Bruce Wayne), Commissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent. It always seemed like, above all the other villains, Batman was trying his hardest to redeem Two-Face.

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

There were only two things that didn't make much sense to me:
1) Batman didn't seem that distraught when Rachel died. I was surprised that the most Bruce Wayne could say about his childhood friend and love interest was "But Rachel, Alfred..." It would've been cool if this had enraged Batman, and brought him close to killing the Joker - like he almost did in Dark Knight Returns, in Death in the Family (when Jason Todd died), and in Hush. My guess is they intended to explore this further by bringing the Joker back, and having him push Batman even closer to the edge - although this is unlikely now given Heath Ledger's death.

2) Is Harvey Dent dead? I thought he was; but I also found it strange that Batman would go so out of the way to rescue the Joker - who killed his girlfriend - and let Harvey Dent - the man he had so much admiration for - plummet to his death.

Too bad every other movie to ever come out ever pre-emptively reeks compared to this one.

And sidekicks (i.e. Robin) is pretty impossible to pull-off. They stretched two and a half hours without him and that didn't even have any expository origin stories (due to Batman Begins and Joker not really having one at all). The amount of effort and time it takes to flesh a properly dynamic Robin wouldn't be worth it, and would instead revert back to a quirky, useless, plot device, comic relief character that has no place in this string of Batman movies.

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

Wow, I'm more excited than ever about seeing this movie now. But what did you guys think of Batman Begins? I really enjoyed it.. how much better is the sequel?

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'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.'

I just watched both of them today. I gotta say that until today, Jack Nicholas was my favorite Batman. Pretty much everything about this series is way better the any of the Batman movies before it.

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At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

Quote (AnarchistDream @ 22nd July 2008 01:16)

I just watched both of them today. I gotta say that until today, Jack Nicholas was my favorite Batman. Pretty much everything about this series is way better the any of the Batman movies before it.

Jack Nicholas? Your favorite Batman? Did you hit your head or something?

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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Up until Batman begins he was pitted against Val Kilmer and George Clooney, unless you include the episode series...and in in that case Adam West all the way.

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At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

I dunno about the rest of you, but Jack Nicklaus was my favorite joker.

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And have you found your joy, in this near dead world of ours?

You know, with all the (deserved and exceeded) hype of this movie, I think a lot of people are pretty much automatically jumping on the "Heath Ledger Joker" bandwagon. Not to say that's not the right choice; in fact, he is definitely my favorite Joker, if not my favorite movie-depicted villain of all time. But I think it's totally legitimate to appreciate good ol' Jack's representation as well. They were two different interpretations from two different times. Sure, Heath's was more epic and certainly fit the tone of The Dark Knight perfectly, as well as the general tone of today's movies and audiences, but I think Jack did a great job as well. A little more camp, a little more crazy, a little less brutal, but who's to say that's not what Joker should be too? Joker has so many faces, I think it's important to not just brush off anyone who wasn't Heath Ledger.

This post has been edited by Kappa the Imp on 22nd July 2008 15:48

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

Oh, I love the Heath Ledger Joker, but I also love Nicholson's Joker and even Mark Hamill's Joker from Batman: The Animated Series. Joker is such an insane character, and Ledger's psychopath, Nicholson's dandy, and Hamill's perfect voice and laugh each were excellent takes. I just think that Ledger's was the most compelling - I mean, every single time something else was happening, I was thinking "oh ****, what's the Joker doing?" For serious.

And AD... you kind of missed my point. Gabe found it.

This post has been edited by laszlow on 22nd July 2008 15:55

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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i grew up with the animated series, but never knew mark hamill was the joker up until about a year ago. he did that perfectly, and he's probably my second favorite, followed by jack. but heath was just amazing...

EDIT: 1200 post! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

This post has been edited by dont chocobos rule? on 22nd July 2008 16:00

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

It terms of continuity, Bob Kane's joker was probably more like Jack Nicholson's Joker: Crazy enough to throw a wrench in society. He was great as the Joker... for that time.

