Commentary Track

The Dark Knight: Tell Us What You Thought!

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on July 18, 2008

Chances are that you, like me, are just getting home from seeing The Dark Knight at a midnight or 3 a.m. screening and you have come to the great halls of the interwebs to see what everyone is saying. And we want to know what you thought. But first, a few key steps must take place:

1. Change your pants. You are starting to stink.

2. Close your mouth. You are beginning to drool.

3. Sit there for a few moments, allow the size of the film to sink in. Also, you will need some processing time for what the last 45 min. of the film just did — if you don’t allow it time to process, your head may explode.

Alright, once you are done with all of that, I have two ways for you to express yourself. The first is our RejectNation Poll. Give us your grade for The Dark Knight below:

Also, we are very interested to get your review of the film. Please leave it in the “Sound Off” section below! Just be sure to keep it spoiler free — we wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone else.

| | Read more articles by Neil Miller

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Comments2008-07-18+07%3A29%3A34Neil+Miller

Seann says:
July 18th, 2008 at 3:58 am

Well,

It was a great movie!

I DO think that Nolan and Co. can create a third film that can top this one and I think that they will. I was surprised at the amount of humor that Joker had. I thought that he’d have more of a serious tone throughout the film. I was pleasantly surprised.

I know that I’m in the minority here, but I do think that if they find the right actor…that the Joker could be re-cast for a third film. Ok…just take it easy on me for that last one.

Anyone else think that Bale’s Batman voice was a little forced at times?

9/10

Damon says:
July 18th, 2008 at 4:09 am

there are no words to describe the awesomeness i just witnessed.

Joe says:
July 18th, 2008 at 4:16 am

2 words and I’m done

1. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

2. MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim says:
July 18th, 2008 at 4:37 am

It was everything I wanted it to be–they covered a TON Of ground and had plenty of awesome plot twists despite me trying to digest everything I could find on the net. I”ll definitely be seeing it again to see what I missed as well as to catch it in the imax.

I think they can have a joker in the third film–javier bardem would be my pick. He has the voice and the ability. I did have some beefs with it though, but I’m not going to write it in a comment field :)

GloomyRumi says:
July 18th, 2008 at 6:40 am

I cannot remember the last time I was sad to see the credits roll. I’m still in awe, and cannot articulate my barrage of emotions…

FUCK! A damn good film.

Cole Abaius says:
July 18th, 2008 at 9:53 am

1. No recasting The Joker. Sorry, team. It’s a done deal. As much as you believe it can be done, it can’t. You’ll keep wondering who the impostor in the white make up is because you’ve already seen the REAL Joker. Recast the flouncy brunette that doesn’t make an impact in the first film, sure, but there’s just no way to gracefully replace a performance that hammered itself into the audience’s mind like that.

2. Has it crossed anyone else’s mind that Nolan and company may have enough usable extra footage of The Joker to create a decent cameo in the next movie?

3. No, I will not change my pants, my friend.

Rob Hunter says:
July 18th, 2008 at 10:05 am

I wasn’t going to see TDK in protest over the recasting of “the flouncy brunette” from the first film, but the IMAX gimmick has caused me to give in and go. I have IMAX tickets for Tuesday night, and you will get my thoughts then FSR.

And to play it safe, I will not be wearing pants.

white boy jew says:
July 18th, 2008 at 11:00 am

hmm can’t decide whether to post on /films forum or the one that fsr copied from /film……

Neil Miller says:
July 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am

@wbj

Yes, because we definitely copied the “Go change your pants” thing from /Film…

Jose Reyes says:
July 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm

This film to me, was an example of Hollywood getting out of the way, forgetting the whole “let’s appeal to everyone so we can make the most money” strategy and instead let the story and the incredible talent show what they can do. And after this film I say: Hollywood, everything you’ve screwed is forgiven. To call this film epic would be an insult, it transcends epic, it instills fear where fear has never been felt, the fear of our own nature to care about ourselves more than us all. It’s political undertone (overtone?) drives the debate as to whether our hero is doing the right thing when he is saving the city. It moves the audience even further out of their comfort zone, the villain isn’t cool, doesn’t have good intentions and doesn’t have a resonating reason for his wrongdoings, yet we still side with him in his logic and continuously desire his presence and most of all, he pushes us to our limits and forces us to find who we really are, the same way he pushes all the citizens of Gotham to their natural limits.

Steven C. says:
July 18th, 2008 at 12:37 pm

This movie was fucking incredible. Its an absolute masterpeice, and easily the best comic book movie ever, and it proably always will be unless Nolan can top it with a third Batman.

I loved this movie so much, It actually lived up to the hype, unlike Indy 4 which is one of the most disappointing movies ever, and I think Heath Ledger will get nominated for an Oscar, and will most likely win, making the joker one of the best or even the number one movie villian of all time, yeah he is up there with Darth Vader.

white boy jew says:
July 18th, 2008 at 1:57 pm

Neil -

just because you insert a lame phrase in your articles doesn’t mean its original..

NickDG says:
July 18th, 2008 at 3:09 pm

That was not a movie. It was art.

