My reviews generally open with expectations. What can I say about my expectations with this film? Saying they were as tall as the mile high buildings in Gotham city would still remain an understatement. Let's get to the points:
STORY:
1. 'The Dark Knight' has a very linear story. It does not even have flashbacks. Very surprising as I associate Nolan with complex highly nonlinear plots. In fact, this tactic was very useful in converting even average tales into gripping cinema, like 'Memento' and 'The Prestige' which in my opinion would have been lesser movies if not for the style of narration. I do not mean to say that 'The Dark Knight' is lesser for having a linear screenplay.
2. I am surprised that no one has felt the story is overdone. It is very very complex. No one can possibly give away this movie's story in any review. Luckily, it is followable and very very thrilling.
3. This is an obvious one. There is no explanation for Joker being the way he is. I didn't expect this. In any other movie there would have been a flashback or some other means to convince the viewers of his actions and his being. 'The Dark Knight' does not try to do that. For movie that's 152 minutes that works so well without this to have this would have been foolhardy. Not a single film by Nolan gives a feeling that some scene is forced into the movie. The way the script works, it keeps going forward in time, it would have been reckless to take the clock back to include an unnecessary flashback. Joker's intentions have to be accepted by the viewer with a no-questions-asked policy and I did just that.
4. This is perhaps the best part of the film for me. This is one film where the villain's plotting is not shown explicitly. Even the execution of the Joker's plans is not shown. The audience sees his actions through the cops, Dent and Batman. What an effect this has! This is a great great idea. Why? Every action comes as a total surprise. Some of 'stunts' that he pulls off make me feel as he has some magical powers. How does a guy get to perform that "social experiment" or place Dawes and Dent where they are? Without showing how Joker works but showing only what he does Nolan convinces a simpleton like me that Joker can do whatever he wants. So when Joker has the entire city under his control through the T.V. telecast or announces that he will kill Reese in 60 minutes I am convinced that Joker can actually do whatever he says. This is the trick of Nolan along with Ledger's performance make Joker as menacing as he comes out in this film.
5.The motive behind Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face is hackneyed. I can't believe Nolan could not come up with a better reason for Dent to lose control. Losing a girl-friend is reason enough for men to lose their mind, especially she accepts his proposal a split-second before her demise, but it is an oft-used concept to explain villainy.
6. Dent's reason for transformation is Rachel's death. The idea of doing with her character is a total surprise. This along with no explanation of Joker's past are fresh ideas in this superhero flick. Which other superhero loses his girl?
7. 'Social experiment'! Brilliant! I loved this small thing in the film. Joker's goal is to prove that Batman lives in an indecent world and Batman has no reason to fight for the people of Gotham. The script had to be written in a way to prove Joker wrong. Once this experiment goes wrong Joker is stunned.
8. Within that experiment I didn't like the way the experiment fails. I guess the way it is done is good for dramatization but I everyone will see that coming. I am trying to see how else this could have been done. Let's see.......I can't think of any other way. Can someone else? Maybe there is no better way. I should not have brought this up but I am leaving it on print anyway just because I felt it was predictable.
ACTING:
1. There has been a lot of talk with regard to the acting in this film. I maintain that there will be no awards, maybe except for Heath Ledger, but the entire does maintain a straight face throughout. Unlike other comic book movies there is no one smiling at the camera or giving us a feeling they are bored. Every actor knows where he or she fits in the script and acts with a purpose. I picked this point from another review and it's here because this is point readers to keep in mind when I explain 'why this movie works' later on.
2. The reaction to Heath Ledger's performance has been unanimous. I fully endorse the fact that he has given us one of the best villains of all time. It will be hard to forget this performance especially in the aftermath of his demise. Will he win a posthumous Oscar? It is too early to say. The Oscars are far away and there is every chance of another better performance. If not a better performance there is an even better chance of performance which if not as good as this but comes in a film which hits the screen very close to the Oscars.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
1. "The Dark Knight" is more about the story. Characterization takes a bit of a backseat in this film. If there is any characterization it is seen in Harvey Dent and to some extent in James Gordon. Personally, I feel there is no characterization of Joker. He is just what he is from his first scene to his final scene. The character does not change. It is one-dimensional. Some will argue that the character of Batman and Joker are contrasts and that is great in itself. But the characters don't grow. Harvey Dent character grows (rather deteriorates!) in this film.
2. This may contradict something I wrote earlier. But I will try to push it through anyway. The discussion here is about the final act of the film, the portion of the film after Joker blasts his way out of prison and then the hospital. Until this point the movie is very very real. The portion after this when Joker has the entire city at his disposal is where the film slips a little away from reality. I don't see it happening in today's day and age when one man will hold a city, that too as big as Gotham, hostage. But I once again emphasize that I was so caught up in the film that I believed it all. I still do. It is only as I write this do I feel it is not possible.
