THEIRS: HIS and HERS had a date night, HIS being the comic book fan that he is was dying to see The Dark Knight. HERS liked the last Batman, so off they went.
Note: HIS and HERS do not read each other's blogs before posting.
HERS: What can I say? The movie was preceded by so much hype, record breaking and buzz, my expectations were high. Often, when my expectations are high, I am disappointed. This time...SPEC-BAT-TACULAR! Christian Bale is so the Batman of my dreams. No offense to George Clooney, but he bit bat dust. Michael Keaton... too scrawny to be believable. Christian Bale is brooding and mysterious. He plays the privileged playboy to the tee and then, when the bat suit comes on, TA-DAH. Batman baby! My one note is that his "Bat voice" didn't need to be sooooo brooding. Maggie Gyllenhall was the perfect Rachel Dawes. She may not have the traditional movie star looks of Katie Holmes, but she is stunning in the role. She is believable as the tough girl with a heart. Her performance was stellar. The late Heath Ledger brought down the house of cards as the Joker. He was funny in the creepiest possible way. He was outstandingly ghoulish and so evil that I loved to hate him. OK, so I loved him-no hate included- I guess those teenage years of going for the bad boy are still deep inside me. Anyway, back to the movie. I must say that sadness came over me a few times as I thought of Heath Ledger's daughter growing up without a father. Father being the most important role he will not be able to reprise.
Having never read a comic book, I just go by what I like. The movie "bat"ter than I had imagined. I often dread long movies, but the time flew by-bat style. When his batmobile was totalled and he came out on that bat motorcycle thingy (I am sure it has some graphic novel techie name) I was like, "That's what's up!" I guess there is some teenage boy in me too. (yes, I think I met my bat reference quotient.) :)
HER RATING: 8.5 The acting was superb, it was just dark enough and had fabulous special effects. Christian Bale-the best Batman, Maggie Gyllenhall-the best Rachel Dawes, the late Heath Ledger-WAS the Joker. See it. Rest in Peace Heath.
HIS: This movie has definitely come with a lot of hype and press for quite a few reasons. I was very happy to see and judge the film for myself last night.
And it did not disappoint.
The Dark Knight takes everything that was great about Batman Begins, and ramps it up a notch. Because you care about what happens to the characters, every event seems more serious. You really feel for these characters and the decisions they have to make. I haven't seen this much dread in a PG-13 movie. Everyone talks about Heath Ledger's performance. It is that good - he becomes something that is indescribable. Christian Bale continues to embody the balance between Batman and Bruce Wayne perfectly - and you believe both sides of his personality equally. Gary Oldman continues to put forth great work in the unsung role of Jim Gordon. Maggie Gyllenhall is a serious upgrade to the Rachel Dawes character - you believe she's an adult, and that she could also be an assistant D.A. Aaron Eckhart is great as Harvey Dent, brash, fearless, and then towards the end of the film his fall from grace is as epic as you can get. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are old pros, and their work is stellar here as always.
In short, this was not a "comic book" story - it was an epic crime drama. As great as Iron Man was earlier this year, The Dark Knight is definitely the best movie I've seen of this genre. This is one of the ten best movies I've seen since I started watching movies.
HIS RATING: 10 of 10. Amazing performance, airtight, riveting story, and I can honestly say I have NO IDEA what's going to happen next. Last time I said that? The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. I'm very curious to see how this story ends......
5 comments:
Only an 8.5, HERS?? I see no negative comments in your assessment to justify such point-shaving. I'm with you all the way except for the math; that's where I'm with HIS - totally 10 for 10. I know it's become sort of fashionable in the flights and tights movie scene to conceive of franchises as trilogies, rather than as ongoing sagas. I would say I can't wait to see where it goes next rather than ends. It certainly seems to me that the talent and energy are there to keep going on beyond a third story. The challenge will be to keep the villains reined in to the gritty urban crime milieu and not go bonkers with superpowers, mad scientists or over-the-top camp. That leaves Catwoman ... or perhaps a rivalry with other Gotham vigilantes, as emerged in this installment. Wherever they go, I can't wait to ride along!
P.S. Alfred calls the detachable cycle thingy the Bat-pod, as in escape pod. Admittedly, it's an awkward name for a vehicle that doesn't actually encase the driver, but maybe the filmmakers realized that and that's why they only had one line about it in the whole film, heavily masked by music and sound effects.
OK. Bat pod. I am glad I missed that one line. It rocked no matter what they called it. There was no such point shaving. Perhaps a 9 was in order. Hmmmm...the overdone Batman voice? I don't know. I have to reserve 10's for something that blows me away. I REALLY enjoyed it and I'm a chick. That is what I've got. I stand by it...sorta...a 9 is more reflective today. Perhaps the late hour? HERS...way to get HIS back. What did your youngster think?
Once again I look towards the common critics for some perspective. Once again, it proves entertaining. For the first time I'm chiming in to ABSOLUTELY AGREE with the general assessment of the second installment of The Dark Knight. There are few sequels that ever match up to its predecessor should the predecessor be deemed spectacular. Star Wars, Indiana Jones (Temple of Doom was suspect but made up for it with The Last Crusade), and the Matrix come to mind. I agree that the batman voice was just a tad bit over done because I noticed it. Most things/gadgets in the movie were believably explained over the course of both movies but I don't remember how/why the voice changes once he puts on the speedos. Speaking of, despite the batmobile being made of every high-tech, exotic material (with matching engineering to boot), it gets completely destroyed...except for the least high tech looking, least engineered part of the vehicle...THE TIRES!!!! Everything from rocks to bazookas were thrown at this thing and the tires (as big and as bulky as they are) survived! Incredible.
The Joker. Wow. Absolutley amazing. They say that someone who is considered a genious is at the cusp of being insane. The Joker played hopscotch with the line that bordered these 2 states. This man was Saddam Hussein (for his brutality), Osama bin Ladin (for his ability to hide), Jim Jones (for his ability to psychologically manipulate)and Bobby Fisher (for his ability to see 50 moves ahead) rolled into one. With a hint of Robin Williams for the well timed, albeit twisted, comic relief.
"....and for my first trick I will make this pencil disappear!"
Classic!!!!
For once I agree with critics around the world that Mr. Ledger's performance should be considered for some sort of award. If anything, for his ability to hide his Austrailian accent.
I wish I had 2 more hand so that I can give it 4 thumbs up.
In short, go see this move.
PS: Hers--don't let anyone persuade you that your rating is wrong. Your rating is just that-- YOUR rating. Stick to your guns. With that said, I would've rated the movie 9.6214. Tee hee.
Thanks for having my back on the rating. 8.5 stands. I will know when a 10 comes along. Many may not agree with my 10's but, hey, they are my 10's! HERS I loved your review by the way. Especially your depiction of the Joker's personality! That was great.
We saw the movie last week...LOVED IT! I so did not want to get into all the hype around it..."nahhhh, it can't be that good" is what I was thinking. It was all that and more to me. Christian Bale is just hot...and as HERS said...Heath Ledger WAS the joker. I think he was pure genius in the role. The dark humor aspects stuck with me and I actually can't wait to see it again. We saw it on the IMAX screen and I highly recommend it. Just incredible.
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