In more recent years, Batman has gone more from a Comic to a Graphic Novel, where the baddies get so raunchy that they cannot be explained as just "throwing a wrench in things" anymore. Now they're friggin psychopathic. Anyone who has read more of the recent Batman comics (as far back as knightfall) should know that Zsasz (Comic book spelling), although never a foreground baddie, is like, rediculous psychopathic. He slits his victims' throats, and then tallies the murder... on his body... by cutting himself, leaving tally mark scars all over his body. Zsasz is not a member of the family-friendly Batman series, and yet Victor Zasz (Movie Spelling) was the first criminal to be introduced in gotham city in Batman Begins, as he was the criminal on trial during the court scene with Rachel Dawes. That should pretty much tell you the tone of the rest of this incarnation of Batman movies.

That being said, Heath Ledger NAILED the Joker for that incarnation. He was incredibly f@#$ed up, and he did things that, in order to keep their PG-13 rating, was executed off camera, leaving your mind to warp it... even worse.

As for on-camera violence, I got excited when the Joker did his "Magic Trick" with the pencil, because it was at that point that I realized what kind of Joker we were dealing with. That had to be the best definition of how something can be simultaneously Hilarious and Disturbing. And I think the aspect that made that scene so good, is that as massively violent and murderous as that action was, it went by as small-time, just proving that it was the tip of the psychopathic iceberg.

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If internal struggles were as enjoyable and glamorous as the self conflicted wars within video game characters, we would all be statues, reveling in perpetual self war. -Me

Play me on Rock Band 2, GH-WT, or any other Xbox GH!
Xbox Gamertag-MeanJerry

Oh I just realized my faux pas. Ok, let me repost.

Micheal Keaton was my favorite Batman short of Christian Bale. Man, I must have been reeeeeeally tired.

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At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

I understand what you mean, Leilong, but I don't agree with your timetable. Batman entered "graphic novel" territory well before the Tim Burton movies. Year One, DKR, The Killing Joke, and many other "serious" Batman story arcs all came before the first of the two movies starring Michael Keaton. It's not so much that Batman has grown up, but rather the public perception of superheroes has grown up to the point where a comic book movie can be as dark, thrilling, and moving as The Dark Knight. In addition, Tim Burton's chief inspirations were probably comics of the 60s and 70s and the campy Adam West material, while Nolan's chief inspirations were the likes of Year One, The Killing Joke, and The Long Halloween, some of the best Batman material of the 80s and 90s.

But seriously, how lucky are superhero fans recently? After embarrassments like the Ang Lee Hulk movie and Spider-Man III we get Iron Man and The Dark Knight, which in my book are already two of the absolute best action films of all time.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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I just watched it last night and I think it was the best movie I've seen this year. The Joker has always been a crazy character, but this time he was downright unstable, and I loved every second of his madness. Yes this movie is awesome Bale and Ledger did an excellent job.

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I wanna see this movie badly.


but as of right now....

so many spoiler warning @_@ ...

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I will be there...

Quote (laszlow @ 22nd July 2008 10:15)

In addition, Tim Burton's chief inspirations were probably comics of the 60s and 70s and the campy Adam West material, while Nolan's chief inspirations were the likes of Year One, The Killing Joke, and The Long Halloween, some of the best Batman material of the 80s and 90s.

Tim Burton's Batman was also influenced by DKR/The Killing Joke/Death in the Family. Nicholsan also cited the Killing Joke as part of the inspiration for his performance. Keep in mind those all came out shortly before Burton's Batman. What Tim Burton did was just to continue that dark tradition.

I would say that Nolan, while taking inspiration from those earlier sources, also took some inspiration from Burton. Heath Ledger said in interviews, before his death, that he took part of his inspiration from Jack Nicholsan. Of course, how could he not? Jack Nicholsan is a master actor and gave the Joker a new on screen meaning.

This post has been edited by MetroidMorphBall on 23rd July 2008 04:02

Look, I believe you, but I also can't completely agree with you. Burton's first film had too many goofy jokes, too many one-liners, and too many "brighter" differences from The Dark Knight not to have drawn more inspiration from the West show and from the earlier comic books. Calling his first Batman movie "continuing a dark tradition" is a bit of a stretch when you compare it to Year One or The Killing Joke.

But I definitely agree that Nolan's interpretation is influenced by Burton's movies and that Ledger's Joker is inspired by Nicholson's, because, well, they have to be. Both of those are too huge and too memorable not to. Ledger made the Joker his own, but I think he specifically stated he deliberately took the Joker in a direction away from Nicholson's so he wouldn't make a mockery out of an actor for whom he had so much respect. That makes sense to me, both because it's apparent onscreen and Nicholson's a great actor.

This post has been edited by laszlow on 23rd July 2008 10:47

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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