The Dark Knight - yes or no?

[housemouse]

I haven't seen this film yet. My question is does it live up to the hype? I'm always a bit leery of films that get this much great word of mouth. I hated ET, Titanic, and Forest Gump, so I am still dubious!

[inuvik]

Haven't seen, not going to. (Haven't seen any of the batman films, so not about to start now!)

[shmeep]

I saw it last week. Very good. Christian Bale is probably the best Batman yet (although my husband thinks Michael Keaton was at the same level).

This was a very dark movie and was strangely thought provoking. It was sad to watch Heath Ledger as The Joker, mostly because we couldn't see his beautiful face in this final role. He was amazing and his take on the character was different from Jack Nicholson's portrayal--and more fleshed out, making it far creepier. What a great villain. I also really enjoyed Aaron Eckhart's performance as Harvey Dent. I always enjoy the opportunity of looking at the man:



What I really liked was that there were really two heros of this movie: Batman and Harvey Dent. Each had something to offer the people and each had specific weaknesses. The movie came down to which one was the hero the people needed and which was the hero the people had (or something like that). It didn't have a happy ending for anyone, really, but it was strangely triumphant.

I'm a Christian Bale fan from way back, ever since I saw him as a child in "Empire of the Sun." He was awe inspiring in that film and was downright adorable as Laurie in "Little Women" several years later. He makes an admirable Batman, but sometimes seems to have to try a little too hard not to sound Welsh.

I haven't seen all the Batman movies and haven't like all I've seen, but the recent ones with Christian Bale are less cartoony than the other bunch from the '80s and '90s. I don't think you have to have seen the ones before in order to appreciate this new batch. Each one has a separate story and they're easy enough to follow.