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kickahaJust got back from The Dark Knight (so I'm a little behind on my theatre experiences).
Wow. Just wow. I don't own a lot of movies, but I will that one. It was just beautifully crafted, from beginning to end. I love the fact that it felt more like a crime drama than a 'superhero movie'. The opening sequence had this wonderful 70's French Connection feel, the action sequences were incredibly well done without being "ZOMG! ACTION SCENE!", and jesus, could you get a more intelligently, straightforward and solidly done "If they make you react against your principles out of fear, THE TERRORISTS WIN!" message? (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ginkgo correctly pointed out afterwards that there's no way in hell this movie could have used NYC as a backdrop - it would go against everything this region is currently embroiled in as a cultural fabric.)
Chicago was a pretty darned decent stand in for Gotham, to be honest. The use of the El and split covered highways was just beautiful, and I can't think of a decent analogue in the NYC area that would have given that same dark, gritty, and infrastructure-in-trouble feel. (To be sure, NYC has *more* than it's fair share of failing infrastructure, they just like to slap paint over it to make it not so obvious to tourists. Just don't step on metal storm grates in the road or sidewalk if you can help it. Google 'stray voltage deaths'.)
Bale was really good, Eckhart was really *really* good, but if Ledger doesn't get at *least* a fucking Oscar nomination, then the Academy truly has lost its head up its ass for good. Caine and Freeman make a beautiful set of older mentors (could we get one scene with the two of them playing off of one another please?), and sadly, while I normally love Maggie, I just couldn't really get into her character. She wasn't *bad*, by any means, and fulfilled her role adequately, but in the panorama of the rest of the film, she kind of melted into the background. Oldman nailed it again as Gordon, however - he just played it beautifully straight.
Actually, that's pretty much how I felt about the whole film - they treated the source material as something serious, not campy or 'oh, just comics'. They took the psychological damages out of the four color print process and played with them explicitly, without being saccharine or heavy-handed. They managed to work in a number of relevant (to any time period, really) social issues, and dear god, was that *character development* I saw? Really, this was Dent's story - the Joker was the catalyst of chaos, the Batman was the questionable ethics of power and order, but Dent was the pivot point between the two. Without him, this would have been a beautiful cat-and-mouse, but it wouldn't have had nearly so much emotional punch.
Damn. Just... damn. Love it.
Wow. Just wow. I don't own a lot of movies, but I will that one. It was just beautifully crafted, from beginning to end. I love the fact that it felt more like a crime drama than a 'superhero movie'. The opening sequence had this wonderful 70's French Connection feel, the action sequences were incredibly well done without being "ZOMG! ACTION SCENE!", and jesus, could you get a more intelligently, straightforward and solidly done "If they make you react against your principles out of fear, THE TERRORISTS WIN!" message? (
ginkgo correctly pointed out afterwards that there's no way in hell this movie could have used NYC as a backdrop - it would go against everything this region is currently embroiled in as a cultural fabric.)Chicago was a pretty darned decent stand in for Gotham, to be honest. The use of the El and split covered highways was just beautiful, and I can't think of a decent analogue in the NYC area that would have given that same dark, gritty, and infrastructure-in-trouble feel. (To be sure, NYC has *more* than it's fair share of failing infrastructure, they just like to slap paint over it to make it not so obvious to tourists. Just don't step on metal storm grates in the road or sidewalk if you can help it. Google 'stray voltage deaths'.)
Bale was really good, Eckhart was really *really* good, but if Ledger doesn't get at *least* a fucking Oscar nomination, then the Academy truly has lost its head up its ass for good. Caine and Freeman make a beautiful set of older mentors (could we get one scene with the two of them playing off of one another please?), and sadly, while I normally love Maggie, I just couldn't really get into her character. She wasn't *bad*, by any means, and fulfilled her role adequately, but in the panorama of the rest of the film, she kind of melted into the background. Oldman nailed it again as Gordon, however - he just played it beautifully straight.
Actually, that's pretty much how I felt about the whole film - they treated the source material as something serious, not campy or 'oh, just comics'. They took the psychological damages out of the four color print process and played with them explicitly, without being saccharine or heavy-handed. They managed to work in a number of relevant (to any time period, really) social issues, and dear god, was that *character development* I saw? Really, this was Dent's story - the Joker was the catalyst of chaos, the Batman was the questionable ethics of power and order, but Dent was the pivot point between the two. Without him, this would have been a beautiful cat-and-mouse, but it wouldn't have had nearly so much emotional punch.
Damn. Just... damn. Love it.