5 Comments Add your own

• 1. Pat Cunningham  |  August 11th, 2008 at 9:07 am

  Will: I’m off-subject here (so sue me), but I had to share with you my impressions of the Batman movie, which are mostly negative. I know it’s just a comic-book flick, but is it too much to ask for at least a shred of plausibility? If it weren’t for Heath Ledger’s terrific performance, this flick would be utterly worthless. Christian Bale? He phoned in his performance. And his Batman voice was ridiculous. The leading lady? Awful. The second-tier bad guys? Beyond implausible; worse than cartoons. The movie is fraught with inconsistencies and confusion. In several instances, people were badly injured only to seem just fine a few moments later. The scene with the ferry boats and the bombs came off as an awkward effort to pose an ethical conundrum, which thereby would make this thing almost an adult movie. The courtroom scene near the beginning was laughable. The characters should have had flashlights so they could see one another. (Oh, yeah, I forgot: This is supposed to be a dark movie). And then, on top of everything, the movie is way, way, too long. There were several spots where they could have wrapped it up. But no, they decided to spend more money and blow up more things seemingly just for the hell of it. I don’t recall your review of this thing, Will. I’d like to think you found it flawed. I fear, however, that you gave it 5 stars on a scale of 4. (Now, here’s where you reply that I’m too old to appreciate a movie like this, and I should stick with musicals, Jane Austen chick flicks and heart-rending Margaret O’Brien stuff. Y’know, you’re probably right on every count. Anyway, excuse my abrupt departure. I’m off to the Patmobile.)

• 2. Brian M  |  August 11th, 2008 at 10:55 am

  There’s nothing that makes me immediately disregard someone’s opinions faster than hearing them say “it was too long.” It just shows me that that person is a shallow, casual moviegoer whose idea of good entertainment is not compatiible with mine. Fact is, most movies are too short. I would have been fine if this one was 5 hours long.

  As for the rest of Pat’s comments… they strike me as coming from a guy who thinks he’s above this kind of thing. Yes, it’s a comic book movie. What were you looking for? A shred of plausibility? Well there was plenty of it there. Inconsistencies and confusion? I didn’t see any, and was never confused. Maybe you should stop rolling your eyes and pay attention.

  This isn’t meant to be a personal attack, though. It just seems with any huge blockbuster there are people who like to be contrary just to feel like they’re better than the masses who enjoyed the flick. Maybe having waited to see it until after it has been out for weeks with endless hype and record-breaking news has made people expect too much of it.
  Me? I liked it…a lot (obviously), but I wasn’t one of those who had already decided the film was the Second Coming before it opened. I actually had relatively low expectations going in. It earned my high marks on its own merits.

• 3. Leaf Like a Tree  |  August 11th, 2008 at 11:19 am

  Take it easy on Pat. He is a nice guy and he is entitled to his opinion. And he is right…the movie was ridiculous. Unless you are a serious comic book geek, you could not find this to be a good flick.

  But I do agree with you on your statement about something being too long…things are only too long if they are not good. I think Pat was saying this movie is a stinker.

  As for contrarians to blockbusters, this blog is full of them. Pretty much anything that is popular gets a thumbs down from the high brows on here.

• 4. Brian M  |  August 11th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

  I realized I was probably being harsh on Pat, as everyone IS entitled to an opinion, which is why I tried to emphasize I did not mean it as a personal attack.

  However, you couldn’t be further off about DK, Leaf. Most f the population would not consider themselves “comic book geeks” and this movie has been overwhelmingly positively received. Ridiculous? Not Good? Are you sure you didn’t wander into the theater showing Speed Racer by mistake?

• 5. Will Pfeifer  |  August 11th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

  It’s a strange place for a DARK KNIGHT discussion, but heck, here’s my two cents:

  1. Pat, I honestly don’t think this is the movie for you. Comic book movies, even very good ones (and I think this is a very good one, maybe the best) require a certain suspension of disbelief. Either you go with it or you don’t. That doesn’t excuse bad movies, but it can help you appreciate the good ones.

  2. As for the time factor, I fall back on Ebert’s old “no good movie is too long, no bad movie is too short” quote. DARK KNIGHT is long, but I was entertained the whole time.

  3. Leaf, I think more than comic book geeks thought this was a good movie. Plenty of critics gave it high marks, and I think writer/director Christopher Nolan added some shading and depth that went above and beyond the average comic book movie.

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