The Dark Knight, I want to know what all the fuss is about

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FieryRed

New member
I feel like watching this tomorrow, since this has a ridiculous rating of the #1 film of all time on IMDB and people seem to be going out of their way to give The Godfather 1s to lower its score. It's on at 12:00 so should I buy the tickets an hour early to avoid it selling out or is that being stupid?
 
Well I don't think going in early to book the film that took The Godfather from no.1 of the 250 best films of all time stupid at all. TDK is a great film and certainly worth pre-booking if it's going to be your first time viewing it :)

Im going to watch it again in a few hours, it's just that good.
 
Don't pay too much attention to the ratings on imdb. Big summer releases often shoot in to the top ten on imdb through a surge of voting but after several months the voting eases off and it gradually slips down the list. The voting for classics like The Godfather are constant which is why it is always at the top, year in year out. The same happened to Shaun Of The Dead - went in at number 5 or something as equally perverse, I mean good film but top 5 ever? Do me a favor! Like I say, it gradually slipped out of the top 5, then 10, then 20.... "Super Hero" movies will always be flooded with votes on release because a lot of kiRAB and teens are fans. Until the next interesting thing comes along ;)
 
Have you seen Batman Begins? Did you like it? Are you interested in a Batman sequel?

Because I hope that people who go to see it have see the first one and have been wanting to see this one rather than going by hype or Heath Ledger's death etc.
 
What is all the fuss about?

You beat me to it, and I've seen it.

My first advice would be to ignore all the hype, all the five star reviews.

Then, you might enjoy it more.

Before I go on I'll say that I thought Batman Begins was very good and I'm a big fan of Christopher Nolan's work.

I'm also a fan of his ridiculously good cast (Bale, Caine, Freeman, Oldman etc.).

But the simple fact of the matter is that The Dark Knight is not that good.

Whilst it has a very long running time it tries to cram in too many plots and too many characters, with not enough character or plot development.

My initial opinion of watching it left me thinking of a hyperactive 24.

Why is it getting so many positive reviews?

In my opinion, it's down to one man.

Heath Ledger.

Now Ledger is very good in it. But his performance is not enough to paper over the plot holes, the confusingly choreographed fight scenes and the fact that this film tries to do too many things without focussing on doing them well.

In my opinion, the glut of exceptional reviews is down to the fact that he put in a great performance and very sadly died.

A review that pretty much sums up my feelings appears here...

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/07/21/080721crci_cinema_denby
 
So all the professional reviewers have so litte integrity or are so obsessed with Ledger that they will dispense with professional responsibility and give the movie high ratings?

SounRAB a bit far-fetched. Indeed, many reviews by respected critics barely mention Ledger.


This is EXACTLY what I fear and what annoys me. Ledger becomes the focus and it is such a shame.

Now it will be "Dark Knight was only so successful because Heath Ledger dies".

Now, maybe I am superior to most people, but whether an actor is still alive or not makes no difference at all to whether or not I enjoy, or even see, a film.
 
Hi all,

I went to see it this morning while the cinema was quiet (and was quite disturbed to see how many people can eat hotdogs and cheese Nachos at 9.30am :D).

I very much enjoyed Batman Begins and I wasn't bothered about all the Oscar hype regarding Heath Ledgers performance. Actually I was very impressed with his turn as the Joker and felt he gave the character a truelly unhinged and psychotic edge that previous screen incarnations have lacked.

As for the film as a whole I very much enjoyed it. I don't go and watch a film like this with a critical eye, I go to enjoy a hopefully entertaining action movie.

I have heard people fault the intial pacing of the film but I didn't have any complaints with the build up. The combat scenes are what I expect from a Batman flick, fast and brutal, you can save the artful choreography for eastern martial arts films (which I also enjoy watching).

I thought it was a well-rounded film that was true to the vision of Batman that was set in the first movie and will hopefully lead to further films in the franchise. It is a shame Heath Ledger will never reprise his role again.

All this is just my opinion but I say go and enjoy the film for what is - an entertaining Batman movie.

I'm now looking forward to Hellboy 2.
 
Really?



http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=134520



http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/REVIEWS/55996637/1023



http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-knight17-2008jul17,0,5301579.story



http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/films_out_this_week/the_dark_knight

That's the two major film magazines in the UK (and Sight and Sound's not available online, so I don't know what they think), America's biggest name critic and another major paper from the states.

And those were the first four places I went to look following your post.

Where are these swathes of critics that 'barely mention' Ledger?

I find it hard to believe that there are many, given he is the primary antagonist and arguably the best performer in the feature.
 
To be completely honest, I thought Batman Begins was mediocre at best. I'm surprised it got into the top 250 and at such a high place! Makes you think about the people who rate the films.
 
Yes, because your opinion on the merits of a film are so much more valid than anyone else's of course....;)

As others have said the current IMDB rating will probably slide somewhat in the coming months, but having just seen it myself I would say it was definitely a five star movie for me - it's all just personal opinion though.
 
SounRAB more likely to me. Glad someone hasnt been blinded by the ridiculous mount of stars and hype this has got.

Is it hell better or greater than the Godfather. Thats just stupid. It isnt Epic, and come next year, no one will care about it again.
 
That sums it up for me too. Much as I wanted to like it, it didn't do anything for me and was simply an exercise in keeping my eyes open.

Poor story, poor dialogue, badly edited with characters that I really didn't care about.

Ledger was good and had some truly great moments, but overall his performance wasn't that special.

It did LOOK good, but that's about it.
 
The fact that it has over 100k votes on IMDB and it's just been released (not release in many countries) is mad. Popular films that have been out for several years have the same number or lower, so either loaRAB of fans are voting or the film studio is involved. If you look at numbers on there, nearly 80% of people have given it a ten while the other numbers 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 all have less than one per cent, that's ridiculous IMO.
 
I hated Batman Begins and I had no intention to watch TDK as the trailer looked boring. I was forced to go watch it last night and I can honestly say it is fantastic. Gripping stuff throughout and I can't wait to watch it again. It's was amazingly good. The two villians stole the show!
 
Imo yes. True classics are films that transcend trenRAB and generations. The Godfather, Star Wars, Jaws... all movies that never date or fall out of "fashion". There's always massive hype with these summer blockbusters, more so I feel with DK because of Ledger's untimely death. The question is will DK be as popular in 10 years time? Hmm, doubtful.
 
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