By now you’ve all no doubt seen it and agree with me that The Dark Knight is an amazing film. I especially loved it because it was a mix of an uber-dark and gritty crime story/superhero tale with really smart plot devices. I won’t bother with my own analysis of the film since there are way smarter ones for you to read. These are not reviews. They take apart the story, and discuss whether Batman represents figures such as Bush, Cheney, etc. Very well done, well thought out analysis.
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/dark_knight_politics.php
http://washingtonindependent.com/view/batmans-dark-knight
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/07/an-old-old-stor.html
http://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/obamawayne-2008-mccainwayne-2008/
And I need to watch it in IMAX soon!
Jeepers creepers man. Don't have that kind of image jump out at me the moment your page loads >_>
I was really more into watching Heath Ledger's performance, haha! He was a very talented young man, I was sorry to see him go.
I'll have to read those reviews, but the mere thought of connecting Bush to anything Batman already kind of hurts my brain. 🙂
Ha ha. Yes, Ledger was incredible in this movie and he's an amazing actor. You have to read the articles– they're really well thought out and present all sides of the issue. I can't wait to read what the director, Christopher Nolan actually intended (he also co-wrote the screenplay). I haven't come across that yet though…
Batman Returns > Batman > Batman Begins as per the movies goodness.
And all of those are trumped by the episode of Heart of Ice in Batman The Animated Series.
Michael Ansara's voice casting is hands down what nailed that episode.
That 22 mins is one of the greatest stories every told.
I personally thought this movie missed the spot quite dreadfully.
My guage of a great movie is always the ability to view it repeatadly and still love it.
Not one scene in this movie jumps out at you much less one line.
"just the pussy I'm looking for" pops right to mind from Batman Returns…
And dont get me started on that gay cowboys sister as the lead chick in the movie bleh!
Kim Basinger, Michelle Phifpher, Katie Holmes… and now this panface??
The ohter 2 batman movies dont even exist in my world but Kidman, Thurman, Silverstone were better to look at than this one terrible, terrible, casting…
And this is the 2nd movie in which Nolan decided not to use the tradtional batman music which needs to be added somehwere.
Sure the other gay cowboy did an awesome job but I say push in comparison to Jack's joker.
I honestly dont see what the fuss is about this movie but then again I never sat through an entire showing of the titanic either and thats the greatest grossing movie of all time =D
The articles about comparing this to any kinda societal realism is moronic to say the least and the epitomy of neolibreal pontification to say the most.
Its a fucking movie about a dude in a hallowen coustume.
To draw any parallels from that to the greatness of our current administration and its glorious leaders is downright juvinele.
Much love Surya!
I really enojoyed the performance of the Heath Ledger. he was the classic criminal master mind. The Batman was not a strong character in this movie.
I agree with Mike on the casting , I don't like the main actress.
Anyway this was a good, It's bad that Heath's last performance is his best… RIP Heath.
I have not seen the film yet, but plan on seeing it soon. Of course historically, many films have been created and produced with either subtle or not so subtle political messages based on existing (at the time) regimes.
Interesting articles with good insight. I'll let you know what I think after I see it 🙂
Going to see it on Tuesday..
Saw The Dark Knight tonight in IMAX. Well I should say 1/4 in IMAX, since the only scenes that were in full IMAX screen were the car chase and aerial city shots. It was pretty irritating for me. If you are going to film a movie in IMAX – do the whole thing – don't cheap out and just do some scenes.
The Good: Heath Ledger was awesome. Christian Bale played kind of arrogant but somehow it suited the character. I kept seeing James Bond.
The Bad: Maggie Gllyenhaal
A few things jumped out at me. It seemed like they could not decide if the story was supposed to show how good wins over evil or whether it is the other way around. If not for the scene where the prisoner throws the detonator overboard, I'd say the latter. In fact, so much so that it made that scene seem out of place and incongruent with the rest of the story.
I guess it is a sign of our video game culture that several people (not just one) disturbingly laughed at many of the scenes where the Joker was at his most evil and devious. People think that is funny nowadays, and they are the same people who would have pulled the detonator. If they really wanted to send a message they would have showed the dark side of people and not put in a feeble attempt to show humanity.
The worst message was saved for the end – where you lie to people because you think the truth is not what they need.
Yup – it is appropriately titled Dark, but gets a thumbs down from me.
Oh yeah – on the political side – I think the Joker is Bush 🙂
"you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
-harvey dent, RIP
Joker = Bush???
…Well, given your analysis I guess that would be correct.
*will leave Heath Ledger out of the visualization*