L
lordmanji
Guest
1. Some of the plot seemed forced. This is important because when the story seems to move where the writer wants rather than where it wants to go, it takes you out of the movie. These are the instances it seemed forced where I can recall:
a). Harvey Dent suddenly became evil after losing Rachel and goes on a rampage against the Police Chief Gordon and the mob bosses after speaking with the Joker. What should've happened is Harvey blaming it all on the Joker like any man in his state would have done. Yes, he left Joker's life up to chance but if he can go so far over the top against Gordon's family and his kids, he's clearly abandoned all reason. This gave us an additional act which was wholly unnecessary since the movie is long enough already.
b). Batman decides to quit being Batman for like one scene just in time to let Harvey pretend to be Batman. This allows the next sequence of events to happen but in reality, Batman wouldn't be so thin-skinned and hair-brained to think he is responsible for what the Joker does.
c). A boat full of prisoners decides NOT to blow up a bunch of innocent civilians. Rather, they let themselves be at the mercy of people who put them in jail (as jurors). They could have easily overpowered the guards and push the detonation button. But instead we got an illogical and cliched moment in which a criminal throws away the detonator so selflessly.
d). Two-Face's killings were blamed on Batman. Surely they could've blamed it on the Joker or really anyone. They have as much evidence putting Batman there as any random person. But for thematic strength that Batman as the scapegoat for the city, they chose to make an illogical choice by having Batman blamed.
e). Gordon fakes his own death. The reason he gives is that he didn't want his family to be harmed but not before long, he's revealed to be alive. We never got to see the machinations and extent to which he had covered up his death with caskets etc. Rather we get one scene where his family is informed. The real Gordon, principled and upright for justice as he is, would not have been as uncreative and cruel as to let his friends and family think this; he surely would have either found another way. Moreover, the Joker had only shown himself to target the actual people and not the family so it was nonsensical for Gordon to do that. But if Gordon hadn't done that, then we wouldn't have had a lengthy action sequence in which he's masked in SWAT gear (quite distractingly) and save Batman (though the real Batman would've been able to control his bike after dodging the Joker and not need saving).
f). Batman decides to personally save Harvey over Rachel Dawes. Rachel is his childhood best friend and love of his life but he lets Gordon save her? This is illogical and also renders him as an unemotional tool - not very good traits to have as a hero. The movie makes a point that he's the dark knight - not a hero - but to the public, Dark Knight or not, he should have saved the girl. When the protagonist of a movie chooses his mind over his heart, we lose our ability to rally behind him. (i've been told that the Joker switched the addresses and this makes sense. but this goes to reason 7 that we are not shown Batman rueing being tricked and mourning Rachel. again, its happening so fast we don't have time to understand the implications of what has happened so we end up ceasing to care.)
2. Rachel Dawes was not pretty. This might seem like an inane and sexist point, but remember Helen of Troy? The face who launched a thousand ships? Well, imagine if Rachel Dawes was Maggie Gyllenhall. The Trojan War would seem a lot less epic and more of a farce. This is because basic human nature dictates that we want to have someone worth saving and that value is determined by looks. Unfortunately, Rachel Dawes was downright unattractive and proved to be distracting to look at. What's worse is she distracted us, the audience, by making us wonder why Batman and Harvey would go through such great lengths to save not Helen but her less than beautiful sister. Not only that, we're supposed to believe she is the reason Harvey goes way over to the dark side. With the casting so great with Heath's Joker and Bale's Batman, casting Maggie was like letting a rookie play in the big leagues.
3. The dialogue was at times indecipherable. With all the loud action going around and the unfamiliar jargon being routinely bandied about, and the guttural intonations of Bale as Batman and the Joker's maniacal deliveries, it was important to know exactly what was going on in the story in order to keeping suspending our disbelief. But instead, I found myself just hearing dialogue instead of understanding the story before moving on to the next 10 minute sequences of bangs and explosions. Repeat this for 2 and a half hrs and it gets very off-putting.
