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Techtite's DVD Reviews! |
"...a splendid psychological thriller, though aside from one guy in a Bat suit, this isn't a Batman movie. Sorry. It really isn't." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- The Obligatory Sidebar "nitpicks" that didn't make the review. Ah, yes: the nitpicks. These are not worth complaining about in the review itself, though worth mentioning, whenever a fanboy insists on the "flawlessness" of this film. For one thing there's the lack of a Batcave. I know this is supposedly near the end of the prior movie, when the Batcave needed repair. That's no excuse to have Batman in...what? An office floor with no desks? This just looked...silly. Likewise for the fat guy who assists in the escape of the Joker. You'll know it when you see it...and I defy you to not think, "Huh...?!?" The ending is also a letdown, though don't think I'm spoiling anything here. It's just another opinion...and unless you're a fanboy, it's an opinion you're likely to share.
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The Dark Knight
Click pictures to order (reviews of each disc's extras, below!) A Review by TechtiteAs always, a review of The Show and the DVD extras. The Film Review: Somewhere, someone owes Tim Burton a bit of an apology. Rumors are that Tim Burton was dismissed from future Batman movies because he was starting to make them too foreboding, or whatever. Tell that to director Christopher Nolan, whose latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, makes Batman Returns look like a Disney film. Don't get me wrong; it's an effective thriller which, as a psychological thriller, succeeds by leaps and bounds. As a comic book action movie, however, it makes some minor missteps.Before I mention those "missteps," let's be clear here, before I bring on the bane of a thousand Nolan fanboys. I liked this movie. It was well written, superbly acted and effectively emotional throughout. However, it would take a very dark soul indeed to say they "loved" this movie. This is a movie too morbid and foreboding to "love" per se, though...wow, what a magnificently acted, written, and crafted movie this is. The story picks up, I must imagine, soon after Batman Begins. For those who forgot; the movie ended with police detective Gordon (not yet a "chief commissioner") telling Batman that there was a bank robber on the loose with a decidedly strange calling card; specifically, the playing card of the "joker." Jump to the start of this sequel, at what appears to be one of The Joker's first crimes, long before he became the arch villain in Gotham City. That will all change...very quickly, and very maniacally. "Maniacally"...? Oh, yes. While not true to Batman canon (more on that later), the late Heath Ledger offers his final, brilliant performance here, with a truly psychotic, sociopathic "Joker." Compared to Ledger's Joker, Jack Nickolson's Joker looks like Cesar Romero, and Cesar Romero's Joker looks like Bambi. It is a rendition of The Joker that concentrates on criminal psychosis more than comic book trademarks: specifically, the Joker's maniacal laugh (which is oddly lacking here). This Joker is without any frills, and strangely...without any jokes. Regardless; it is a very well acted, three-dimensional character. The moment this "Joker" explains how he got his "smile" is bound to be a classic moment in movie history. Yet is this truly the Joker...or just a nutcase? Don't be so quick to answer that last question. As macabre and foreboding a character this is; as a Batman fan I must protest that this is not The Joker. There is no outrageously twisted humor here, which is the whole point of the character. Aside from the clown masks this "Joker" makes his henchman wear, there isn't anything funny to his crimes, even by maniacal standards. Allow me to use a simple spoiler from the first two minutes of the film. A victim has a gas grenade go off nearby. You think, okay; this is one of The Joker's first crimes, so the guy will now laugh uncontrollably with The Joker's vintage laughing gas, right? Surprisingly...wrong. It's just a gas bomb. Darn. Agnostic viewers may ask, "SO...?" It goes to motivations, really. The whole idea of The Joker is that his crimes are always some twisted joke; laughing gas, a dead body with a wicked smile on his face, or just a totally bizarre criminal plan. In this movie; This "Joker's" motivations are simple: he has none. There is no clear drive, ambition, or motivation for him to be doing what he does, aside from "he's nuts." He isn't out for revenge. He isn't out for fame and recognition. He isn't even out for laughs. Though particularly strangely; you soon find out he isn't in it for the money(!). Huh?!? Okay; so this "Joker" is simply a nut in clown makeup...and that is all. Is that enough...? YES. While this movie may not be true to Bat-canon, it is still very good, and jumping ahead; I give it four out of five stars. It's just that I've heard so many "ten out of ten" reviews of this movie that this diehard Bat-fan had to offer his two bits right from the start: this is a splendid psychological thriller, though aside from one guy in a Bat suit, this isn't a Batman movie. Sorry. It really isn't. So why give this movie four out of five stars? Because regardless of being little of a "Batman" movie, it's a superbly crafted film, with many memorable moments and superb performances. It helps, of course, that the titular character is played by who I feel is the best actor