KeyGrip
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It was amazing! Best dressed cast I've seen in a while, even the Joker had a three-piece. I liked this one more than the last.
I still get a chill thinking about the first time the Joker explains how he got his scars.Doh! said:Ledger's Joker has truly raised the bar for movie villainy. I won't go into any spoilers here, but believe the buzz -- he created a most unforgettable character.
Prairie Dog said:...he disappears so vividly into the character that the viewer instantly forgets it is Ledger he or she is watching.
KeyGrip said:And the picture you provided gives an excellent view of his suit. I wonder if Mr. Magnoli plans a recreation. :whistling
Doctor Strange said:It was a good 20 minutes too long. It tried to squeeze in too much story, and it threw off the pacing (a complaint I also had with Spider-Man 3, which was far worse in this regard). While I hate to criticize a film for being overly ambitious, I could have lived without the fall of Gordon (which I didn't buy for a second), the two-ferryboat "human delimma", the distracting (and preposterous) Bat-sonar, etc. And ten minutes could easily have been trimmed from the various chases with no loss to the film. And - as is typical in Batman adaptations - there was too much focus on the gadgets, and not enough of the detective work.
As in the first film, the Batman fighting action (not the large-scale stuntwork) was still shot too close and cut too fast. Is it too much to ask for a nice sequence of Batman taking down multiple opponents where you can actually see what he's doing?!? There's no question that Bale trained hard and they did outstanding fight choreography - why won't they let us see it clearly?!?
As with the previous film (and many superhero movies), the "big finale where all hell breaks loose" in the third act nearly stopped the human drama in its tracks. And seeing Batman being the aggressor against police SWAT guys - no matter if there was a semi-good reason - was just wrong!
So anyway, I definitely liked it, but found it somewhat overdone and unbalanced. I give it credit for its high seriousness, outstanding ensemble acting, beautiful design and photography - but I don't think I liked it better than Batman Begins.
Let's see how I feel after a second viewing...
It actually seemed like it belonged in a Spiderman movie!Doctor Strange said:And the ferry scene was indeed fascinating - but it belongs in a different movie.
Doctor Strange said:(I feel exactly the same way about the big-brotheresque bugging of the phone lines. Not only was it an unnecessary plot point in story terms, but setting up Batman as so Machiavellian a character that Lucius Fox has to act as his conscience really bothered me. Once again, it's pushing Batman beyond what he - and the film's writers - knows are his limits.)
Same here. Great short film.Matt Crunk said:To that end, the short fan-film Batman: Dead End (mentioned previously in this thread) nailed that look almost perfectly - much better than I ever thought possible.
That's the Batman I'm still waiting for.