3. I didn't like the bit where the batmobile comes in the way of a shot fired from a rocket launcher. I mean that's the one scene, during the film, where I was reminded that is a comic book we are talking about.
4. "Batman Begins" achieves one thing that 'The Dark Knight' does not. The former speaks more about the system at Gotham which is inherently screwed. It has been so for long. This feels very real. In the latest installment I got a feeling that Joker was trying his best to make the system worse. He is externally corrupting the system. As a result, Batman is fighting a bad system in the first film and fighting a criminal in the latter. To me the concept of the first film is more appealing. But they are different films and both are great.
5. I see Christopher Nolan getting at least a nomination for direction. The Nolan brothers will receive nominations for writing. These two I am dead sure about. In fact, I feel this film can win these categories. I am little skeptical about nominations for best picture and one for Heath Ledger. The chances are high in my opinion, I am not ruling it out, but no one can state this for sure.
QESTION: WHY THIS MOVIE WORKS?
ANSWER: This is where my views may hurt the ones who call themselves "true" fans. 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight' do not work as films inspired from comics. They work as stand-alone films. Only 'Sin City', a very good film, constantly reminds viewers that they are watching a comic book adaptation. All the Nolans have done is take the characters from the comics and put them into the real world.For a long time I have been hearing from friends and relations that to enjoy an 'x' superhero movie one has to understand the character that was developed in the comic. Nolan's two films have shown how people like the ones I mentioned have been hiding behind this excuse to make a series of badly adapted superhero films look good. For many years I have been hearing that some 'x' movie is the best superhero film till date. That is not so with these two flicks. We are ready to put them alongside real cinema. Critics have been saying this maybe one of the best crime movies of all time. Some critic went even further and spoke of 'The Departed' and 'Heat' in the same breath. When a superhero film is spoken of as a great crime film it can no longer be considered as a superhero film. Not too long ago Ang Lee tried to make 'The Hulk' into such a film which failed at the B.O. and with critics. Most importantly, 'The Hulk' failed to get a favorable review from me! Nolan has succeeded where 'The Hulk' failed. I don't know a single person who has read the 'Sin City' comics. Note that reading the comics after viewing the film does not count.
CONCLUSION:
1. Watch it once because it exceeds all expectations.
2. Watch it twice as a triumph of the Nolans.
3. Watch it the thrice for a great super-hero film.
4. Watch it again for it rises above a suerhero film into one of film noir.
5. Watch it once again for it will be the fastest 152 minutes of your life.
6. Watch it the penultimate time because it is my favorite of 2008.
7. Finally, watch it because it is a must-watch.
I pray the Nolans have at least another two dozen movies left in them. At least a couple of them being Batman films.
RATING: 5/5
STORY:
1. 'The Dark Knight' has a very linear story. It does not even have flashbacks. Very surprising as I associate Nolan with complex highly nonlinear plots. In fact, this tactic was very useful in converting even average tales into gripping cinema, like 'Memento' and 'The Prestige' which in my opinion would have been lesser movies if not for the style of narration. I do not mean to say that 'The Dark Knight' is lesser for having a linear screenplay.
2. I am surprised that no one has felt the story is overdone. It is very very complex. No one can possibly give away this movie's story in any review. Luckily, it is followable and very very thrilling.
3. This is an obvious one. There is no explanation for Joker being the way he is. I didn't expect this. In any other movie there would have been a flashback or some other means to convince the viewers of his actions and his being. 'The Dark Knight' does not try to do that. For movie that's 152 minutes that works so well without this to have this would have been foolhardy. Not a single film by Nolan gives a feeling that some scene is forced into the movie. The way the script works, it keeps going forward in time, it would have been reckless to take the clock back to include an unnecessary flashback. Joker's intentions have to be accepted by the viewer with a no-questions-asked policy and I did just that.
4. This is perhaps the best part of the film for me. This is one film where the villain's plotting is not shown explicitly. Even the execution of the Joker's plans is not shown. The audience sees his actions through the cops, Dent and Batman. What an effect this has! This is a great great idea. Why? Every action comes as a total surprise. Some of 'stunts' that he pulls off make me feel as he has some magical powers. How does a guy get to perform that "social experiment" or place Dawes and Dent where they are? Without showing how Joker works but showing only what he does Nolan convinces a simpleton like me that Joker can do whatever he wants. So when Joker has the entire city under his control through the T.V. telecast or announces that he will kill Reese in 60 minutes I am convinced that Joker can actually do whatever he says. This is the trick of Nolan along with Ledger's performance make Joker as menacing as he comes out in this film.
5.The motive behind Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face is hackneyed. I can't believe Nolan could not come up with a better reason for Dent to lose control. Losing a girl-friend is reason enough for men to lose their mind, especially she accepts his proposal a split-second before her demise, but it is an oft-used concept to explain villainy.
