Comments on: Straight from DVD: The Dark Knight

By: Mr Sideous

Mr Sideous — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:18:01 +0000

I thought you wrote “Darknighties”. Quite an image for a monday morning.

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:05:58 +0000

Kit,
I actually thought that myself! One of the reasons TDK was so good was that I forgot I was watching a PG-13 comic book movie. In any other film, I’d know a ferry full of people would never blow up, or that the camera would cut away before the Joker slices someone’s cheek, or that Gordon really wasn’t dead (still can’t believe I fell for that one). This one actually had my adrenaline pumping.

I know I’m a few days late, but thanks so much for this post! The Dark Knight was amazing for all the reasons listed, and I was starting to get tired of the typical internet BS where people feel compelled to tear everything apart. (Not that the movie is for everyone, but there’s a hugely disproportionate amount of backlash tainting pretty much every TDK discussion.)

By: Kit

Kit — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:22:48 +0000

David,

During the ferry scene I thought at least one of ‘em was gonna go BOOM!

By: Kit

Kit — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:21:42 +0000

“Well, it forced them to make a choice about their moral boundaries. In the case of the ferries, after all the stress and confrontation, they didn’t budge.

The interesting thing is that the Joker, in trying so hard to prove his point, misses the point entirely. He can’t force people to be like him. He can threaten their loved ones, enflame their tempers, and even drive them mad, but he can’t get them to be him, so casually evil. They equivocate, they resist, they grieve, they turn away in revulsion, all things he seems incapable of doing.”

Sums up the movie.

An entire city, ready to believe in good.

By: David Marcoe

David Marcoe — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:40:17 +0000

I felt the ferries plot was quite climactic. If you watch the movie, everything he does is to push people toward and beyond the edge of their moral boundaries.

Well, it forced them to make a choice about their moral boundaries. In the case of the ferries, after all the stress and confrontation, they didn’t budge.

The interesting thing is that the Joker, in trying so hard to prove his point, misses the point entirely. He can;t force people to be like him. He can threaten their loved ones, enflame their tempers, and even drive them mad, but he can’t get them to be him, so casually evil. They equivocate, they resist, they grieve, they turn away in revulsion, all things he seems incapable of doing.

By: texacalirose

texacalirose — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:34:34 +0000

I contend that Rachel is NOT dead!

What say you Darknightites?

By: Kit

Kit — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:53:10 +0000

Matt Helm,

I felt the ferries plot was quite climactic. If you watch the movie, everything he does is to push people toward and beyond the edge of their moral boundaries.

Remember the famous “Why So Serious” scene when he has the “tryouts” for a position in his “organization.” The three men had to kill each other to survive. Do it with a spear.

The ferry was just the ultimate example of his attacks. 2 ferries full of people.

re FBI or SWAT:

SWAT: They did call them in, multiple times. They had SWAT snipers during funeral procession and brought the SWAT in to rescue the hostages in the building toward the end, an act they would have screwed up big time if it were not for Batman to reveal (sort of) the trick the Joker had pulled (disguising the baddies as hostages and the hostages as baddies).

FBI: the Joker was able to sneak poison into the Comissioner’s office, bombs onto a ferry, kidnap and steal the uniforms of the firing squad (or whatever the relevent term is) and the FBI (in real life, at least) can’t find a Centennial bomber unless a beat cop finds him sifting through a dumpster. The Joker was also wildly unpredictable and behaved in ways that most terrorists do not. the FBI would be just as clueless against the Joker as the Gotham PD was.

Now, while I have a general rule to myself against attacking others’ tastes, I am STILL in the DARK KNIGHT MANIA. So, yes, I am certifiably insane. However, I do NOT paint my face like Ledger’s Joker.

By: Mr Sideous

Mr Sideous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:55:32 +0000

Matt, though I really didn’t like Burton’s Batman (Burtons great on style, very short on substance), I too thought the Joker’s plot with care products was kinda inspired and keeping with his character.

By: Matt Helm

Matt Helm — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:31:33 +0000

As I wrote on Dirty Harry’s site months ago, this movie has a great message, but the story and pacing is bad in parts. It’s a good movie, but not great. The problem in this one is the same as most Batman movies … they have to have two villains. So we have two endings which was unnecessary and really dragged it out. Other than it needing a serious re-edit job, some of the plot devices are kind of dumb. But my main problem with it was that it never convinced me that they couldn’t call in the FBI or SWAT team, to take care of the Joker. I didn’t get the urgent sense of needing a superhero (though, without powers) like Batman to do the job. Ledger was great (with his Edward G. Robinson impression), but they didn’t give the character Joker-level material. The Joker’s mastermind plot with the ferries was just anti-climatic compared to the plot he had in the first Burton movie. That plot showed that they needed a superhero to counter. I still say it’s a good movie, but conceptually flawed.

By: Kit

Kit — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:25:34 +0000

“Ironically, 8MM was directed by Joel Schumacher, who made Batman and Robin. Hard to believe that someone who could make such a good thriller could also make such a bad Batman movie.”

As William Blake asked: “Did he who make the lamb, make thee*?”

*the tyger.