What is the deal with The Dark Knight?

[mrpenguinismyhomeboy]

Why do people think that movie is so good? I don't understand. I thought it was long, boring, anti-climatic, and I couldn't understand anyone. Maybe I'm just a 90 year old trapped in a 16 year old's body (I was fifteen when I saw it) but I don't see what all the rage is about in that movie.

ALSO I know I'm like 2 years late or whatever, but this was brought up by a thread about batman 3 and how DiCaprio would play the riddler and this one guy was saying how it could be like Heath Ledger as the Joker or something.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

You were 15 when you saw it. That's pretty much the problem.

EDIT: I didn't mean this as an insult to 15 year olds, necessarily. I'm not sure my 15 year old self would have liked it and I doubt many of my friends at 15 would.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Sibbo]

Honestly didn't like it either. I feel that heaps of hype was placed on Heath Ledger's death which I know personally made shittons of my friends go see it. For me it was just too long for its material.

EDIT: when I say I didn't like it, I thought it was a decent movie but it wasn't what people where cracking it up to be. Although I was the same with avatar so maybe I just can't get something intrinsic to the experience.

 

[Cherry Cola]

You don't see why the movie is so popular. That's your problem.

I don't think the movie is as good as most people say it is, but I'm not completely baffled by that.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

False, I was 15 and I thought it was awesome.

I was 14 when I saw it and I thought it was great. Don't bring age into how people view movies.

*cough* Fuck you *cough*

What did your peers think? Being 25 when I saw it I felt that a lot of the themes, subtleties, and exposition would either be lost on a 15 year old or seemed boring to them. Also I don't know how big comic books are with your generation, but with mine Batman was bigger than Jesus, which I think contributes to our appreciation of it.

 

[DuplicateValue]

I didn't think it was that great either.

Matter of opinion I guess.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

You were 15 when you saw it. That's pretty much the problem.

I was 13 when I saw it. I loved it.

Eh, have you seen the other movies that were coming out that summer? People were desperate for any good movie to come along and the gritty reboot of Batman seemed like a pretty cool idea. I liked how they took a simple story and stretched it over the whole thing without it feeling boring... of course, I didn't find it boring, I don't know why you did but to each his own.

What did your peers think? Being 25 when I saw it I felt that a lot of the themes, subtleties, and exposition would either be lost on a 15 year old or seemed boring to them. Also I don't know how big comic books are with your generation, but with mine Batman was bigger than Jesus, which I think contributes to our appreciation of it.

And being 15 now, I can understand your criticism of 15 year olds, but I'm also slightly offended by that generalization... Again, I understand that most people my age just want to go see a movie with explosions and that hot chick from that other movie with explosions and boom bang gunfights, but that's not all of us...

Oh, and no one I know reads comics which is a shame because they missed out on the Walking Dead and are only going to know the TV show...

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Jeralt2100]

I can't speak for everyone else but I was impressed by the fact that it transcended its own genre. Yes, Batman is a comic book character, but TDK was not a 'comic book movie'. Mr. Nolan has embraced a very realistic take and tried to make his Batman as believable as possible. IE: The style is meant to evoke the feeling that if someone actually had the resources at Bruce Wayne's disposal maybe they really could pull off the things he does. The movie isn't perfect by any stretch, but it is more of a crime drama than anything else for me that made it enjoyable.

As for what the other person was saying about DiCaprio, I think he just meant that if he were to be cast as Riddler he might surprise everyone with a solid performance in the role. When Ledger was cast as Joker there was a lot of trepidation around how he'd approach the role, and in the end he did an excellent job. So there's hope that DiCaprio /could/ pull off a similar performance as Riddler.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

I know all about themes and exposition and stuff.

I was still bored by the movie. Too long, too self-indulgent, too over-stuffed with epic shit from Batman's past etc. etc. etc.

Nothing is worth spending 2 and a half hours of a movies on. Not even Batman. ESPECIALLY not Batman, because in my opinion, he is the most boring superhero ever created. He has so much, and does jack shit all with it. He can't even enjoy himself. And Christian Bale just made it worse.

So... yeah... Batman. Not even Christopher Nolan made Batman watchable...

 

[Woodsey]

False, I was 15 and I thought it was awesome.

I was 14 when I saw it and I thought it was great. Don't bring age into how people view movies.

*cough* Fuck you *cough*

What did your peers think? Being 25 when I saw it I felt that a lot of the themes, subtleties, and exposition would either be lost on a 15 year old or seemed boring to them. Also I don't know how big comic books are with your generation, but with mine Batman was bigger than Jesus, which I think contributes to our appreciation of it.

Everyone I know loved it.

 

[Doctor Insanovic]

I thought it was alright, but not exactly the masterpiece everyone was calling it. I personally liked Batman Begins better to be honest.

 

[Baron_Rouge]

I think it, along with Batman Begins, took some source material that's traditionally been quite campy and not taken especially seriously ("Ice to see you" and other such lines are a good example) and actually did their best at making a serious piece of cinema.

The actors were also incredibly well cast, Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face especially. Those are the reasons I think it's held in such high regard. I think it was pretty excellent personally. I mean, it's no Shawshank Redemption, but still a fine film.

 

[Frequen-Z]

As the resident Batman nut, I... agree. The film was good, but far from great. I think some of the writing was cheesy and unnecessary, Batman's voice was a joke, and it pretty much sailed to the level of popularity it did on the shock of Ledgers death.

 

[UBERfionn]

Seeing as the Joker was not in it but for some reason a guy who licked his lips a lot was did not like it a lot.

Not a terrible movie either though.

 

[TPiddy]

We have not seen anything quite like Ledger's Joker in a long time. This was a guy whom Batman couldn't just punch hard enough to make him stop.

He was manipulative, he preyed on the psyche, there was no reason or rhyme to his schemes. Sure he was insane, but he was also very intelligent and cold. There were also so many parallels you could draw between Joker's behaviour and Batman's behaviour.

It was incredibly well written, performed and executed. Well paced and you couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Ledger and Freeman were my favourite parts of the film, though Aaron Eckhart (sp?) and Michael Caine were also very good.

Having said that, the movie is not without it's flaws. The Two-Face stuff could easily have been left for another film, and it just dragged the film out. I also had a hard time believing that two of the most eligible bachelors in Gotham (Wayne and Dent) would both go for a frumpy Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Besides, it's got one of my favourite lines in any movie ever:

"You believe that your client, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his night beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck."

 

[Harlemura]

I personally didn't like it. I'm sure the writing and acting was all very good, I just never bothered learning to appreciate all that.
I'm dumb. I need something to be happening all the way through a movie.