Yes, it's true. I went to see the new Batman movie: The Dark Knight. This type of movie is not really my cup of tea, but it was my night out for my birthday and I wanted to see a movie. Being that there was nothing else I wanted to see and since I'd heard that lots of people (including my niece) liked the movie, I thought we should give it a try. Plus, it had the words, dark and knight in the title, both concepts which are my cup of tea.
Drum roll, please...
I liked it. I really did. At first, when it started out, I thought, "Uh, oh. I've gone in with too high of expectations. This is really hokey." But that feeling didn't last long. I had to laugh when Batman's car in the opening scene told him to, "Loiter," a version of "wait for it, wait for it!" Then the computer screen switched to, "Intimidate," which is what he went on to do (though that part was some of the hokey part). Still, even though I ended up liking the movie, I'm surprised that I did. At the end of it I felt like I'd gone through a blender. In my opinion, the movie was a giant mess. The action scenes, characters, and dialogue seemed to be all over the place. Luckily, at the time, I decided to just go with it. That turned out to be the right decision. It's quite possible that I should have seen some of the other Batman movies first, but I didn't, which might explain why I got a bit lost. It didn't matter, though, because the movie just grew and grew on me. I got really caught up in it - until one particular scene when I thought the movie was going to be over soon - but it wasn't. But that was okay, too. I quickly adjusted and settled in for some more action...and popcorn.
I particularly liked Batman's motorcycle, especially when it comes out of the car. There was just something very powerful about that scene - kind of like a birth. I don't recommend trying the stunt at home, though. You'll ruin your car, not to mention parts of your body.
Heath Ledger as the Joker did not disappoint. The hype that's been going around really has substance this time - he was good. Very good. Creepily good. It's almost too bad that he was so good. Besides the fact that our world has lost another young person to an unnecessary death, as well as a great actor, we have lost a good Joker. No actor that I've ever heard of will be able to follow up Heath Ledger's performance. He is the Joker. It seems an ironic twist that of all the great performances he's done, this is how we may best remember him. Maybe he'd like that, though. I think I might, if it were me.
I didn't have a problem with Christian Bale's altered voice as Batman...maybe because I'd heard so many people complain about it, so I was prepared. The only time it struck me as funny was that he sometimes sounded like he had a lisp. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a lisp, I'm just not sure Batman should have one. That would be for another story.
The ending fascinated me, as well. I won't tell you what happened, of course, but I must say that it made me think. I hadn't expected a Batman movie to make me think. Concentrate on what Commissioner Gordon say about the whole 'hero' idea. Learn it, live it, love it. I'm planning to.
And now, to the Bat cave!
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Prince Caspian Rocks!
Brace yourself because there’s going to be a lot of exclamation points in this blog…
This weekend, my family and I finally made it to see Prince Caspian (my husband keeps calling it Prince Cassidy) and I loved it! Everything from the scenery - amazing (I want to move there) to the battle scenes, was wonderful. One of my favorite parts - and I always like these scenes - was watching Prince Caspian flee on horseback. There’s just something about watching a lone rider racing on a horse across the open plains, or through the woods, or wherever it may be (though I don’t actually like horse racing, go figure). I also liked watching the fauns jumping around and one scene where a centaur reared. Very cool. One of the repetitive images that I enjoyed was whenever they showed the four siblings lined up in a row. I don’t know why I liked that, but I did.
Prior to heading off to the movie, I read some reviews on the movie. My reasoning for reading reviews is always this: I don’t want to heap unrealistic expectations on the movie because that always ruins it for me. As the reviews were quite good, however, I felt free to maintain my medium to high expectations. Well, my expectations were met and then some. If you are looking to spend time in a mythical, fantastical world, this movie will do it for you. To be fair, there are some glitches - line delivery was off at times and some scenes were a little slow, but I was willing to brush all that aside like an inconsequential mosquito. When the movie was over, I wanted to watch it again. There just wasn’t enough time to drink it all in!
It’s been a long time since I’ve read the Narnia series. A couple years ago I read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to my son. Then I started the Horse and His Boy, skipped that and went on to Prince Caspian (I must have been channeling the old order - see below*). The beginning was a little slow for my son and for me, personally, so we set it aside. I’m glad that I did so that I could just enjoy the movie without comparison. I’m also afraid that if I reread the story, I will lose the magic of that time when I read it as a child with a worldview innocent and untainted by life. I’ve done that with books I loved as a kid - read them as an adult - and found myself vastly disappointed. It’s just not the same. So I’ve learned not to read them again. I’ll just have to read new books, or write my own!
Anyway, I give this movie an A. I’m sure there are people out there who didn’t like this and didn’t like that (there always are), but I was totally sucked into the world the director and actors created. I also thought the violence wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t graphic, there wasn’t any blood that I remember, the worst that I can think of involved a head, but that wasn’t much, either, surprisingly. This is a children’s movie, after all. I’m glad that the powers that be are dedicated to making the effort to tone things down without losing the power of the story.
In summary, loved the movie, am working on getting my husband to stop calling it Prince ‘Cassidy’ (he misses Shaun), and I really want to see the movie again. Maybe I’ll see you there!
This weekend, my family and I finally made it to see Prince Caspian (my husband keeps calling it Prince Cassidy) and I loved it! Everything from the scenery - amazing (I want to move there) to the battle scenes, was wonderful. One of my favorite parts - and I always like these scenes - was watching Prince Caspian flee on horseback. There’s just something about watching a lone rider racing on a horse across the open plains, or through the woods, or wherever it may be (though I don’t actually like horse racing, go figure). I also liked watching the fauns jumping around and one scene where a centaur reared. Very cool. One of the repetitive images that I enjoyed was whenever they showed the four siblings lined up in a row. I don’t know why I liked that, but I did.
Prior to heading off to the movie, I read some reviews on the movie. My reasoning for reading reviews is always this: I don’t want to heap unrealistic expectations on the movie because that always ruins it for me. As the reviews were quite good, however, I felt free to maintain my medium to high expectations. Well, my expectations were met and then some. If you are looking to spend time in a mythical, fantastical world, this movie will do it for you. To be fair, there are some glitches - line delivery was off at times and some scenes were a little slow, but I was willing to brush all that aside like an inconsequential mosquito. When the movie was over, I wanted to watch it again. There just wasn’t enough time to drink it all in!
It’s been a long time since I’ve read the Narnia series. A couple years ago I read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to my son. Then I started the Horse and His Boy, skipped that and went on to Prince Caspian (I must have been channeling the old order - see below*). The beginning was a little slow for my son and for me, personally, so we set it aside. I’m glad that I did so that I could just enjoy the movie without comparison. I’m also afraid that if I reread the story, I will lose the magic of that time when I read it as a child with a worldview innocent and untainted by life. I’ve done that with books I loved as a kid - read them as an adult - and found myself vastly disappointed. It’s just not the same. So I’ve learned not to read them again. I’ll just have to read new books, or write my own!
Anyway, I give this movie an A. I’m sure there are people out there who didn’t like this and didn’t like that (there always are), but I was totally sucked into the world the director and actors created. I also thought the violence wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t graphic, there wasn’t any blood that I remember, the worst that I can think of involved a head, but that wasn’t much, either, surprisingly. This is a children’s movie, after all. I’m glad that the powers that be are dedicated to making the effort to tone things down without losing the power of the story.
In summary, loved the movie, am working on getting my husband to stop calling it Prince ‘Cassidy’ (he misses Shaun), and I really want to see the movie again. Maybe I’ll see you there!
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