***SPOILER FREE***
I’m writing this only one day after the release of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Only one day. This is not a review. I was lucky enough to be one of the many to catch a midnight screening of the film, and let me tell you… it was jolly good. A wonderfully written, acted, directed, shot, and toned piece of respectful comic book cinema. Heath Ledger’s performance was, no doubt, astounding… possibly the best overall part of the movie. However, since the last frame rolled through the projectors at around 3 am on Friday morning, the entire film/geek/online community has completely jumped overboard into the crazed anus of praise-land, forsaking all else in the name of The Dark Knight. All there is to be seen or heard, from the giddy and temporarily irrational masses, is the following:
“BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE OF THE YEAR!”
“BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE OF THE DECADE!”
“BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE EVER!”
“BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!”
“BEST MOVIE OF THE DECADE!”
“BEST MOVIE EVER!!!”
“HAVE THEY EVEN EVER MADE ANY MOVIES OTHER THEN THIS!?!?!?”
“HOLY HELL! I CARVED HEATH LEDGER’S NAME INTO MY INFANT’S FOREHEAD!!!”
“LET’S GET THE POSSE TOGETHER AND MURDER JACK NICHOLSON’S FAMILY!!!”
It does not end there even. It is already number one on the IMDB top 250 movies list and if you are bored enough to mosey on over to the IMDB message board for Tim Burton’s Batman, you will find a constant ongoing war between the Bat’s fanboys trying to have a bigger dick contest. Sentiments such as “Well, Nolan just put this movie to rest.” or “Jack should be ashamed of himself considering Ledger’s performance.” can be found through out. To everyone involved, all those calling out these insane, quick claims of instant cinematic glory on behalf of Nolan’s Dark Knight, I would just like to say one thing…
CALM… THE FUCK… DOWN!!!
I understand how you feel. I’m excited too. There is a wonderful new Batman movie playing at my local theater, the best in almost 20 years. It’s an amazing blessing and all living Batman fans (of which I very much am) are lucky to be alive to see it. However, no matter how good it is or how amazing the acting might be, that is no reason to instantly spew geek splooge all over your shorts and act like it’s the greatest film ever. The beginning of my second column on this magnificent site details Matt Damon’s and my opinion on the true judge of quality… time. Now, that argument does not fully negate the instant notion that something is good, which this new Batman movie most certainly is. All I am trying to say is take a big deep breath, and think for a minute… just a minute. I’ll wait.
Ok, feel good? Calm? Alright. Was it a great movie? Yes, yes it was. I agree too. Was it the best movie of the decade, possibly ever? Keep breathing… no, no it wasn’t. Now, let’s examine why you had the initial reaction that you did. First, because the overall quality of the movie, production and acting all considered, crossed with the fact that it is a Batman movie makes it all the more astounding to you as a fan. Now, if we remove Batman, change characters names, keep the Joker as the villain but call him The Clown and show you a movie much akin to Michael Mann’s Heat (Nolan’s supposed inspiration for The Dark Knight) would you be nearly as excited even if it was of the same quality in the acting, directing, writing, and action department? No. You would most likely dig it, as would I, and move on with the possible thought of picking up the DVD in a few months. You wouldn’t scream insane notions of superiority from the mountain tops, you wouldn’t get extremely defensive to those of us who also enjoy the (fictional) Tim Burton Heat-esque movies, and you wouldn’t rush over to the Internet Movie Database and cast your vote to rank a two-day-old film as far superior to about 200 classics that have gestated in the public stomach for decades on top of decades. You would dig it, and leave it at that. Am I wrong? This is a great film, but the only reason I feel people are freaking out is because it is great and it involves a character they love… which does not make it GREATER, it just makes it a pleasant surprise to fans of that character.
As for all the hate being heaped on Tim Burton and Jack Nicholson and their defenders, it is completely unneeded. The 1989 Batman is a different take, by a different director, from a different time, and made in a different world of cinema. If you dislike it that is fine, but why is there a need to be threatened by it? The same goes for the Burton defenders; The Dark Knight does not erase Michael Keaton’s life. If you want to argue comic-book accuracy then both sides have nowhere to go. Either of the two films has just as many comic book inaccuracies as the other… don’t believe me, fine, but you’re wrong. Please understand I don’t care about them being accurate, I am just trying to point out that neither one nor the other is a complete comic book bull’s-eye. I, for one, like all four movies, each of them good or great in their own way and am happy to have a variety of tonally different Batmans to choose from (excluding Schumacher of course.)
