I finally got around to seeing The Dark Knight over the holiday weekend, and I have to say, I wasn’t bowled over. Read the full post.
Dec 29
2008
04:30 PM ET
'The Dark Knight': Did the hype ruin it for you?
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Andrew Speller – you’ve got to be kidding with your sexist and ridiculous comment. The column was written by Mike Bruno – does that sound like a woman? And I would really love to know who are these people you refer to “who grew up in the world of Batman and Gotham city”.
The hype was completely deserved. The movie is one of the few amazing accomplishments of the year.
You work at EW and just saw the Dark knight?
It’s not Best Picture material. Doubt and Milk are more in that catagory. But Dark Knight defineately raised the bar on summer blockbusters.
oh – just thought I’d add that I saw it in the theatre
How exactly is Batman supposed to be portrayed? I was under the impression that he was Bruce’s dark alter ego who metes out justice without having to commit murder. Mr. Wayne is a gloomy figure who only has fun when he’s putting on his playboy millionaire – or is it billionaire? – act for the public. Watching your parents get shot right in front of you is likely to make you a morose character. I think Christian Bale does a wonderful job playing both Batman and Bruce Wayne. If you prefer a more upbeat superhero tale, perhaps you should look elsewhere.
So let me get this straight. This is a stupid Popwatch entry to some of you because it doesn’t validate your own personal opinion of the film? Idiotic! I found the movie to be pretty good (and I hate “superhero” movies), but I certainly don’t feel the need to see it again. What really bugs me about the movie (and movies like “Slumdog Millionaire,” shows like “Gossip Girl,” etc.) is that EW and other media outlets hype them up so much and constantly barrage us with references to them. Its the same reason I no longer listen to the radio because they can take a good song and bludgeon it into the ground until I never want to hear it again.
I watched it twice at the theater. And I got it on Blu Ray for Xmas. My wife did not want to see it she thought joker would scare her. And she not a fan of the superhero movie. But we watched it day after and she was mesmerized by it saying beuatiful and ledger was great and bale is sexy and. That one made me uneasy. But she loved it. Now her 2 favorite movies this year so far are Iron Man and Dark Knight. My wife is a fan of the dramas and period movies as well as musicals.
I cant comment on the Author’s view of the movie, only my own.
I was one of those fan boys who avoided every possible spoiler out there eagerly awaiting the films release… and then never got to see it in theatres due to having three kids under 6 years old.
I then continued avoiding spoilers while waiting for the DVD, despite feeling like the only person in the world who hadnt seen the movie.
I have now watched it multiple times on DVD and am utterly HAUNTED by the performance provided by Ledger. The hospital scene between the Joker and Dent is amongst the best two-person plays I have EVER seen.
So personally, nope, no over-hype buzz kill at all. Loved the movie, and I believe it deserves every bit of praise it has received.
I wasn’t disappointed in this movie so I find your review misguided. It met my expectations and was one of the better summer blockbusters in the last 20 years.
Definitely an overrated film. The biggest problem to me was Two-Face. First, it was too much story to try to introduce and then resolve his character in the last reel of this movie with everything else that was going on. They might have been OK if they’d just introduced him and saved more for the inevitable sequel. But the bigger problem was the Two-Face effect itself – here we have a Batman movie in a world that the filmmakers labored to make believable, naturalistic, gritty–yes, Batman is high-tech, but there’s nothing supernatural here–and suddenly we have a character walking and talking with an exposed eye socket and jawbone. It was ridiculous and a major miscalculation by Chistopher Nolan and crew that seriously undermined the last act of the flim. There were plenty of other problems, too – the Joker’s plot with the two ferries was a huge contrivance, and the plot thread about the Wayne employee was unnecessary. In all, a good but hardly revolutionary film.
oh thanks a lot, dumbarse popwatch reporter. You just took a crap on The Dark Knight’s oscar chances. Doubt sucked. Milk was alright. But The Dark Knight was so much better than that. You need to hire a freaking babysitter and go out and see movies. You work for EW and you haven’t seen The Dark Knight til just now? Shame on you. The Dark Knight was building hype and now you probably have pissed off millions of people in the world. Don’t be surprised if you get a heap of stinking hate mail.
yes, yes and YES!! I totally agree. I saw this film on opening night and havent seen it again since because I thought it was TOO LONG and over hyped. Two Face dragged and should have been saved for movie #3.
However, I do think that Ledger deserves an award for his Joker. He was stunning.
Nope, don’t agree with you at all. I too was caught up in the hype of the film before its release (which was already huge well before Ledger’s death). Then I saw it on the second day of its release, and I was Glued. To. My. Seat. The ENTIRE time. The most riveting and intense film I’ve ever seen. Ledger was astoundingly brilliant (and had been buzzed to be so long before his death), and sorry, but Bale was wonderful too.
Look, everyone has their own taste. And I guess you and some other people on this board didn’t think the movie was as great as all that. But I think that has a lot to do with the fact that it’s been praised to the Heavens, because most of you still think it was good. Personally, I don’t think it was the greatest movie ever, but I do think (as does the majority of the public) that it was far better than just about every other movie this year (especially the supposedly Oscar worthy Frost/Nixon, which was historically inaccurate nonsense).
I agree! the Dark Knight was the supposed to the BEST MOVIE EVER! It wasn’t. It’s overlong. Bale’s voice as Batman was grating, but then Superbad wasn’t the funniest movie, either.
Saw it in the theatre, enjoyed it. Not one of my all-time faves, but it was a good flick. Then the hype got even worse. I tried to watch it on DVD, and found myself getting up, wandering around the apartment, checking emails, and just avoiding a lot of the film. Yes, Ledger, Eckhart and Bale were good, the plot was relevant, but something about the film itself just doesn’t live up to the hype.