TDK: Quick impressions

[sigma7]

Since I'm the last human being (well, last comic book reader, at any rate) to see The Dark Knight, I won't bother with a proper review. Which is good, because my mind's pretty much shattered anyway. So some quick and random observations:

-- Someone explain to me in simple language what god I offended to be denied the Watchmen trailer and instead get Hamlet 2 and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 instead.

-- I've been subject to some really disrespectful and obnoxious human behavior in movie theaters. And I've never heard a theater as quiet as during the silent opening...er, image.

-- Two and a half hours of movie and even then it's super-dense. There's no filler, no padding, virtually no transition. It's all very tightly-wound. Am looking forward to the DVD release, to see what else got shot and painfully excised.

-- Musical cues were a bit loud, especially toward the end -- maybe it's just my acoustic blind spot, but there were very important speeches (Gordon's final lines, even) that I just couldn't hear.

-- I'm not sure you could say I enjoyed it. I admire it, I'm very impressed by it, but I'm not sure it's the kind of movie you enjoy. I'm amused that the top two box-office earners so far this year are both comic book movies that couldn't have thematically opposite approaches and are still, stylistically, so similar. Strong ensembles, powerful performances, tight storylines...hrm. TDK is still almost a Michael Mann movie (Heat is the one comparison I've heard the most, and it's apt), same approach, same intrigue and circumlocutions, it's just as if two garishly-outfitted and possibly insane affectors of change found themselves in a crime movie and, well, did what they would.

The more I think about it, the more I like it, in retrospect. But when I asked those who'd just seen it what they thought and they seemed more shell-shocked than erudite, I was...confused. I understand now.

Comments

[rainfletcher.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it yet, and probably will not until DVD. And even then, it's anyone's guess when, exactly: I've owned the Batman Begins DVD for months and still haven't watched it. So you're not quite the last comic reader to see it.

I guess I'm waiting (again) for the hype to go away.

[daethkow.livejournal.com]

Assaulting is the word I use to describe it. I completely agree that this isn't a movie you go to enjoy. I didn't enjoy the movie, I was actually relieved when it was finally over, but I liked the movie and was very glad to see it. And unlike some similar movies that I've seen once and now never have to see again, I will see this one again, if for no other reason to try and catch some of the details I undoubtedly missed the first time.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

I was impressed by BB -- after the Burton (or, God, Schumacher) films, it was a welcome, grounded take on the mythos. But it was what you expected a Batman movie to be -- the origin, the all-too-predictable romantic arc, the typical villain.... There were a few surprises (mostly via Liam Neeson), but a relatively safe relaunch of the franchise. TDK is a pretty gutsy movie, and it went a few places I, spoiler-sponge, wasn't expecting.

It's definitely going in my DVD collection (and I think I've bought two DVDs in the last calendar year), as it bears rewatching. But I think that first viewing is...grueling. I understand a little bit more why a reviewer would whine about it not being a Burton movie. Hell, I came out of The Crow more cheered up than this flick.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

I had the same mind-shattering experience.

All I could say when anybody asked was "don't buy a big drink; you will not want to get up and go to the restroom and it's a long movie" and "it was very intense." Because there was so much going on.

Enjoy is not the right word because you don't process all that information very quickly. You kind of experience it, and then sort through it later, or after another viewing.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

"don't buy a big drink; you will not want to get up and go to the restroom and it's a long movie"

Oh dear God, that was me, having had a massive amount of coffee earlier in the day before getting the bright spur-of-the-moment idea to go see a movie and there's nothing I hate worse than walking out of a movie I'd paid a kingly sum to see to share a bathroom with about two dozen guys, some lined up behind me, thinking, "I have to get done before the Tiny Lister scene!"

I did apparently pick the perfect time to leave, though I spent about an hour uncomfortably squirming and in genuine pain....

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen it yet myself; waiting for my ear infection to fully clear up so I can have full hearing for it.

[aardy.livejournal.com]

I couldn't pick out Gordon's last few lines, either.

And here I thought Batman's one inviolate rule was No Guns. Um, his TWO inviolate rules were no guns and No Killing People. Um, his THREE inviolate rules were no guns, no killing people, and always work *against* the evil doers. Um, his FOUR...

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

*exasperated sigh* I didn't expect the goddamn Batman.

Good point re: his one rule -- his actions re: Ra's in the previous film would be a technical evasion of his one rule (death by inaction). Of course, I assume his "no guns" behavior is close enough to his genesis that it remains relatively off-the-radar, especially when there are would-be Batmen in hockey pads with no such compunctions. (It was his disregard for this rule that was about my sole sore spot with TDKR; conversely, I had nothing but sore spots for DK2.)

[aardy.livejournal.com]

Of course, I assume his "no guns" behavior is close enough to his genesis that it remains relatively off-the-radar

I guess in this continuity, "no guns" only means no handguns--because otherwise, those are some mighty strange 9 mm "exhaust pipes" on the front of the Batmobile and the Batcycle. Which apparently fire grenades, vis-a-vis the "blow up a kiosk" and "clear traffic jam, Dilbert-style" scenes. (Overall I enjoyed the film, but that particular element was one of several things that bothered me enough to kick me out of my suspension of disbelief.)