Heath Ledger’s tragic death aside (now all the more painful after seeing his amazing performance,) the argument of Ledger being superior to Nicholson is also useless; they are merely two separate performances with two extremely different actors, both doing a great job and giving their own spin on the character. If you are a fan of Heath’s Joker (as am I) and want to tell off all the Nicholson-Joker fanboys (as am I) then you should be fair and also attack all the Cesar Romero fans as well, because when you want to talk about differences of portrayal… I think Romero’s live action Joker is just a tiny sarcastic tad farther from Ledger then Nicholson ever was. This is not the same thing as getting angry because of a remake or a re-envisioning of a character. Batman and the Joker are not screen-derived characters, much like James Bond or Jack Ryan they are derived from an external source, so several different takes on the character are common and there is no reason to get viably angry at the actor whom you don’t prefer. Now I could understand the hatred if, say, they recast Snake Plissken, Ash, Feddy Krueger (they already did), or Doc Brown. Those are SCREEN DERIVED characters, the actors that played them ARE the characters, it is a different story then with the Joker. Anyway, It was a great movie, just not the greatest ever made and if you don’t know who Cesar Romero is, then this entire rant has been directed at you. Damn kids. Thanks for reading!
Comments: 22 Comments
22 Responses to “Opinion In A Haystack: The Dark Hype”Leave a Reply |
July 20th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Awesome. Well done, Bob.
Again.
-Ian
July 20th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
That blows my mind that it is number 1 already on the imdb! That is just crazy, I loved it, you know that, but people who think this is the best movie ever made, should just goto the AFI top 100, and work their way down the list. They are bound to find something that has been great and not just for 3 days.
I’m going to pass this on to a few people that would probably like to hear someone with a realistic take on this phenom.
For all the readers who disagree, here is a short list of why this is not the greatest ever…
On the Waterfront, To Kill a Mockingbird, 12 Angry Men, High Noon, and Double Indemnity.
Yes I left out the obvious Godfather, and Citizen Kane, but see them anyway, they should help with your more complete grasp on cinematic greatness.
Bob, I see why you said I would like this one, I did.
-Chuck
July 20th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
oh yeah, and as you read the column on the right is an ad for
“Who’s the best Joker? VOTE NOW”, a little ironic, yay for random ads
July 20th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Ian…thank you sir.
Chuck…I’m glad you dug it.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:00 am
I can’t really think of anything sarcastic to respond with. Well done, Colonel!!
Also, the Dark Knight is my favorite movie ever, now even above Big Trouble in Little China and while walking out of the theater I told this to two young hotties (who were hot) and they instantly pleasured me just because I was up on what’s new and hot.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:00 am
Eric, you are the definition of New and Hot.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:10 am
You forgot to mention that Maggie Gyllenhal was recasted to play Rachel and totally failed. Not that Katie Holmes was any good, but the fact is that character was an absolute failure. I didn’t even realize it was the same character, I thought it was someone new again like they do with all the old Batman movies.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:21 am
well said my dear. as usual.
i refuse to go look at IMDB because it’ll just piss me off. but remember, there’ll still be another big movie that will knock dark knight off its high horse, and you’ll be just as pissed about that.
when you were a kid and got a new toy that you’d been wanting forever, you pretty much exclusively play with that toy until some of the shine wears off. Then you remember all your other toys. Such is the same with movies. The trouble is that Hollywood keeps spitting out a “new shiny movie” which distracts the average movie-goer from their previous favorites. But rest assured, you’re not the only one who feels that everyone’s neglecting “what came before”.
When the end comes… the douchebags who live only for the movies of right now will die painfully.
I’ll make sure of it.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:05 am
The Dog who bit batman,
I wasn’t really reviewing the movie, and if I was it wasn’t a negative review. I had no real problem with Maggie, simply because ANYONE is better then katie holmes.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:11 pm
When i came out of the movie with my friend whom i brought along, the first thing he shouted was “GREATEST FUCKING MOVIE THAT WILL EVER BE MADE IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND!!”
I’d like to email him this article so he’d shut the hell up. I absolutely loved this movie, but i didn’t go spouting off like Jesus himself had descended to Earth.
By the way, Watchmen looks fantastic!
July 21st, 2008 at 6:43 pm
What an incredible article! Very well said. Personally, I thought the hype worked against the movie rather than for it.
I remember when I was a teen and the movie Independence Day came out. I remember thinking it was the best movie ever made, a perfect 10. Now, I look back and say, “I enjoy this film, but it is not a perfect ten”. And I leave it at that.
