Ummm... basically disagree with you on every level. By the end of the movie, I could beleive that a whole two hours had gone by. We brought snacks and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the movie long enough to even take a sip of the drink I'd bought.
I think it's probably the best movie I've seen all year. Christian Bale is an excellent Batman, but both Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart pretty much stole the movie from him. Nicholson vs Ledger? To be honest, I think the styles were so different it was difficult to compare, but I found Ledger's much darker and scarier (and considering we're comparing him to Jack Nicholson, that's saying something). And as Matt said, most of the actually "bloody" violence happened off camera - so it was left to the imagination. I thought he was a totally believable psycho - when he threatened to cut Rachel, you could really believe that he'd do it. And yet, the black comedy still came through with some genuine laugh out loud moments.
I was also impressed by many of the places that story didn't go. The "love triangle" totally didn't play out like the traditonal cliche (girl chooses hero and previously "nice guy" rival turns out to be a bastard underneath). No, Harvey never even realised that he had a rival for Rachel's affections and hence no jealousy whatsoever.
In fact, how they handled the Harvey Dent storyline impressed the heck out of me. I'm no comic afficianado (far from it) but even I know enough to have known that Harvey would become Two-Face from the beginning of the movie. So, I was expecting that Harvey would be portayed as an okay guy who was really charismatic on the surface but had a hidden flaw. No, not at all. In fact, up until his fall, Harvey was a genuinely nice guy with real idealsitic principles that he was willing to give his life for. There was one bit where they showed his underlying temper (when his girlfriend was threatened, as I recall), but Harvey was loyal and courageous he was and in public office genuinely because he wanted to help people and not because he loved the fame and fortune. The fact that the Joker really did "break" someone like that was a real tragedy - and I loved the way that Gordon and Batman paid tribute to him.
As for the plot holes, I've got to admit that the speed and style of the narrative totally glossed over them for me. When Gordon was supposed to have died, I was totally taken in. I was all "OMG I can't believe they killed off Gordon!" and not "Nah, no way he can be dead. Everyone knows that he lives in the Batman series."
And I expected the Joker to die and Two-Face to be set up as the villain for the next film. But no, they let Harvey both "live long enough to become the villain" AND "die a hero".
So, yeah. I kinda liked that movie. And I thought Harvey and the Joker were the best things in it. Although, I don't think there was a peerformance in the movie that I didn't like.
I'd happily go see it again - but then agaiin, there's a whole lot of other good stuff coming out.
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I think it's probably the best movie I've seen all year. Christian Bale is an excellent Batman, but both Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart pretty much stole the movie from him. Nicholson vs Ledger? To be honest, I think the styles were so different it was difficult to compare, but I found Ledger's much darker and scarier (and considering we're comparing him to Jack Nicholson, that's saying something). And as Matt said, most of the actually "bloody" violence happened off camera - so it was left to the imagination. I thought he was a totally believable psycho - when he threatened to cut Rachel, you could really believe that he'd do it. And yet, the black comedy still came through with some genuine laugh out loud moments.
I was also impressed by many of the places that story didn't go. The "love triangle" totally didn't play out like the traditonal cliche (girl chooses hero and previously "nice guy" rival turns out to be a bastard underneath). No, Harvey never even realised that he had a rival for Rachel's affections and hence no jealousy whatsoever.
In fact, how they handled the Harvey Dent storyline impressed the heck out of me. I'm no comic afficianado (far from it) but even I know enough to have known that Harvey would become Two-Face from the beginning of the movie. So, I was expecting that Harvey would be portayed as an okay guy who was really charismatic on the surface but had a hidden flaw. No, not at all. In fact, up until his fall, Harvey was a genuinely nice guy with real idealsitic principles that he was willing to give his life for. There was one bit where they showed his underlying temper (when his girlfriend was threatened, as I recall), but Harvey was loyal and courageous he was and in public office genuinely because he wanted to help people and not because he loved the fame and fortune. The fact that the Joker really did "break" someone like that was a real tragedy - and I loved the way that Gordon and Batman paid tribute to him.
As for the plot holes, I've got to admit that the speed and style of the narrative totally glossed over them for me. When Gordon was supposed to have died, I was totally taken in. I was all "OMG I can't believe they killed off Gordon!" and not "Nah, no way he can be dead. Everyone knows that he lives in the Batman series."
And I expected the Joker to die and Two-Face to be set up as the villain for the next film. But no, they let Harvey both "live long enough to become the villain" AND "die a hero".
So, yeah. I kinda liked that movie. And I thought Harvey and the Joker were the best things in it. Although, I don't think there was a peerformance in the movie that I didn't like.
I'd happily go see it again - but then agaiin, there's a whole lot of other good stuff coming out.