The Dark Knight

[elaby]

Dark Knight thoughts/reactions from last night!


I just can't BELIEVE how awesome this movie was. I'll go in order of, um, things that are important to me ¬_¬

Gordon!

EEEEEEEEEEE. ...Sorry. This is what happens with me and supporting characters.

I looooved him in the first movie. From the moment he came into the office in the police station with Bruce after his parents were murdered, and the look he gave him... Well, I'm sure I don't have to preach to the choir about how amazing Gary Oldman is :)

And of course he was wonderful in this movie! I love how... fumbly and sort of uncertain his mannerisms are, all the while he's kicking massive ass. Not literally, most of the time, but in ways that matter. And he did plenty of cool things, nothing that I really squeed about, but him just being onscreen is enough for me.

And then he DIED.

I have to admit - for that, how long was it? Half hour? - even if the movie had been otherwise mind-blowingly brilliant, I wouldn't have cared. That's what happens with me and supporting characters. With Gordon dead, I just wasn't enjoying the movie. As much as I love Christian Bale's Batman, as much as Heath Ledger's Joker was fascinating and skillful in a million ways... Nope. I was done.

BUT THEN OMG. OMG OMG OMG.

I try to, you know, be very low-key in the theatre. I don't want to draw attention to myself. But I flung my fists into the air and made like \o/ when Gordon stuck the gun into the Joker's back just before he pulled off Batman's mask. It was a moment of pure, unadulterated joy, akin to the last twenty seconds of the second PoTC movie, when Barbossa came down the stairs. Only more so, because Barbossa deserved to die (earned it, even) and had an awesome death scene, which Gordon didn't at all. And I like Gordon even more than Barbossa. I suppose that kind of delight what they were aiming for! They had me but good.

And from then on he gave the most incredibly squee-worthy performance, and I was a happy little fangirl. I was so worried about his kids T_T Because I thought in the cartoon (er, one of them) his daughter becomes Batgirl, so I figured anything could happen except her dying. The mother, the brother, either one of them. In fact, that's one of the reasons I really believed he was dead, because I thought maybe that was what made her want to Fight Crime.

But I should have known Batman would save everyone!

Which brings me to Batman. I've seen several of the other movies, none of the live-action TV shows, and... episodes here and there of The Batman and Batman Beyond. Mostly the former. And I definitely think Christian Bale is the best Batman I've ever seen. He's able to take the super-fake playboy Bruce Wayne and reconcile him with the terrifying gravelly-voiced Batman through... uh. I don't know what to call him. The real Bruce. The one Alfred talks to. I'm continually impressed with his performance. I also love all the wry little bits of banter they manage to slip in with him and Alfred. In a movie like that, they were welcome. I have no problem with the darkness and violence of the movie, because I expected it, but it was nice to have little bits of levity.

Obviously, Heath Ledger was amazing. I don't know what more I can say. He's another of those actors, like Gary Oldman, who seem to have a different set of mannerisms for each character he portrays. Present tense because, like, "Shakespeare writes Malvolio with a sliver of empathy, etc. etc." if anyone's wondering. His Joker was the best one I've ever seen as well, with the twitchiness and his speech and the messy makeup and everything. He even managed to do the laugh without sounding even slightly camp. And he was SCARY, by god. I also appreciate the kind of villain that's chaos-driven, that doesn't just want revenge or power or money or to punish people because of his tragic past - that just causes mayhem for the sake of it, to show people what "they're really like". It's interesting, and scarier because it's harder to understand.

I can't believe how good this movie was! I kept expecting it to end long before it did, and I was delighted every time that it didn't. And when it did end, in what I thought was a very effective closing sequence, I was like "NO! MORE! NOW!" Again, I expect that was the intended effect.

Comments

[templarwolf.livejournal.com]

Batman: The Animated Series (called Batman and Robin for the second season) was truely excellent, much like the Clone Wars cartoon. I wish I'd caught more of Batman Beyond. Yes, Barbara Gordon was one of the Batgirls. She was in the animated series, and one of a few in the comics. I think she also is/becomes a lesbian in one comic incarnation.

The Batman in spite of being done by the same guys who did the Jackie Chan cartoon, is not very good. The character designs are terrible.

I still need to see this movie...

[merrick42.livejournal.com]

That's a negatory on the lesbian bit, unless they did a one-shot alternate world thingy.

[anonymous-greg.livejournal.com]

So, are you saying you liked the movie? ;)

[cortue.livejournal.com]

Gordon so made that movie for me; he was brilliant.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

I thought I liked The Batman. However, I get them wicked mixed up and I may certainly have been thinking of The Animated Series.

Batman Beyond had this wicked amusing bit in the opening sequence where it was kind of just like "STOP! Random Dance Club Scene!" XD The character designs were very nifty in that one if I remember correctly.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Oh well :)

[elaby.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA NO WAY. Yes, I really liked it a lot ^_^

[elaby.livejournal.com]

YES. I feel exactly the same way. *pets your icon*