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Aug. 17th, 2008 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
So. Probably one of the most intricately and impressively plotted movies I've seen in a long time. And there's competent villainy! I appreciate competent villiany! And subtle little knif-shanks at the PRC, and references to British imperialism in Burma/Hong Kong.
I appreciate these things.
I appreciate all of these things. Really. Especially the bit with the Joker setting it up so that Harvey could hear Rachel die? I exclaimed "NICE!" in the theater, and I'm pretty sure that's why the people int he row behind me were so eager to get away from me when the movie was done. XD And the bit with the ferries was very, very well-executed. Heads and shoulders and a torso above Batman Begins.
On the other hand:
JESUS FUCK, MOTHERFUCKERS. THE NOLANS PRETTY MUCH FAILED AT EVERYTHING WHERE YOU KNEW THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE TALKING. ANVIL MOVIE IS ANVILLY. ANVIL MOVIE HAS ANVILLY DIALOGUE. ANVIL MOVIE ANVILS SYMBOLS. PS: ANVIL MOVIE HAS ANVILS.
I mean, the actors did the best that they could, but when they did that white knight bit with Dent early in the movie, I couldn't contain myself and just said, "Oh Christ!" out loud. And made groaning noises when they dropped in the bit about the girl's mother.
And, to be honest, not really that impressed with Heath Ledger. He did a good job, a competent job with what could have totally sucked, but not worth that much hype. It's a showy, fundamentally one note character, so all Ledger had to do was hit one note and sustain it. I also don't think the note was fundamentally so difficult that other comptetent actors couldn't have done it, especially with the aid of the pancake makeup meaning that you don't need to worry so much about perfect control of your facial muscles. And I'm really glad he toned done the eye-wiggling as the movie progressed because it annoyed the fuck out of me.
I like the touch about his backstory being uncertain and unclear, but yeah.
No nuance. +8 for competence, but ceiling limit at 75 because ANVIL MOVIE IS ANVILLY!!!!!!!!!
In fact, there's no nuance or depth to any of the characters. When they make the (let us not discuss how TDK totally fails at women characters; J-Fav, you have permanently raised my expectations and doomed me to a life of disappointment). Harvey Dent strains for it, and I may have seen Even J-Gor, who I love. Deeply. And intensely. And is played by Gray Oldman, so I strained hard to find some, but no. None.
So yeah, I think what I'm trying to say is that my fave movie of all time would result if somebody hired J-Fav to do all the characters and the dialogue and the casting and working with the actors and hired the Nolans to do the action and the villain and plotty sequences. J-Fav would yell at the Nolans to use real characters and would let his talented actors off the chain to do their jobs; the Nolans would write bitchin' action sequences and point out when J-Fav's script and timeline made no fucking sense.
Also: I bet the code for Batman's car is kissing cousins with what Tony has in Jarvis -- tell me that I wasn't the only one laughing at how Bruce's car has "loiter" and "intimidate" the way that other cars have reverse and drive.