Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Interesting. I thought TDK was brilliant, if awkwardly paced, while Iron Man was just terrible. The wonderful cast was essentially sleepwalking through a by-the-numbers superhero script, the origin sequence was interminable for too many reasons to list, and the willing-suspension-of-disbelief factor surely has to be about equal to a Chuck Jones WB short in order for the thing to work.

 

 

To me, Robert Downey Jr. gets a TON of credit for making Iron Man work. I really, truly cared for and felt for his character. And his swagger and confidence and humor throughout the movie was fun to watch.

 

On the other hand, I could hardly invest an ounce of emotion into Bale's Batman. I think it's mostly Bale's fault (does he always have to look and sound so serious and pissed?) But maybe most of the reason is that the Batman character is just dark and bland. He's a little similar to Superman....but with Superman, we also get to see his very likeable, bungling Clark Kent character. The best part about Batman was his awesome motor-bike.

 

Thank God the Joker was around to lighten the mood and give us some entertainment.

 

And Iron Man may have been a little far-fetched (though I think people can suspend their belief very easy in a super-hero film), but it pales to the sonar bit, the cheesiness of the people on the boats scene, and transformation of Harvey.

 

 

 

There's no wrong thought here. I just prefer my super-hero movies to have a tiny bit of fun and campiness to them....much like I prefer the older James Bond's to the most recent 2.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 169
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

The voice thing didn't bother me as much as some. I can understand the need for Bruce Wayne to use a different voice as Batman. What bothered me about Bale's performance was

that a huge part of the drama hung on the reaction to Rachel's death. And, while Bale is normally a great actor, I little weight to his performance when the love of his life is killed.

 

Add to that totally contrived boat ultimatum, the sonar thing and the Hayden Christesen-like ease of Harvey's turn to evil and it left me flat.

It was entertaining -- and perhaps that's all you should ask of a Batman movie -- but it seemed it wanted to be more... it could have been more.

 

this entire post sums it up perfectly for me as well. i think someone else said it felt "crammed", at least from a plot perspective, and i agree.

 

i also thought (and have stated it a few times too :) )that it was just so piss-poorly edited that i was actually mad watching the movie. it cut way too quickly for me, as if the sole purpose of the cuts was to make things dramatic and thrilling. there are so many other devices that could have pulled off such a feel - acting and writing being the two i'd prefer. my friends all completely disagree with me on this so maybe i'm wrong or some sort of closeted editing snob or something. i don't know.

 

and In Bruges is probably my favorite '08 movie so far as well. i haven't seen much though to be honest, but that's a really good movie.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I just prefer my super-hero movies to have a tiny bit of fun and campiness to them....much like I prefer the older James Bond's to the most recent 2.

can't agree with this. The most recent two Bond movies have been the best since On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which probably for relatively weak performance by Lazenby, gets too often overlooked. If it had Connery, it would be the best Bond movie made, IMO. Roger Moore was the height of campy Bond and those films are mostly unwatchable for me.

Link to post
Share on other sites
can't agree with this. The most recent two Bond movies have been the best since On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which probably for relatively weak performance by Lazenby, gets too often overlooked. If it had Connery, it would be the best Bond movie made, IMO. Roger Moore was the height of campy Bond and those films are mostly unwatchable for me.

 

 

Different strokes, I guess.

 

 

The last 2 Bond movies were OK, but just didn't seem like James Bond movies to me. They seemed closer to Rambo....a serious macho dude kicking all kinds of ass and destroying things.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Different strokes, I guess.

 

 

The last 2 Bond movies were OK, but just didn't seem like James Bond movies to me. They seemed closer to Rambo....a serious macho dude kicking all kinds of ass and destroying things.

Well I feel like other Bond movies, even Connery editions, leave the character seriously one-dimensional. That's boring to me. I like that Bond makes mistakes, falls in love (not just lust), loses people and is shut off from everyone. He is able to do what he does becuase he is so troubled and borderline psychotic. :lol But I agree some of the action is a little much and wears you down after a while. I think that's so the masses will accept a more human Bond movie, which is a shame. But you're right... it's just different strokes.