Matthias Galvin says:
July 18th, 2008 at 3:13 pm

This is the single greatest “superhero” picture to have ever been made. Like Citizen kane, or The French Connection, it is the finest of its kind, and will have a seminal influence to later films.

This film is sublime: It is of such a greatness, such a craft and artistry that it transcends human flaw and becomes something more than a movie.

This film cannot be spoken highly enough of.

Lorigga says:
July 18th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

If you haven’t seen it, don’t read this…I don’t really give anything away but c’mon, just go see the film so we can all talk about it…

After the movie I had a little chat with my friends. We all agreed that this was the Joker for our day in age. I mean, how did they craft that screen play! It was amazing. I always liked Jack Nicholson’s performance in Batman…but that was for a much more care free time as far as terrorism is concerned (like the hostage videos, complete destruction of buildings, and what seems to be a complete lack of regard to human lives). I liked how the Joker was less of a clown and more of a madman. No gimmicks, just knives and intimidation.

And yet through that very deep portrayal of the Joker, They somehow managed to show the fall of Harvey. And when he falls, you care, it’s believable. It makes sense.

I’m so spoiled as far as comic book movies are concerned now…which is both a blessing and a curse.

Steve-o says:
July 18th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

Unbelieveable. Epic. Outstanding. Those are some of the words I would use to describe The Dark Knight. There hasn’t been a film like this in a long time. By far the best movie of the year so far. The Joker was incredibly haunting. The one on one scenes in the movie were incredible, whether it was Batman-Joker, Two-Face-Joker or Two-Face-Batman. So many twists and turns. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I LOVE IT!!!

http://stevens-reviews.blogspot.com/

Robert Fure says:
July 18th, 2008 at 6:26 pm

I’ll say one thing about white boy jew, he sure as hell aint no black man jew.

Neil Miller says:
July 18th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

@wbj

And yes, because /Film posted a “What did you think?” article, we shouldn’t do one…?

I suppose that I am confused here.

Steven Neumann says:
July 19th, 2008 at 9:25 am

Ive seen alot of movies and good acting but The Dark Knight really bring its to the table its was a work of art having broken 3 box office records already and i believe will continue to break more and more and will recieve numerous awards it will be a best of all time.

And to hit on the acting everyone was superb but Heath Ledger made the movie hands down playing the role of the Joker i want to know who they will recast the Joker in the films to follow but no one will come close to his performance in this masterpiece.

Anne says:
July 19th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

Hubby and I got to see an advanced showinig on Wednesday eve. OMG we both LOVED this movie and it sure didn’t feel like we had been sitting in those teeny weeny theatre chairs for over 2 hours.

I had to pee like a racehorse (not to offend :-) ); but there was NO way I was getting out of my seat!! I was not going to miss one second of this movie.

The whole thing was brilliant, just fricken brilliant!! I wish it were being shown on IMAX here, but unfortunately no such luck!!

At the end I found myself sad that Heath Ledger had not been on screen more; but I think that was just me being emotional as I knew that was really the last time I would witness his brilliance as an actor.

Cedric says:
July 20th, 2008 at 12:53 am

This film was bittersweet for me. Sweet: THE WHOLE DAMN MOVIE!!! Bitter: never being able
to see Ledger reprise this role. I had to remind myself at the conclusion that he was dead
and I wouldn’t be seeing him again. It was obvious that the writers intended the Joker to be
present in subsequent films. But it was more than enough to see him throughout Drak
Knight. I especially loved the disappearing pencil trick. After that scene, you knew the Joker
wasn’t your average psycho.

That said, the film was an outstanding piece of craftsmanship and it deserves every cent it
gets this weekend. It’s on track to shatter a ludicrous amount of records and I can’t wait to
see the final haul on Monday. $200 million? The sky’s the limit for this one.

Juan Carlo Rodríguez says:
July 21st, 2008 at 1:20 am

This was one of the most depressing films I’ve ever seen. But I mean it in a good way; this has “Best ScreenplaY” nomination etched across it. And yes, Heath’s performance will haunt me; this Joker is creepy to the max. But I can’t just go on gushing about it; it’ll take more space than normal. Until WATCHMEN comes out (and maybe even after that), this will be the stick they use to measure all comic book movies from now one. RIP, Heath Ledger: you unknowingly saved the best for last.

HERO! 261 says:
July 24th, 2008 at 9:37 am

RIP Heath….for you not know what youve unleashed on the world… ; ) but we do…go with god Mr. Ledger!

Brad says:
July 29th, 2008 at 2:42 am

Loved the film. Batman is hands down one of the coolest comic book heroes ever and the film adaptations are awesome. Heath was amazing but I kinda feel that the best performance was from Mr. Eckhart. Watching his fall was done exactly how i pictured two-faces fall to be.

I do kind of hope that they recast Joker for the next movie but in that he plays sort of a behind the scenes type of roll. He is Batman’s nemesis and cannot be forgotten because of the unfortunate death of Heath. Yes i do believe that the Joker will never be played as well as it was but to say that it shouldn’t b portrayed is crazy.

Anyway awesome movie and god I cannot wait for the next one…and Watchmen

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