Author Topic: Movies (Read 308638 times)

BaconForTheSoul · « **Reply #175 on:** July 25, 2008, 04:45:14 AM »

Dark Knight- Decent movie, but not great by any means.

Plenty of Spoilers

The bad

Pacing- Thought the movie was going to end about 3 different times, but it kept on going. Climaxes get old after a while.
Casting- Bale is meh, anyone could play this Batman though. Rachel was FUCKING AWFUL. Thank God she died. I was indifferent towards Maggie until this, now I hate her.
Plot- 1. Batman is now apparently a fucking superhero who can jump 30 feet down and smash cars without a scratch or fall off buildings and land on his back. Five men with guns are also no problem, but I'll be damned if he has to fight a dog or two.
2. Joker knew EVERYTIME that Batman would find him. He was ready at that apartment, despite having NO FUCKING WAY OF KNOWING BATMAN WOULD FIND HIM with some retarded fingerprint via bullethole technology. He was also well prepared at the very end, when once again Batman used a technology that Joker didn't even know existed to find him. Not to mention the pathetically fail cops throughout the entire movie.
3. It switched between wanting to be a Superhero Movie and not be one. I honestly liked it more when it wasn't being a superhero movie, but it really failed to pick. Batman kept switching from Godlike ass kicking immortal to normal human.
4. Joker's monologue about wanting to kill people with "plans." He had a plan for everything in this movie. Orly?
5. Rachel's letter- As if she didn't fail enough, her letter was stupid. OMG I want to marry Dent, but if Batman goes away I'm yours. These two had almost NO interaction in the last 2 movies other than a few "moments." So let's see. Childhood friends, Bruce is gone for 7 years. Bruce comes back and they argue a lot. She comes around at the end, but says she can't be with Batman. She then hooks up with Dent for however long, but is still willing to ditch him for Bruce. Explain why the hell she still loves him?

The Good
Action- Overall the fighting was pretty solid, minus the ridiculous car chase, but most car chases fail to make any sense so I'll let that slide.
Joker- I don't know if it was Heath or the scripting. Either way, this Joker was a lot better. The magic trick with the pencil was the best thing any Comic Book villain has done. Period.
Twoface- Also awesome. Batman was the third main character behind Dent and Joker, which is fine by me. Hell, the only bad thing about these two owning so hard is that the next villains will fail.
Gordon/Alfred/Fox- All 3 continue to be awesome, with some solid casting for the less important characters.
Plot- 1. When the movie stayed out of superhero mode it made an awesome movie. Batman actually having to face some pretty sick decisions was pure win, and Joker creating a lot of sick scenarios was also win.
2. Dent turning bad. Usually good guy to bad, or bad guy to good swings are done poorly. This wasn't. I could actually buy Dent acting how he acted.

So yeah. Good movie, but not in my Top 25. Doubt I'll watch it again. Overall, the first one was better in every way except the villains. Without those two, this would have been a bad movie. Finally, let's face it, no way in hell would it have beat Spider-Man 2 or 3 (forget which broke all the records) if Heath had not died. It sucks, but him dying easily added the 6 million dollars needed to break all the records.

Grefter · « **Reply #176 on:** July 25, 2008, 04:49:13 AM »

I tried to input your code as a batch file and it didn't load. What format should it be? Or are you some kind of Linux commie?

(If it was spoilers, that doesn't happen on the new forums >_>)

Anthony Edward Stark · « **Reply #177 on:** July 25, 2008, 06:38:28 AM »

No spoiler code. But more importantly...

IT'S FUCKING BATMAN. Harvey Dent became Two-Face like SIXTY FUCKING YEARS AGO. Hey, guess what? Norman Osborne dies in Spider-Man!

BaconForTheSoul · « **Reply #178 on:** July 25, 2008, 04:05:43 PM »

Yeah... notice how none of my issues are the fact that the movie deviates from the comics. This happens in every non-original movie out there. The issues stem from the fact that aside from an awesome overall theme, the movie wasn't well written. The epic casting (aside from Batman and especially Rachel) is what saves the movie.

