The Dark "Nice" - TDK Appreciation Thread

[Paul (ral)]

Looking through the posts on this board it looks like most of us are pretty down on TDK, when I know that isn't the case.  Big it up.

[Joker81]

It was good at the end, when the titles were coming up !! lol
'Joking'

[BatmAngelus]

A vast improvement over its predecessor, in my opinion.
Bruce/Batman is much smarter, for the most part, and cooler in this one, especially in the sequence in which he keeps tabs on the cops and sacrifices his Lambourghini to save the man who planned to expose him.
By backing the camera away a bit, the fight scenes were done much better.  The close-up fights and quick editing did not mix well for Batman Begins, in my opinion.

Heath Ledger's Joker manages to be humorous and chilling at the same time, which I loved.  Ledger provides the best performance in the film (and the best performance of his career).

The Batman-Joker relationship was captured so well in this one.  The interrogation room scene, while a bit talky, and the final sequence between the two in the building (as well as Batman's fight against the SWAT team) really worked for me.

They explored Harvey Dent's impact on the city in a different way from the comics, yet it still made sense with the characters and worked in the context of the film.  Harvey's introduction scene was the first sign, for me, that this was going to be better than Begins.

Gary Oldman's Gordon gets much more to do in this one and has the chance to be more authoritative, which was good.  Bringing in his family more was also nice, especially the Year One-like climax.

Maggie Gyllenhaal worked better as Rachel than Katie Holmes did.  I loved the idea that the scarred side of the coin was a reminder of her death to Harvey.

The musical score was also much better this time around, for me, than Batman Begins.

[Azrael]

A nice review

http://robhumanick.blogspot.com/2008/08/shades-of-grey-dark-knight.html

[shadowbat69]

I dont really feel like doing a full review or listing of what I liked, so I'll just say this, hands down, it is the best Batman movie for me.

[thecolorsblend]

It's good popcorn entertainment.  I really dug the whole scene with the mob leaders and the Joker in the kitchen (the vanishing pencil scene).  It's in my top five scenes from the whole movie.

I don't see any huge difference between what Freeman and Caine did in TDK vs. BB.  They were funny and entertaining in both, arguably better in TDK.   Freeman's scene with Reese where the latter tries to blackmail Bruce was also a hoot.

The fight scenes were better this time around, although I do wish Nolan would pull the camera back a little bit and get some wideshots in there so we can see just how good Batman really is.  But it's a minor quibble, I still liked it.

The "why so serious" speech with Michael Jai White.  Ledger is so good in that scene that you forget how bad White sucks, which is no small testimony to Heath's performance.  This too is in my top five.  Given how burnt out this catchphrase was before the movie even opened, that's high praise indeed.

Batman flying to Hong Kong and dragging Lau back to Gotham was awesome too.  I'm aware of the criticisms of this sequence but I don't care.  The idea of having the moxie to fly to another country and drag a foreign national back to the States is pure Batman.  Loved it.

[Paul (ral)]

After the joker and batpod stuff, the lau retrieval was one of my favourites.

The contrast between seeing the guards enter the room and Batman dragging Lau by the foot - Batman is just a bohemiath, a relentess monster - and Lau is powerless.  Great stuff.

[Gotham Knight]

"How about a magic trick..."

nice

[Paul (ral)]

How about Cate Blanchett?

Nice.

[Gotham Knight]

How about Cate Blanchett?

Nice.

You can't have her...shes mine