to have ever played the role. Christian Bale's Batman performance is equaled only by his performance as Bruce Wayne. You truly get a sense that people around him would never guess that Bruce is Batman, because while we are aware they're the same guy; they're as different as knight (ahem) and day. Sorry. I couldn't resist. Yet what makes a superb movie excel is the entire cast, all of whom are excellent in this film. This goes double, if not quadruple, for Ledger as The Joker. Whether this is true to Joker "canon" is a gripe towards the script, and nothing more; Ledger's performance is spectacular, and demands a posthumous Oscar. In other roles; Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a sympathetic and effective role as Rachel Dawes, even though it's such a different performance of the character, many people might not realize this is the same character played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins. Additional superb performances worth mentioning: Morgan Freeman continues his role as gadget-genius Lucius Fox, with additional cameo appearances by Eric Roberts and Anthony Michael Hall. Some films are made better by a well chosen cast. In this film's case: it's the performers which make the movie truly shine. Ah yes; then there's the surprise guest appearance of villain #2. I don't know why I'm worried about spoiling the name of this villain. As soon as his "secret identity" is mentioned ---as in: "Hi, Bruce Wayne, I'm [future arch-villain name here],"--- any Batman fan will know this villain's arrival is pending. Here's the problem I have with that; it's an over-glorified epilogue. His complete story is told as a half-hour snippet cut and pasted onto The Joker's two-hour story. I'm reminded of director Richard Donner's first Superman movie. Trivia buffs will tell you the original idea was to have the whole story told in one epic-length movie: Lex Luthor, General Zod, and the works. It was decided, rather brilliantly, to separate the story into two longer, more thoroughly thought-out films. I know ever since Burton's flawed (sorry) Batman Returns, the idea has always been to have two villains per movie. Enough of that! This villain deserved a whole movie. Even the most agnostic of movie viewers can see that. In the end this is a great psychological thriller with a Batman logo attached to its movie poster. Is that so wrong? No, though...sorry, as a true blue Batman fan since early childhood, I would've loved to have heard the Joker's sinister laugh at least once...and, yes, the way villain number two was once again treated poorly in cinema was a letdown for me. Yet as a psychological thriller this movie succeeds by leaps and bounds. In fact; it succeeds by Bat-glides from skyscraper to skyscraper. It may not be Batman canon, though we'll leave that for the next movie...which, based on this film's popularity, is pretty inevitable. The DVD Review: Honestly there are so many versions of this movie it would be impossible to list them all. Here are the order links for the single disc, two-disc, and Blu-Ray versions. Before getting into the differences in each (and the limited editions), why not show your support of this site by ordering this movie on disc?:
Okay, mini commercial over. First things first: the single disc is frankly the disc you get for renting the movie, and as we have all learned: the extras are only offered when you get the two disc special editions or whatnot. I could go into a rant against this new DVD practice (those of us who owned 1990's DVD players still own those "unique" early DVDs that could "miraculously" hold the movie and all extras ON ONE DISC), though let's just move on. The Blu-Ray is, strangely enough, on two discs. Disc Two is not just some cheap ploy to put all extras on a second disc. It is a legitimate batch of additional, exclusive to Blu-Ray extras. The complete list of Blu-Ray features include: ---Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene ---Batman Tech: The Incredible Gadgets and Tools ---Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight ---Six Episodes of the "Gotham Tonight" News Program ---Galleries, Joker Cards, Concept and Poster Art ...while the DVD two-disc edition includes: ---Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene ---The Dark Knight IMAX Sequences ---Gotham Tonight ---The Galleries ---Trailers The "Gotham Tonight" extras are amusing, and thankfully on both two-disc versions. They are in short the news segments made for the film, though not unlike the realism of the film itself: they aren't done just for laughs. You actually get the feeling you are seeing actual news bytes right out of Gotham City, showing how the media reacts to the likes of Batman, the Joker, and so on. The second Blu-Ray disc includes featurettes about Batman's Psychology and his weaponry. Is it worth the Blu-Ray to get these featuretes? Honestly...not so much. Though you probably were buying Blu-Ray to get the movie in high-def, so extra features are simply icing on the cake. No commentary track is offered in any version, which is frankly a major omission for a movie of this caliber. Why did the director choose, for example, to use smoke grenades and not laughing gas? What are the Joker's motivations, here? Oh, and as touchy of a subject as it is: what chances are there that the Joker will return, via someone other than Heath Leger? Many great comments to be made here...elsewhere, since no commentary is available here. Darn.
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