Ian said:
It just wasn't my thing!
3/10 is a fair reflection on the film imo.
Well, I too went to see The Dark Knight last night, so I can now give this the proper attention it deserves.
While I still think 3/10 is harsh, and I still firmly believe that had ANY other member posted 3/10 for this (considering it's getting pretty much 10/10 best filmic version of Thorpe Park/Cedar Point (delete as appropriate) ever) - they'd have been torn limb from limb.
However, I can understand the rating a lot more, and reckon you were probably only out by a single mark (3/10 is Kindergarten Cop territory - seriously :lol: ) - considering your hatred of cinema and hero films
I wasn't keen on the film at all. I thought it was over long, and bland. It didn't have that degree of panache it required. It was a very flat film - which is why I believe Heath Ledger's acting stands out so much. I thought he was pretty good, but not brilliant - it's just compared to the rest of the cast he really stood out.
I agree with Ian about Michael Cane. He sells his pearls of wisdom like an Eastend barrow boy sells cabbages. Just really out of place.
I can't get my head around Gary Oldman being in such an understated role either. He does a great job of trying to be such a pathetic, bland character - but it just doesn't suit him. You see every so often he's allowed to shine a little, but then his character is dumbed back down again.
The movie as a whole was a bit of a mess too. The plot devices developed a life of their own. Instead of a simple piece of movement to go from one major sequence to the next - there was a ten minute extraneous plot device to move it along. The movie would have flowed much better and been over half an hour earlier if they had.
The whole film was so flat too. The city scape especially. Where's the exuberance? It's a super hero film, it needs to be a little fantastical. Okay, it's gritty and 'dark', but by making everything appear to be so normal, the costumed fools just stand out glaringly and starkly against the normality. With a little more here and there to make it all just a little out of the norm, Batman et al would have fitted into a believable bubble, but they just don't. It makes the film hard to settle into.
then there's the fact the film was trying to fit too much in. It was over clever, over complicated and it detracts. The basic plots were very simple, but it just wound its way and meandered to make it look bigger than it really was. In reality, there was any plot - it was just hidden under a myriad of plot devices - none of which had any real point.
One thing I loved about Batman Begins was the flair the direction gave it. It was a lovely film to watch - TDK was too busy, and the direction merely functional. It's nice to see real shots and real stunts rather than CGI, but without flair, it's flat again.
At any time after the first hour or so, I could have left the cinema, not wondering what the outcome was going to be, and not regretting missing out on a great bit of film making. The story was just unengaging and the characters I couldn't give a stuff about.
However, the action sequences where good - the hospital scene stood out as a gem in a pile of dung. So it mostly managed to hit the "it entertained me" button, but like Ian, I'm not going to watch it again - even if I get it for Christmas!
6/10.