6. Dent's reason for transformation is Rachel's death. The idea of doing with her character is a total surprise. This along with no explanation of Joker's past are fresh ideas in this superhero flick. Which other superhero loses his girl?
7. 'Social experiment'! Brilliant! I loved this small thing in the film. Joker's goal is to prove that Batman lives in an indecent world and Batman has no reason to fight for the people of Gotham. The script had to be written in a way to prove Joker wrong. Once this experiment goes wrong Joker is stunned.
8. Within that experiment I didn't like the way the experiment fails. I guess the way it is done is good for dramatization but I everyone will see that coming. I am trying to see how else this could have been done. Let's see.......I can't think of any other way. Can someone else? Maybe there is no better way. I should not have brought this up but I am leaving it on print anyway just because I felt it was predictable.
ACTING:
1. There has been a lot of talk with regard to the acting in this film. I maintain that there will be no awards, maybe except for Heath Ledger, but the entire does maintain a straight face throughout. Unlike other comic book movies there is no one smiling at the camera or giving us a feeling they are bored. Every actor knows where he or she fits in the script and acts with a purpose. I picked this point from another review and it's here because this is point readers to keep in mind when I explain 'why this movie works' later on.
2. The reaction to Heath Ledger's performance has been unanimous. I fully endorse the fact that he has given us one of the best villains of all time. It will be hard to forget this performance especially in the aftermath of his demise. Will he win a posthumous Oscar? It is too early to say. The Oscars are far away and there is every chance of another better performance. If not a better performance there is an even better chance of performance which if not as good as this but comes in a film which hits the screen very close to the Oscars.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
1. "The Dark Knight" is more about the story. Characterization takes a bit of a backseat in this film. If there is any characterization it is seen in Harvey Dent and to some extent in James Gordon. Personally, I feel there is no characterization of Joker. He is just what he is from his first scene to his final scene. The character does not change. It is one-dimensional. Some will argue that the character of Batman and Joker are contrasts and that is great in itself. But the characters don't grow. Harvey Dent character grows (rather deteriorates!) in this film.
2. This may contradict something I wrote earlier. But I will try to push it through anyway. The discussion here is about the final act of the film, the portion of the film after Joker blasts his way out of prison and then the hospital. Until this point the movie is very very real. The portion after this when Joker has the entire city at his disposal is where the film slips a little away from reality. I don't see it happening in today's day and age when one man will hold a city, that too as big as Gotham, hostage. But I once again emphasize that I was so caught up in the film that I believed it all. I still do. It is only as I write this do I feel it is not possible.
3. I didn't like the bit where the batmobile comes in the way of a shot fired from a rocket launcher. I mean that's the one scene, during the film, where I was reminded that is a comic book we are talking about.
4. "Batman Begins" achieves one thing that 'The Dark Knight' does not. The former speaks more about the system at Gotham which is inherently screwed. It has been so for long. This feels very real. In the latest installment I got a feeling that Joker was trying his best to make the system worse. He is externally corrupting the system. As a result, Batman is fighting a bad system in the first film and fighting a criminal in the latter. To me the concept of the first film is more appealing. But they are different films and both are great.
5. I see Christopher Nolan getting at least a nomination for direction. The Nolan brothers will receive nominations for writing. These two I am dead sure about. In fact, I feel this film can win these categories. I am little skeptical about nominations for best picture and one for Heath Ledger. The chances are high in my opinion, I am not ruling it out, but no one can state this for sure.
QESTION: WHY THIS MOVIE WORKS?
ANSWER: This is where my views may hurt the ones who call themselves "true" fans. 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight' do not work as films inspired from comics. They work as stand-alone films. Only 'Sin City', a very good film, constantly reminds viewers that they are watching a comic book adaptation. All the Nolans have done is take the characters from the comics and put them into the real world.For a long time I have been hearing from friends and relations that to enjoy an 'x' superhero movie one has to understand the character that was developed in the comic. Nolan's two films have shown how people like the ones I mentioned have been hiding behind this excuse to make a series of badly adapted superhero films look good. For many years I have been hearing that some 'x' movie is the best superhero film till date. That is not so with these two flicks. We are ready to put them alongside real cinema. Critics have been saying this maybe one of the best crime movies of all time. Some critic went even further and spoke of 'The Departed' and 'Heat' in the same breath. When a superhero film is spoken of as a great crime film it can no longer be considered as a superhero film. Not too long ago Ang Lee tried to make 'The Hulk' into such a film which failed at the B.O. and with critics. Most importantly, 'The Hulk' failed to get a favorable review from me! Nolan has succeeded where 'The Hulk' failed. I don't know a single person who has read the 'Sin City' comics. Note that reading the comics after viewing the film does not count.