Captain K. · « **Reply #179 on:** July 26, 2008, 10:52:55 PM »

Dark Knight: Good stuff. Doesn't beat Iron Man for movie of the summer, but still very solid. Harvey Dent was especially good. Outstanding ending to the movie.

I don't think Ledger was better than his predecessors (Romero/Nicholson/Hamill), just different. Seems like everyone who gets that role kicks ass with it. Joker=best fictional character ever? Discuss.

DomaDragoon · « **Reply #180 on:** July 27, 2008, 01:02:48 PM »

X-Files: I Want To Believe - Can be summed up thusly: If you watched the show with any degree of regularity prior to Season 7, and preferred the non-mytharc episodes, you'll probably like this. The movie does play like an extended episode, and knowledge of the series is necessary in order to have any enjoyment at all. Although both Mulder and Scully act like dicks.

NotMiki · « **Reply #181 on:** July 27, 2008, 03:05:05 PM »

Hellboy 2 -

Good, very much in the same way the first was, but also kinda lacking that extra bit of excitement or intrigue to really make it great, again like the first. The trolls and assorted monsters are more reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth than Hellboy 1, which is very cool.

Excal · « **Reply #182 on:** August 01, 2008, 07:56:10 AM »

Finally saw Dark Knight. Honestly, I need to disagree with Rob. As much ass as the Joker kicked, as good as Harvey Dent and his fall was, it needed Batman there to balance them out and complete the story. And while there are some holes in the plot (mostly around the magical omnipresent explosives) I honestly don't see being prepared for someone with a knack for showing up in the worst place at the worst time regardless of having any reason to expect him is one of them.

That said, yeah. Batman clearly the least compelling of the trio, which says a lot since I loved the dialemmas he kept on having handed to him. And Dent probably stole the show with one of the few belivable and compelling falls from grace I've seen. More importantly, this movie actually had a feeling of loss to it, a feeling that the people around Batman could actually die, which none of the other movies in this genre have managed to evoke recently. So, I feel pretty comfortable in saying it's the best movie I've seen this summer, and pretty cleanly blows Iron Man out of the water.

metroid composite · « **Reply #183 on:** August 04, 2008, 04:52:54 PM »

Dark Knight. Was crying by the end, ergo good movie overall.

(SPOILERS)

Quote from: Chapin on July 25, 2008, 04:45:14 AM

4. Joker's monologue about wanting to kill people with "plans." He had a plan for everything in this movie. Orly?

Joker lied in order to manipulate Harvey.

Quote

2. Joker knew EVERYTIME that Batman would find him. He was ready at that apartment, despite having NO FUCKING WAY OF KNOWING BATMAN WOULD FIND HIM with some retarded fingerprint via bullethole technology.

Except not really since all that was waiting for him was a bunch of hostages without a guard.

Though, really, whenever Joker is doing some large-scale terrorism he seems to expect he'll be found. Seems reasonable.

No, the things that really bothered me about the movie, when Batman declared which person of the two he was going to save, I swear I heard him say Rachel, yet he showed up with Dent. Now, I could see this being a Joker Joke "I told you them backwards", but nobody ever references that afterwards, even when it would have comforted Dent to say "I thought I was coming for Rachel". The other thing that bothered me was when the clowns were the hostages; why doesn't Batman radio this to the cops and tell them, instead of running around punching SWAT people?

Cotigo · « **Reply #184 on:** August 04, 2008, 07:25:37 PM »

Eh, for the first thing, I'm pretty sure Batman told Gordon to go to the place Rachel was being held, and that's probably what you heard. Though, I admittedly made the same mistake so maybe not.

I agree with your second complaint but let that go on the grounds that it made for a better action scene in what is at its core an action movie. I mean, Batman has 1984 eyes and he can't radio the police? Or radio Fox to radio the police? Whatever, Batman punching out SWAT team members was cool looking.

