Eric and J.D. tackle the epic proportions of Christopher Nolan’s second Batman movie “The Dark Knight” in this on-camera review, featuring clips from the much-anticipated movie. Can the film possibly live up to the enormous amount of pre-release hype? You know what we thought of the film– what did you think? Leave your comments below.
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:
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THANKS A LOT FOR THIS GUYS, I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE THIS FILM. I AM SO STOKED……
I thought this movie was one of the greatest second acts to a trilogy which is now utterly impossible to finish.
Awesome! The Joker, WOW WOW WOW!
I must go with J.D. on this one. Outstanding movie. A film with this much hype has never been this satisfying. It’s among the best pictures of the year thus far.
So Eric, for you, this was on par with Iron Man? I liked Iron Man but DK makes it look like a terribly simplistic child’s movie by comparison.
Harvey Dent’s turn was unconvincing, the cell phone “sonor” thing was almost as ridiculous as Bale’s Batman voice, but overall– a very good film. I appreciated the crime movie element and epic feel but felt it was a little overstuffed. Not as bad as “Spider-Man 3,” granted, but a bit too much. That said, I really liked the film and especially Eckhart and Ledger’s performances. I don’t think it makes “Iron Man” look like child’s play just because it has less of a sense of humor.
Iron Man’s sense of humor is not what makes it somewhat childish (Dark Night’s black humor is far more interesting). Iron Man is a lot more simplistic thematically. Dark Knight tries to blur the lines between pop-culture and high-culture, giving the audience something to chew on with a morally grey center to pounder, and at the same time give satisfaction to the climatic scene’(s) when hero and villain converge by letting the writing and performances pay off. Iron Man is a subtle but obvious indictment on U.S. foreign policy decisions (eye’s role) that still only accumulates into an impressive but extremely familiar CGI hero-villain fight. Nolan’s Batman is not quite as smart as it seems to think it is (and way too proud of itself) but it’s ways smarter and more interesting than anything else in the genre.
Ponder, I mean ponder, not pounder. Yikes, why can’t I write anything correctly on this site?
Also, I found Harvey Dent’s turn towards the dark-side very convincing. But I can’t really argue the point since I don’t know why you didn’t.
Bat-Sonar, I thought that was kinda awesome, though perhaps a bit too escapist. It felt like a forced concept cut in with the rest of the movie’s realistic tone.
I still like Bale’s Batman, even the voice change thing.
Sorry Eric, usually I tend to side with you for movie opinions, but this time I am 110% on JD’s side. This is the type of film that really reminds me not only why I go to the movies, but why I want to some day make them. I was completely under the film’s spell; with it every step of the way and taking in absolutely every moment of eye candy that Nolan painted on his canvas of a screen. I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun at the movies. I also feel that while Ledger’s performance truly is one for the ages, I’m a little sad that it so out shines Eckhart who I feel knocked it out of the park as well. 4/4 for me, this is a once in a lifetime experience.
ok…so i am no Batman freak. And im not fond of Superhero sagas either. Having said that, I loved The Dark Knight. I think Nolan is a brilliant storyteller and has given an almost impeccable treatment to the film. The Joker scared the wits out of me. Future Villians, if you manage to achieve even a tenth of what The Joker did, hail you.
While I wasn’t in complete awe of the Dark Knight, I still enjoyed it enough to watch it twice opening weekend. I still think I might like Begins more but oh well. I will probably watch it at least one more time in IMAX if anything. I heard Austin has a IMAX theater that is 6 stories tall. Pretty awesome I say. The Magic Trick is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen though.
I agree with Eric on Batman’s voice…overdone; the cell phone sonar thing was cheesy; and I agree to a degree regarding Harvey Dent/Two Face.
Batman’s voice went wacko every time he put on the mask. Two Face’s voice and consonant pronunciations didn’t change at all!!
If your face is half dissolved away like Two Face, you aren’t going to pronounce certain consonants well. I had no problems with the acting otherwise or the storyline surrounding Dent/Two Face, but the voice is a detail I’d have thought a director so intent on “keeping it real” would have noticed and fixed.
I must say that I really, really liked this film and I’m not even a huge Batman (or Superhero) movie fan. No matter what kind of Batman or movie buff you are, the movie really encompasses you, and that’s the aspect of the film I love the most. There’s so much I could go into detail about why I loved the movie such as Hans Zimmer’s music (especially when the Joker is the main character in the scene), but I’m sure every message board and critic has discussed the glories and flaws of this movie in intricate detail. This film really makes the average movie fan enjoy Nolan all the more. He was great in Memento and Insomnia and this latest Batman movie brings out the best in him. He really brings his macabre and somber tones into the Batman films, which I totally enjoyed, and feel to be quite appropriate for a truly serious Batman film. It makes me wonder what Bob Kane would’ve thought about the recent series of Batman films. The cell phone sonar and Bat-voice things were a little irritating, but it is a superhero movie, which I think Nolan understands. I would even go as far to say that I like the Batman voice because if you watch other superhero movies such as Superman and Spider-Man, the voices of the hero are exactly the same as their normal character, which I found a little incredulous. I must agree that this movie covers all the bases of great film-making. The story, casting (I love Freeman, Oldman and Eckhart), cinematography, special effects, and marketing surpasses a majority of every movie out there. I think it has the potential to overtake Titantic as the highest-grossing film of all time, but we will see what happens. I could only wish the Star Wars films were this dark and realistic when I see the latest Batman films by Nolan.
Kenny, I’m glad you brought up something no one else had discussed– the Joker’s theme music. Much like “There Will Be Blood,” a dissonant soundscape is played every time the Joker is menacing somebody. I wonder if Nolan and Zimmer were influenced directly by that after hearing Jonny Greenwood’s score and PTA’s placement…
The score scares the shit out of me, it’s superbly dark and lots of layers. It’s like Joker is f’ing around with the original Begins score, and causing chaos and it becomes very unnerving. I was totally fine with the Bale voice, it actually makes more sense, and the sonar thing is very “what if?”, therefore lending the film to be a comic book film, which I appreciate. Plus, a great joke to go along with it. The script is really the seller for me, because it goes places unlike any superhero movies and even other high caliber movies, always keeping you on the edge of your seat and made me tear up twice (saw it twice) whenever *SPOILERS!!!*Two Face held the gun to the kid’s head*END OF SPOILER!!!*.
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