CONCLUSION:
1. Watch it once because it exceeds all expectations.
2. Watch it twice as a triumph of the Nolans.
3. Watch it the thrice for a great super-hero film.
4. Watch it again for it rises above a suerhero film into one of film noir.
5. Watch it once again for it will be the fastest 152 minutes of your life.
6. Watch it the penultimate time because it is my favorite of 2008.
7. Finally, watch it because it is a must-watch.
I pray the Nolans have at least another two dozen movies left in them. At least a couple of them being Batman films.
RATING: 5/5
4 comments:
im gonna put my answer with those points as bullets as per how u have used them to bring out a particular point.
STORY
5.Harvey Dent's transformation isnt JUST because of rachel's death.He says this in the finality of the movie-"there's nothing fair in this world..the only fair thing is chance.."and he says this because till Rachel's death,for him things were on an even keel.He's a DA & he equates justice to fairness.And he expects to be treated fairly for he feels he he's the good guy(the white knight and all that!!),deserves to not be wronged.That is a flaw in his character.And the Joker ues that later on to his advantage.Gordon says it too that everyone thought that harvey was flawless but we get to know that's not true.
8.I dint think the experiment was predictable completely.In fact i was kinda scared that one of them might actualy blow up...at a pioint i tihnk both might..because with Nolan u dont associat something simple.And tat's where he delivers this time.it was a happy ending not a predictable one.U can say it's predictable because the joker has turned the city on it's head.With a few words after the Hospital is blown up,he's able to instill even more fear than beofre.There's more reason to believe that the joker will succeed here rather than fail.I DONT agree with ur point at all.
ACTING
no real complaints here.The last great performance for me was probably Leo Di caprio in the Blood diamond for me.For me this was on par if not better.Not for a second do u feel that either of the characters arent real.U dont feel Ledger is on screen portraying the joker.U just feel its the joker!!Now i know wat it means to get under the skin of the character.
RANDOM THOUGHTS-
2.I tihnk Osama has done excatly this.Even now u can the effects of 9/11.Even today u have the airports under tight security and we r seven years down from that date now.If this isnt holding a COUNTRY hostage then wat is?Why cant the Joker hold a city hostage?
%.Nominations.For direction,screenplay like u said.Heath ledger's performace will definitely garner a nomination out of sympathy.this doesnt say that the performance is bad.it was great.right up there.But like u said.its a long road.And when The godfather can win an award for best movie why cant this movie get nominsated.Dont mean to sound categorical but it hink godfather was a piece of junk.
and the last thing.while ur talking about movies which remind u that ur watching a comic adaptation.u cant deny u felt like 300 the movie was a comic adaption too.
and its good that atleast u dont say that we sould watch it for ledger's performance.
STORY
3. Very True. The fact that we were watching Joker's acts through Dent/Batman's eyes..makes every act of joker more gripping...
5. Agree with Angadh!!! Harvey Dent, the DA when realises (thanks to Joker) that he has been treated unfairly (and he cant take it); transforms into two-face (Rachel's death was just a trigger)
ACTING
2. Heath Ledger gives memorable performance... Though in some scenes I got a feeling he overacted (check out when he come out of the hospital and blasts it ..I thought he overdid his joker act there)...but when he talked ..he talked gold .Truly one of the best villains of all time...Surely an Oscar Nomination..will be surprised if he doesnt win it..
Special mention about Aaron Eckhart..will not be surprised if he gets a nomination for supporting actor...
SPECIAL MENTION
Few of the action scenes were just truly unbelievable...check out the flip of the truck during an amazing chase sequence Or kidnapping of the Chinese gansgter from Hongkong...truly amazing...could get nomination for Action as well (if oscars have this category)
I liked the movie and I liked the review more than movie.Agreed with the most of the points. Joker was running the show in city and one should be amused because that was the city supposed to be safer because of Batman. I found law and order situation pathetic in the city. As far as script is concerned, I will say other than some dramatic moments there was nothing about story. A very typical story about a hero and villain but the good thing is that its quite gripping. You will not like to miss a scene in the movie and thats very unusual( thats why movie works). Heath ledger's performane is superb and people came out talking about joker, superbly executed and will be remembered as one of the best performance in a negative role (Actually I don't remember any strong performance for negative roles in recent movies).Christian Bale was really looking very smart in the movie.Other performances were ok. Harvey Dent's character is difficult to understand but now I don't see it that way. He lost her girlfriend and his face was distorted, people cheated who were supposed to save him. That way any normal human being can change character and in a very sensible way it has been shown.
Movie acchi thi!
Paisa vasool thi!!... thoda pain in the ass long movie thi... lekin its ok once in a while!!..
baaki sab analysis ki maa ki aankh!!
Oscar mile na mile... koi fark nahi padta!... lekin shayad special effects ke liye kuchh mil sakta hai..
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