I saw the movie twice. I happened to think that this maybe the best comic book movie ever done and it is certainly the best Batman movie ever done.
What made this movie for me was the defining of Batman as a protector of Gotham and he is willing to do whatever it takes and be whatever type of thing Gotham needs him to be in order to make Gotham a better place. A hero to me has always been someone willing to do the right thing no matter what it costs, even if it costs you.
I know that Ledger did a great job with the Joker, but it is more important to me that this be a good movie about Batman.
To be totally cold sounding Ledger dying was a horrible and tragic loss for his family and for movies, for the franchise of Batman it was probably a blessing. Ledger did the best Joker ever on screen (large or small) and probably has helped DC in making the Joker truly dangerous again. If Ledger had not died the marketing people would have said to have a round 2 with Batman versus the Joker and that would have caused the franchise to become stagnant on only the third film, which is almost always the worse one in many franchises (Aliens 3, X-Men 3, Spider-Man 3 and Terminator 3 come to mind).
Another big plus was Two-Face used so judiciously as to be perfect. All the other movies go overboard in using the villains way too much and having fun with all these great bad guys and they lose giving the movie any plot whatsoever.
Some other highlights, Batman destroying the big brother machine, the people on the ferry boats refusing to kill each other, Jim Gordon, Alfred burning Rachel's note, Bale being a good Batman and a good Bruce Wayne.
I think this movie rose above being a comic movie and was a good movie, possibly a great movie and certainly a great comic book movie.
PS - This post is for Matthew.
Thanks Jim. I hope post some more thoughts soon, especially if I get to see it again this weekend. But, I'm off to write another letter to the Amazing Spider-girl. My second letter in a row was published in issue #22. I sent one for the last issue too. Maybe I'll get three in a row. The "Brand New May" storyline, which started in issue 19, totally rocks and I encourage everyone to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI liked it even better the second time around. If Ledger's performance earns him an Oscar nomination, maybe it'll pull in some other categories for the film too. Best screenplay. Dent or Alfred as best supporting actor. Maybe some others.
ReplyDeleteOne of Rusty's criticisms was the timing in the film -- like how did the Joker find time to rig the hospital to explode. One, he's got a lot of minions (growing more all the time as he eliminates the Mob bosses). Two, he may have just planned things way in advance. Possibly rigging multiple hospitals and then picking the one he needed.
I appreciated Ledger's performance more and the problems I had with Batman are gone. I think the sound in this theater was better and I could understand his growlly voice more.
Have fun discussing it tomorrow!