Captain K. · « **Reply #185 on:** August 04, 2008, 11:49:38 PM »

The Rachel/Dent locations were indeed switched. I caught that also, but the movie doesn't mention it, other than Batman looking really pissed off when he sees he's rescuing Dent.

Sierra · « **Reply #186 on:** August 05, 2008, 03:23:31 PM »

Quote from: Captain K. on August 04, 2008, 11:49:38 PM

The Rachel/Dent locations were indeed switched. I caught that also, but the movie doesn't mention it, other than Batman looking really pissed off when he sees he's rescuing Dent.

Indeed. Batman pretty clearly said he was going for Rachel when he and the cops split. I just assumed it was the Joker giving bad info to fuck with people, because that's what he does.

Grefter · « **Reply #187 on:** August 05, 2008, 11:53:15 PM »

The Joker lied to fuck with them all. Shock.

The movie was awesome, Heath Ledger was every bit as good as I expected, that was the performance and style I was expecting from him. Perfectly lived up to my high expectations. Great stuff.

Hunter Sopko · « **Reply #188 on:** August 17, 2008, 08:22:57 PM »

Watching random movies on Hulu to pass time at work.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- Awesome. Jim Carrey is great and definitely underrated as a dramatic actor. Kate Winslet is amazing. Just a very well done movie all around.

The Secret of NIMH- Haven't watched this since I was really little. Still remarkably entertaining. Mrs. Brisby is cool, and I was actually surprised to find Shannen Doherty played one of the kids. Was also surprised to learn the movie was made in 1982. Looks like classic Disney era, honestly.

Captain K. · « **Reply #189 on:** August 18, 2008, 03:46:46 AM »

The Mummy: Tomb of Fou Lu - good action flick, probably would have stood out more in a summer with fewer megablockbusters. The new Evie is better than the old.

Dark Holy Elf · « **Reply #190 on:** August 25, 2008, 06:18:39 PM »

Behind on this, but oh well.

The Dark Knight - Pretty awesome in pretty much every regard. Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart were both absolutely fantastic. Batman himself wasn't as compelling a character as he was in Begins, but given how incredibly awesome the other two major characters were I am willing to make the trade. Definitely a better movie than Begins, and than almost any other movie of that style I can name. The old-fashioned action was merely decent, but the psychological action which dominated the later stages of the movie was superb, and the character work was excellent by movie standards. Caine, Oldman, and Freeman all played their secondary characters masterfully, to boot. Really, my only significant complaint about the movie is the lack of any strong presence of female characters (although Rachael was better in this movie than Begins, and what they did with her was shocking, and helped fuel the darkness of the latter bits).

Also the movie served as proof you can do darkness without falling into a swamp of pretentious emo. Major props for that.

Kung Fu Panda - Wasn't as funny as it should have been (Jack Black + panda that can do kung fu? C'mon!), and I can't say I really cared for some of the message (Panda surpasses his comrades not through hard work but through some hand-waviness over his love of food). Other than that an okay children's movie.

SnowFire · « **Reply #191 on:** August 25, 2008, 07:23:39 PM »

Quote from: Captain K. on August 04, 2008, 11:49:38 PM

The Rachel/Dent locations were indeed switched. I caught that also, but the movie doesn't mention it, other than Batman looking really pissed off when he sees he's rescuing Dent.

I was thrown by this too and had to have the Internet set me straight, but for what it's worth, the movie does indeed confirm that the locations were switched. It's in the last big scene with Dent; he tells Gordon something along the lines of "This is $ADDRESS, which you should know since it's where Rachel died." The name of the address he gives is the opposite from what the Joker claims in the interrogation room.

Otter · « **Reply #192 on:** August 25, 2008, 07:32:32 PM »

I saw Dark Knight for the first time last week, and I feel like it'd seem more sincere if I said everything NEB just said but with different wording, but we're gonna have to take the risk of seeming insincere just this once. Every point he makes, I second. Especially the hype on Ledger's performance and the last bit. You know the one.