4. Heath Ledger's performance was dulled by excessive cutaways. When you've been hyped up on an actor's performance for months, you want to see as much of it as possible. Towards the end we get this but for too long, we get cutaways to reaction shots to whoever else was in the room with the Joker as he spoke his lines. Reaction shots are important but not at the expense of witnessing possibly one of the greatest performances in cinematic history. That's the feeling I walked away with: Heath's performance was great, but it could've been so much more had they not moved the camera away.
5. The Joker planned everything. Even when our heroes won, they lost. It leaves us exasperated and feeling manipulated. It is a superhero movie but everything about it from the film stock to the make up and performances drip of reality. But the Joker shows superhuman premonition in predicting every step the heroes make and somehow continually getting gallons of gasoline and explosives to cover his bases. In chess, when you lose your chess pieces, they don't come back and you take that loss. But the Joker always seemed to have an unlimited supply of pieces which makes for a rigged game that isn't enjoyable to watch.
6. Much of the movie was shot in Daylight. This is the opposite of how they shot Batman Begins. I read an article at the LATimes which stated that the director wanted to showcase Batman's new and improved Batsuit. But this comes with the expense of the brooding atmosphere of Batman Begins as well as Batman 1 and 2, which are arguably all the best parts of the Batman canon. By shooting in daylight, we see more of everything: of Batman, the city and those are the two canvases where it would've been better to leave to the audiences imagination. Rather, we got to see Batman for exactly what he was which was not some mythic figure but a guy in a batsuit; we saw the city for what it was, not Gotham but a place that looked alot like New York or Vancouver in the daytime. Though the title is The Dark Knight, we spent an awful lot of time in the sun light; it's Batman, not Iron Man.
7. Everything happens too fast. Before we can digest a scene, such as Gordon's death, or Two-Face's dealing with his disfigurement, we're off and running to the next scene. It gives us more action but at the expense of character development and giving us a chance to catch our breath so that we could appreciate the next set piece.
a). Harvey Dent suddenly became evil after losing Rachel and goes on a rampage against the Police Chief Gordon and the mob bosses after speaking with the Joker. What should've happened is Harvey blaming it all on the Joker like any man in his state would have done. Yes, he left Joker's life up to chance but if he can go so far over the top against Gordon's family and his kids, he's clearly abandoned all reason. This gave us an additional act which was wholly unnecessary since the movie is long enough already.
b). Batman decides to quit being Batman for like one scene just in time to let Harvey pretend to be Batman. This allows the next sequence of events to happen but in reality, Batman wouldn't be so thin-skinned and hair-brained to think he is responsible for what the Joker does.
c). A boat full of prisoners decides NOT to blow up a bunch of innocent civilians. Rather, they let themselves be at the mercy of people who put them in jail (as jurors). They could have easily overpowered the guards and push the detonation button. But instead we got an illogical and cliched moment in which a criminal throws away the detonator so selflessly.
d). Two-Face's killings were blamed on Batman. Surely they could've blamed it on the Joker or really anyone. They have as much evidence putting Batman there as any random person. But for thematic strength that Batman as the scapegoat for the city, they chose to make an illogical choice by having Batman blamed.
e). Gordon fakes his own death. The reason he gives is that he didn't want his family to be harmed but not before long, he's revealed to be alive. We never got to see the machinations and extent to which he had covered up his death with caskets etc. Rather we get one scene where his family is informed. The real Gordon, principled and upright for justice as he is, would not have been as uncreative and cruel as to let his friends and family think this; he surely would have either found another way. Moreover, the Joker had only shown himself to target the actual people and not the family so it was nonsensical for Gordon to do that. But if Gordon hadn't done that, then we wouldn't have had a lengthy action sequence in which he's masked in SWAT gear (quite distractingly) and save Batman (though the real Batman would've been able to control his bike after dodging the Joker and not need saving).
