Saw The Dark Knight last night...

Personally, I'll be surprised if this movie makes as much as Indy IV, which I think is just over $300 million for the summer. I'm sure it's a much, much, much better movie, but I don't think kids are going to be seeing this one as much as they are the other movies that are the top box office films of all-time.

 

I agreed with you until you mentioned "kids."
It had been 19 years since an Indy movie came out. I think kids are much more likely to be excited about Batman than Dr. Jones.
Will that mean more money overall for this one? I have no idea, but I'll bet the teenagers buy more tickets for this one than they did for Indy.

 

And re-reading your post, I might have set up a straw man. If you were simply saying this one might not play as well with kids as other films on the list -- Indiana really not relating to the conversation -- then nevermind; in fact, I agree.
Still, I think this will be a monster. It really is a perfect storm of good reviews, high excitement, Ledger's death combined with what all seem to agree is an incredible performance, etc.

 

All I know is I haven't been this excited for a movie in a long time. I have tickets for IMAX for the opening night and handed over my $14 without even blinking to do it.

Also, I still maintain that the Godfather 3 gets a bad wrap. There were two character who were awful but the movie itself isn't as bad as people like to imply. The main reason it gets such a bad wrap is that it followed a pair of movies that you could make a case are the two best movies of all time. Sure, it wasn't on that level but it certainly wasn't one of the worst movies ever as some people will lead you to believe.

 

From the sounds of it, this one is going to be way too dark for young kids.

This is the most excited I've been about a movie in a couple years, and I'm sure it's going to make a fortune, but I think it will top out around $350 mil.

 

I'm thinking back and this is the most excited I've been for a movie (or at least a blockbuster) since the three Lord of the Rings flicks.

 

For me, it would probably be Episode 1, although I have a feeling this won't be the colossal piece of shit that that one was...

 

My three boys(20 & 22) and I talked about Dark Knight over dinner last night. It's the only movie they've been looking forward to seeing all summer.

They tried to get tickets for the midnight screening on Thursday night but all sold out.

Sold out for most screenings Friday

This is a 19 screen Cineplex and they'll probably have it on half a dozen

One of the twins is a HUGE movie buff---he's already seen 30 of the AFI's best 100 and can practically rhyme off the best boy, gaffer and key grip for any movie he's seen.

This is the only movie he's been talking about for a couple of months.

 

It looks incredible.

 

Saw it again last night...some thoughts, without spoilers:

1. It's not a comic book movie. Frankly, it's not really an action movie, either. The action sequences are exciting enough, but they pale in comparison to Wanted and Iron Man.

2. It's a very complex drama. Perhaps a tad too complex -- the plotline is difficult to follow, particularly if you haven't seen Batman Begins recently.

3. The characters are all very well written and portrayed. The weakest link is Aaron Eckhart and yet he's a fine actor who does a nice job and in any other movie his performance would be great -- but he's like a solid No. 4 starter on a rotation full of All-Stars.

4. It will NOT be the no. 1 movie of the summer, but it WILL have the biggest opening of all time, non-holiday. It has two things going against it as it tries to top Iron Man's $312 million: At more than 2 and a half hours, there's not enough hours in the day to show as many screenings as Iron Man received and (2) there are many parents out there who won't let their kids under 10 or so go see it, because it really is that dark.

5. Which brings me to my two main points: 1. Heath Ledger's performance is one for the ages, but like Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas, it's a one-note performance. But man it's one helluva note he plays! And (2) I'd like to see Christopher Nolan put out an R-rated Director's Cut on Blue Ray ... there are a few scenes where the added "oomph" an R rating allows would have have really helped this movie.

Looking back at this new review it seems a bit negative; I don't mean it to be. I was more entertained in Iron Man and Wanted, but this movie has lingered with me longer and will be the movie I'll remember the summer for years from now.

 

Just bought advance tickets for next Saturday. Mrs. OOP, accepting that she has committed to a lifetime with a geek, agreed to make that part of our anniversary celebration. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am a lucky man.

(Of course, that also tells you how good Batman Begins was. She doesn't normally enjoy that type of movie, but she liked that one.)

 

Well, here's one critic who doesn't like it. Edelstein in New York.

"But then the novelty wears off and the lack of imagination, visual and otherwise, turns into a drag. The Dark Knight is noisy, jumbled, and sadistic."

"On paper, the morality play is intriguing, but a lot of the dialogue should have stayed on paper... .Oh, the verbiage probably wouldn't matter if those truck crashes were any fun, but the tumult is spectacularly incoherent. Nolan appears to have no clue how to stage or shoot action."

The commenters online...disagree with his assessment. Amusingly, many point out that he gave a positive review to Zohan and Sandler's performance.

http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/48514/