Saw The Dark Knight last night...

The magic trick was cool.

But the Joker character felt like they came close to taking it all the way, then pulled back. Oh NO! He killed a MOB BOSS!!! Oh NO! He killed a POLICE COMMISSIONER!!!!!!!

Again, not too threateaning (or "chaos-creating") when all he does is kill officials, bad guys, and one poor soul in a Bat costume, who put himself into the fray by dressing like that.

The other thing was that they kept talking about "Oh no! Batman must compromise to catch this killer!! He must change himself and break his own rules!!!!" and the only true hint of that we got was the big machine at the end, and Lucius Fox with the weak "Mr. Wayne . .this is wrong." Oh NO! He has COMPROMISED by doing something no one will even notice, and they'll tie it up ith a neat little bow anyway!!!!!!!!! Yay, how profound.

Considering how everything hit the fan in the final hour or so, the wrapup was a lot quicker than it could have been, like they wanted to end it so they could get to more Joker next time around. His long-winded speech at the end reminded me of Trinity in Matrix Revolutions giving a long love speech with five pipes running through her torso. WAY too long.

Again, I really liked it. But a lot of the highest praise . . . . this Emperor was at least shirtless. It didn't come close to some of the really visceral shocks of the comics it was trying to pay homage to.

Guess I'll just have to see it again.

 

This time don't leave to get popcorn during the hospital scene.

 

Gordon, after hospital explosions finish: "Did you get everyone out?"

Cop: "Yes."

Did you miss that bit of "OK, whew . . now we can laugh at the Joker's dance!" dialogue for the audience?

OH, wait. He did kill a cop in that sequence in the hospital.

Again, they pulled right up to the line, then backed down. The Joker at his best doesn't give them time to evacuate the hospital. The Joker at his best gives Batman at least one completely wrong location of the two DAs. His schemes in this movie were great, absolutely. But the filmmakers captured his cleverness while retaining little of the random nature of his crimes.

They did a great job creating tension, but they unfortunately didn't pay it off. The major death was an extraneous character.

It unfortunately was more predictable than people are willing to admit. "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain." Ooh, cliche-ridden foreshadowing dialogue!!! I don't get why they couldn't keep the audience guessing by holding Harvey's little accident for the next film, or at least resolving it later.

Eh, like I said, I need to see it again. But Joker-wise, it felt like they made a couple of small compromises to retain the PG-13.

 

Which is why I noted pages ago that I can't wait to see Nolan's Director's Cut R-rated edition.

WB would be fools not to release one!

 

Damn, we see eye-to-eye. After reading again 'The Killing Joke' beforehand and then watching TDK, the film left me wanting that Joker from Alan Moore. Nolan could have pushed the buttons just a hair more IMO...

 

TigerVols: agreed. I hope it exists.

Madhavok: Thanks; I thought I was on an island with this. Now I guess there's a population of two.

Based on reviews and people freaking out, I expected the Joker of Dark Knight Returns, running through the carnival with a gun, randomly shooting people while saying "Excuse me." Having one of his henchmen hand out free (and of course, poisoned) cotton candy at a booth in that carnival, leaving behind scores of dead cub scouts, with grins on their faces. These are the things that cause Batman's soul to shake, and make him consider compromising himself.

I knew the laughing gas thing wouldn't be done, and I like how their take on the Joker was their own unique thing. I liked the sequence with the officials' deaths, a clear homage to Batman No. 1, where he said "I'm gonna kill these people" and it happened, since he had already arranged the deaths before announcing them.

I guess the main problem is that while the moviegoers freak out at the Joker, I keep thinking, "Meh, I've seen him do much worse."

 

That's what it comes down to. They couldn't push the envelope too far.

But still, compared to other PG-13 movies in this genre...they fit some good shit in there. I would have liked to see The Joker more brutal as well, with more random killings, but I understand why they didn't.

 

For those interested.....TDK opened with 66.4 million....on it's first day.

Think about that for a second.

That's already more than The Happening, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Baby Mama, Speed Racer, Semi-Pro, Drillbit Taylor, The Love Guru and Leatherheads made in their ENTIRE run.

This movie is going to destroy the box office. I'm still saying $160 for the weekend, $400 for the run.

 

First run, or first and second?

You know they'll re-release this bad boy around Christmas. I agree with what someone previously said, this is aiming directly for Titanic in the long haul.

 

that's incredible.

 

With all the talk about it, not that surprising.
I talked to a friend of mine in Chicago today - maybe the fact it was filmed there does explain why, but....

All showings in the Chicago area are sold out - through Tuesday.

 

Just bought advance tickets for tomorrow. Can't fucking wait.