And you know, I’ve never seen psycho.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:14 am
This is exactly the review I needed to read, and the points you’ve made were so on the money it made me smile. No pun intended there. (God, now that just sounds creepy doesn’t it?)
Thank you for writing this.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 am
i havent seen this movie but im fucking dying to see it, but im really suprised it got no 1 on imdb.
what about koyannisquatsi? or the godfather TRILOGY, or even the machine girl lol
if you havent seen the machine girl then stop reviewing this movie and watch the machine girl and review that lol
I cant wait to see the dark knight though and im gonna be stoned as fuck too 😀
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 am
Good Bob, this rant of yours both pleases and displeases me, kind of like a $5 Thai whore whom you discover shortly is a ladyboy. I applaud your calm minded and level approach to the devil that is fanboyism (this coming from a man who attended a showing of ‘The Phantom Menace’ is full Darth Maul costume) and I’m also stoked regarding the ’12 Angry Men’ shoutout ventrilloquized into Maggie Gyllenhall’s voice bubble. It is, truly, my favorite movie. But, if you hadn’t read it before, ‘The Dark Knight’ isn’t going to be released in Korea until August 7th…so in a way my fanboyish tendancies are only GROWING. I’ve read the reviews, I’ve seen the posters (both in English and Korean…neato) and now even my kids here are screaming “Bat-Man-oo Bat-man-oo moo-bie!”
But still, great column. BIG thumb up, jerking my forearm up an down in a less than homoerotic motion.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:06 am
julie – thanks. watchman did look awsome, and as much as I’m sure your friend is cool they are exactly the type of person I was directing this at
joe – thanks. you should check out pyscho…the original, not the remake. I will also admit I thought ID4 (independance day) was the shit when it came out, now its just kind of a comedy for me…but the music score is class A wonderful.
angela – thank you and your welcome. I love puns!
bateman – thanks. love the name. You should totally see it, its a great flick, my intentions never were to bash it.
bear – thakns. it sucks you have to wait. If you can remember when we used to work together I believed we both reffered to 12 ANGRY MEN as the Anti-George Lucas. There are so many films I love way more then the Dark Knight, probably around 300, but then again film is my life. I’m sure you feel the same.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Hey there! I love your bananas here and must say that after seeing Dark Knight in iMax at midnight on opening night after smoking 2 blunts and eating a cosmic brownie, I must say it is easily in my top 10 movies of all time.
There are a lot more movies I must see that I know are amazing, so this isn’t definitive, but as of right now (and these change based on mood) here is my top 10
1) Dark Knight
2) Pulp Fiction
3) American Beauty
4) Blazing Saddles (I must, I must!)
5) Anchorman (I’m not even mad, thats amazing!)
6) Kill Bill Vol 1+2
7) Terminator 2
OK, there are my top 7 im too lazy to think further. OK i also need to add that is my list of favorite movies, not necessarily the movies i think are the best movies. my list would look far different (and most likely not include Anchorman) anyways, balls balla balls
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:42 pm
tits mcgee…do you have any luck dragons for sale?
July 24th, 2008 at 1:42 am
Great article, sir. I very much agree.
This is a brilliant movie, and should be praised as such, but since the dawn of the internet people have held only the extremist of opinions. You can’t simply like a film for what it is, you must either love it more than anything else in the universe, or hate it with every ounce of your being.
I very much enjoyed the movie, and would rank it very high on my list of favourite movies. Is it the best movie of all time? No. Is it one of my personal favourites? Certainly. Everyone seems to forget what opinion means, but you definitely hit the nail on the head.
Well done.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:20 am
thanks brandon, much appreciated.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Just because it’s number one on IMDb doesn’t mean it’s cause people thought it was the best movie ever. It just means there are a ton of tens on there. I voted it at a ten, that doesn’t mean I think it’s the best ever, it justs means I considered it one of the many, many perfect movies out there.
Peace.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Good post, funny pictures. All these hype fighters should go punch a brick wall – bleed some of that adrenaline out. However I kind of resent all the Godfather or Citizen Kane references… frankly they both kind of bored me, especially Kane (being 22 myself perhaps I’m just not of the era to fully appreciate it but it’s my opinion).
Loved this movie, my favorite comic film definitely but not my favorite film in general. That probably goes to Cinema Paradiso, if anyone here hasn’t seen it and can enjoy foreign films I recommend it. Not an action film but a moving story. This one I can see ending up at maybe #20 in my favorites list.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Yes let’s change some of the names and details and it wouldn’t be ‘The Dark Knight,’ so it’d be a completely different movie. I don’t see the point you’re trying to make with that statement, because you could say that with any movie.