Quote from: NEB

Also the movie served as proof you can do darkness without falling into a swamp of pretentious emo. Major props for that.

Yeah, that one. (I liked the swamp imagery.)

I will say that I liked Bale when he was given a chance to do anything; various social occasions early on in the movie come to mind, when he got a chance to act like a billionaire instead of a hero for a while. Yeah, he's upstaged by the villains, but I don't think anything could be done about that without giving him more screentime to himself, and there wasn't really the time for that. He easily remains the best Batman for me.

It's seeming like more and more comic book adaptations are breaking out of their niche position and being made into seriously good movies lately. Oddly, when it comes to film, superhero comics have been treated recently with far more respect and seriousness than graphic novels, which have also enjoyed a period of mass-film adaptation except that they're all kinda being made into one-dimensional dark-gritty-omg flicks. I mean, Sin City? 300? The Spirit, which I saw a preview for and which looks hilariously, uproariously bad? Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed the first two, but they weren't exactly deep experiences. I guess I just thought it was weird that a Batman movie could seem mature and be taken fairly seriously and enjoyed on a higher level while the graphic novel stuff seems cartoony and goofy in comparison; isn't it vaguely supposed to be the other way around? I guess it's to the director's credit that he managed it.

I still have a little hope for Watchmen, unlike Grefter (you can shear away a lot of what made Watchmen good and still come up with a pretty decent movie, is my thinking), so maybe that'll be a counterexample.

Hunter Sopko · « **Reply #193 on:** August 25, 2008, 08:34:01 PM »

To be fair, there isn't really much to the 300 graphic novel. There was tons of room for interpretation and they took it. I don't think it made it a bad movie.

Shale · « **Reply #194 on:** August 25, 2008, 08:39:22 PM »

Not really bad - just shallow. I agree that it is weird for the deepest, most character-driven comic adaptations lately are the ones about superheroes, but I'm not complaining.

And yeah,The Spirit looks like shit. I'm not sure yet if it's so-bad-it's-hilarious shit or the regular kind, though.

Hunter Sopko · « **Reply #195 on:** August 25, 2008, 08:40:51 PM »

Dude, if you were going to 300 expecting a deep movie, then you're doing it wrong.

Shale · « **Reply #196 on:** August 25, 2008, 08:48:15 PM »

Ten years ago I'd say the same about Batman, though.

Edit: Fun fact - the first hit on Wikipedia for "you're doing it wrong" (without quotes...What? I was wondering where the phrase started.) is the page Congressional response to the NSA warrantless surveillance program.

Hunter Sopko · « **Reply #197 on:** August 25, 2008, 08:54:12 PM »

I don't even mean for the type of movie it is. The comic itself has very little substance to it, despite the gritty feel. And the commercials for it didn't make it seem like anything other than the all style no substance movie it was. You could go in HOPING for a meatier movie, but... expecting it is a little much.

The only thing I liked about The Spirit trailer is how they pulled off the old, exhaggerated running style.

Shale · « **Reply #198 on:** August 25, 2008, 09:09:53 PM »

I'm not saying it was a surprise, just that it takes a lot of effort and talent to make a movie like The Dark Knight and it's kind of surprising that it's superhero comics that tend to get the treatment instead of the more "mature" works in the medium (not necessarily 300 in particular, but then I haven't seen the movie or read the comic so hell if I know how how much room they had there).

Grefter · « **Reply #199 on:** August 25, 2008, 10:09:34 PM »

Eh, I will just reiterate my universal hype for the Joker. The Joker character has a history of bringing out mind boggling solid -anything- when he is used.

300 was a pretty text book copy of the comic, which is fine, it is a very shallow comic though. Same goes for Sin City on both counts.

This generally needs more hype for Hellboy and Road to Perdition.

My cynicism for Watchmen stems from the work done on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and most of Moore's other works (V included even if I have positive things to say about the movie, the graphic novel is just bigger and better).

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Author Topic: Movies (Read 308638 times)