 

Back on topic (sorta), I think IM and TDK are just about equal. IM doesn't take itself too seriously though so a lot more can be forgiven. Downey -- just like Ledger -- single-handedly saves that movie. The last act of IM was just terrible, IMO, though.

 

The Bond Ultimatum and The Bond Supremecy

 

Yeah that's a common criticism, but I happen to love the Borne movies. And the most recent Bond movies are much truer to the books than other movies (excepting On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and thise came before Borne was a even a thought in Ludlum's mind.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Back on topic (sorta), I think IM and TDK are just about equal. IM doesn't take itself too seriously though so a lot more can be forgiven. Downey -- just like Ledger -- single-handedly saves that movie. The last act of IM was just terrible, IMO, though.

 

 

I agree.

 

 

I think Batman has more substance to stand on without Ledger than Iron Man without Downey, but both movies leap from "decent" to "good" or "great" because of the 2 actors.

 

 

The end of Iron Man didn't live up to the first 2/3....but again, Downey helped immensely. I love when he has to wolf down the hamburger. And the relationship with Paltrow's character is fairly strong.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

Saw TDK again. A couple of thoughts...

 

1. The movie is pretty darn good up until the hospital explodes. After that, it just loses me.

2. I understand Bruce Wayne needs to disguise his voice while he is Batman (I, unlike many others, don't really have a problem with that). But why does he need to disguise his voice when it is just him and Morgan Freeman? Freeman's character (forget the name) knows who Batman is.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Gym Teacher Man

i also rewatched TDK not long ago and all i can say is that without ledger's unbelievable performance, it would probably go on my "well, i don't ever see myself watching that again" shelf.

Link to post
Share on other sites
ditto

I concur.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Saw TDK again. A couple of thoughts...

 

1. The movie is pretty darn good up until the hospital explodes. After that, it just loses me.

2. I understand Bruce Wayne needs to disguise his voice while he is Batman (I, unlike many others, don't really have a problem with that). But why does he need to disguise his voice when it is just him and Morgan Freeman? Freeman's character (forget the name) knows who Batman is.

 

 

 

I agree. The ending 3rd is SO underwhelming. And his voice drove me...uh...pardon the pun....batty.

 

 

 

You all hear the Christian Bale rant that apparently was broadcast on TMZ?

 

It's funny as hell. I think it's a year old, but got leaked somehow. I guess Bale got pissed at a sound or lighting guy interupting a scene during filming of the new Terminator movie.

 

 

Here's a sampling of the 4-minute rant:

 

"I will kick your ass," says Bale in the rant. "I want you off the f***ing set. No, don't just be sorry. Think for one f***ing second. What the f*** are you doing? Am I going to walk around and rip your f***ing lights down in the middle of the scene? So why the f*** are you walking right through?You do that one more f***ing time and I'm not walking on this set if you're hired."

 

 

 

 

Here's the audio:

 

http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_audio/020209_christianbale.mp3

Link to post
Share on other sites
I agree. The ending 3rd is SO underwhelming. And his voice drove me...uh...pardon the pun....batty.

 

You all hear the Christian Bale rant that apparently was broadcast on TMZ?

 

It's funny as hell. I think it's a year old, but got leaked somehow. I guess Bale got pissed at a sound or lighting guy interupting a scene during filming of the new Terminator movie.

 

Here's a sampling of the 4-minute rant:

 

"I will kick your ass," says Bale in the rant. "I want you off the f***ing set. No, don't just be sorry. Think for one f***ing second. What the f*** are you doing? Am I going to walk around and rip your f***ing lights down in the middle of the scene? So why the f*** are you walking right through?You do that one more f***ing time and I'm not walking on this set if you're hired."

 

Here's the audio:

 

http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_audio/020209_christianbale.mp3

 

 

Ain't It Cool has some thoughts on that story.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Of course, this sort of thing has happened many times in various ways over the years. It just does not make the news every time it happens. I read a book written by an actor recently. Among other things, he talked about a director threatening people with fines who ruined shots by messing with the lights or whatever. I also think these things come about due to the fact that is is easy to capture someone's actions these days - due to cell phones and such like devices.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...