Film Geeks - Batman Show Notes

CAUTION: CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Title: EPISODE23 - I Am Batman! Geek Translation - My Mom Made Me This CostumeTime:

Episode Notes: We discuss the Dark Knight. Does it live up to the hype? Is this a Batman movie or a Joker movie? Is Batman even a Superhero?

All our shows can be downloaded here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

This is the actual Episode 23 - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-132572.mp3

Show Notes:

Batman – The Dark Knight

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20080720/121658682000.html

Earning $155.34 million in a weekend, beating out Spider-Man 3. It made close to $65 million on opening day.

Before the movie

• Mostly saw and heard this was “the Joker’s movie”
• Possible Oscar nod for Heath Ledger

Trailers

• Terminator 4 – Salvation - http://movies.yahoo.com/premieres/8841507/standardformat/
• The Watchmen - http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/ - The song is “The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning" by The Smashing Pumpkins.
• The Spirit - http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809838857/video/8831867 - The song is “Choke” by Hybrid
• Bolt - http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/bolt/trailer

Plot

• Batman and Detective Gordon try and take down the mob. They must learn whether or not they can trust new DA Harvey Dent. Meanwhile, a character calling himself The Joker, with clown make up and a few facial scars that makes him appear to have a big smile, throws a wrench into everyone’s plans.
• A multidimensional plot
• A bit of storyline for everyone
• The Joker is a big character but he doesn’t dominate it all
• Batman did seem pretty light in the movie

Actors

• Christian Bale brings his greatness and it’s refreshing to see an actor ok with having about equal time being behind a mask as he is as his alter ego, unlike other superhero movies
• Michael Cane is great as always. I don’t know how to feel about this Alfred. This one appears to cross the line of butler more often and seems more boss-like than servant/helper-like.
• Gary Oldman is fun to once again see him not play a homicidal maniac. He plays a great Jim Gordon.
• Aaron Eckheart is a good Harvey Dent. Not sure about the courtroom punch scene. His Two-Face turn seems a little rushed (even considering this is a 2.5 hour movie). It’s nice to see a Two-Face that looks more real but there really wasn’t that split personality that Two-Face is known for. I still think they can bring him back. They could have him not really die but have him locked up in Arkum or whatever.
• Maggie Gyllenhall is lovely as always. If she was in “Brokeback Mountain” I would have thought about seeing it. It’s nice to see her take the role for herself rather than playing it with the lackluster that Katie Holmes did.
• Morgan Freeman has a bigger part this time and is more charming than what he was in “Wanted”.
• Heath Ledger – what can I say? He’s great and he steals the show. The best Joker ever. All the mannerisms and just everything is perfect for what I envision the Joker to be. Just a little sad that Harley Quinn wasn’t in it, even as a cameo.
• WTF?! – Detective Ramirez was bad? Where was Bullock? Anthony Michael Hall has a weird cameo. The Scarecrow is in one scene.

Visuals And Action

• Practical effects should be used all the time. Do audiences respond more to real things and are put into the movie more rather than saying, “Wow, that almost looks real.” Or “Wow, look at those effects!”?
• The Bat-cycle looks like it could break if Batman even thought about shifting his weight. When it climbs the wall and turns over, my audience was very impressed.
• This movie seemed a bit light on Batman hitting people.
• The mood was done well in every scene. The movie was not afraid to hide things in the dark or use darkness as part of the mood.

Grade - A from both geeks. Maybe an A+ with another viewing.