f). Batman decides to personally save Harvey over Rachel Dawes. Rachel is his childhood best friend and love of his life but he lets Gordon save her? This is illogical and also renders him as an unemotional tool - not very good traits to have as a hero. The movie makes a point that he's the dark knight - not a hero - but to the public, Dark Knight or not, he should have saved the girl. When the protagonist of a movie chooses his mind over his heart, we lose our ability to rally behind him. (i've been told that the Joker switched the addresses and this makes sense. but this goes to reason 7 that we are not shown Batman rueing being tricked and mourning Rachel. again, its happening so fast we don't have time to understand the implications of what has happened so we end up ceasing to care.)
2. Rachel Dawes was not pretty. This might seem like an inane and sexist point, but remember Helen of Troy? The face who launched a thousand ships? Well, imagine if Rachel Dawes was Maggie Gyllenhall. The Trojan War would seem a lot less epic and more of a farce. This is because basic human nature dictates that we want to have someone worth saving and that value is determined by looks. Unfortunately, Rachel Dawes was downright unattractive and proved to be distracting to look at. What's worse is she distracted us, the audience, by making us wonder why Batman and Harvey would go through such great lengths to save not Helen but her less than beautiful sister. Not only that, we're supposed to believe she is the reason Harvey goes way over to the dark side. With the casting so great with Heath's Joker and Bale's Batman, casting Maggie was like letting a rookie play in the big leagues.
3. The dialogue was at times indecipherable. With all the loud action going around and the unfamiliar jargon being routinely bandied about, and the guttural intonations of Bale as Batman and the Joker's maniacal deliveries, it was important to know exactly what was going on in the story in order to keeping suspending our disbelief. But instead, I found myself just hearing dialogue instead of understanding the story before moving on to the next 10 minute sequences of bangs and explosions. Repeat this for 2 and a half hrs and it gets very off-putting.
4. Heath Ledger's performance was dulled by excessive cutaways. When you've been hyped up on an actor's performance for months, you want to see as much of it as possible. Towards the end we get this but for too long, we get cutaways to reaction shots to whoever else was in the room with the Joker as he spoke his lines. Reaction shots are important but not at the expense of witnessing possibly one of the greatest performances in cinematic history. That's the feeling I walked away with: Heath's performance was great, but it could've been so much more had they not moved the camera away.
5. The Joker planned everything. Even when our heroes won, they lost. It leaves us exasperated and feeling manipulated. It is a superhero movie but everything about it from the film stock to the make up and performances drip of reality. But the Joker shows superhuman premonition in predicting every step the heroes make and somehow continually getting gallons of gasoline and explosives to cover his bases. In chess, when you lose your chess pieces, they don't come back and you take that loss. But the Joker always seemed to have an unlimited supply of pieces which makes for a rigged game that isn't enjoyable to watch.
6. Much of the movie was shot in Daylight. This is the opposite of how they shot Batman Begins. I read an article at the LATimes which stated that the director wanted to showcase Batman's new and improved Batsuit. But this comes with the expense of the brooding atmosphere of Batman Begins as well as Batman 1 and 2, which are arguably all the best parts of the Batman canon. By shooting in daylight, we see more of everything: of Batman, the city and those are the two canvases where it would've been better to leave to the audiences imagination. Rather, we got to see Batman for exactly what he was which was not some mythic figure but a guy in a batsuit; we saw the city for what it was, not Gotham but a place that looked alot like New York or Vancouver in the daytime. Though the title is The Dark Knight, we spent an awful lot of time in the sun light; it's Batman, not Iron Man.
7. Everything happens too fast. Before we can digest a scene, such as Gordon's death, or Two-Face's dealing with his disfigurement, we're off and running to the next scene. It gives us more action but at the expense of character development and giving us a chance to catch our breath so that we could appreciate the next set piece.
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