rennaT wrote:
:/ But... eh.
I suppose my main problem is, while I enjoyed both films immensely, COM didn't leave me with as much as TDK did after viewing. I've seen COM twice, and TDK three times, so it might be slightly uneven, but TDK is much more imprinted on my mind than COM.
While COM certainly contains more depth and thought provoking realism, TDK seemed to trump it for me in terms of quality cinema. TDK had one of the most iconic performances to date, memorable set-pieces and sequences, and (and this is a little unfair to COM) it remains the sing;e greatest translation of Comic book to Film that I've ever witnessed.
With COM, I remember debating the themes to myself and being left with quite a lot of emotion, but it didn't stick like TDK did, and now attempting to recall anything but the film's more poignant moments leaves me reaching. I'll watch it again to give it another chance, but I don't think I should have to...
Anyway, I'll add a couple of reviews to the thread (ones I've had kicking about for a while) while I'm here. I recently watched Moon which I'll be writing a review out when I had the time. I'll be keeping them as concise as possible, I know how ADHD everything is these days.
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The Dark Knight - nine/10
The city that spawned the violence that gave birth to the Dark Knight himself; the psychotic emulators that Bruce unwittingly coded; the constant struggle within to maintain a strict moral code - not to lose himself completely to the darkness he shrouds himself in out of necessity... all these elements add to a dark, brooding and violent mythology that Nolan manages to capture perfectly without ever giving in to the gratuitous.
While the film is gloriously over-the-top (which is of course fitting for a comic book universe), Nolan manages to ground the larger than life characters and story arcs just enough to add a chill and striking reality to them (Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker is especially stunning).
Nolan surpasses his previous effort Begins in terms of his handling of action sequences. He's slowed things down here, added more emphasis on each movement, and we can now actually see what's happening.
My only criticisms are that the film tries (and mostly succeeds) to ground itself in reality. HOwever, some moments (like the retrieving of the finger print from the shattered bullet, and the expert timing of the Jokers escape from the bank) feel imbalanced in this regard to the rest of the film. That it's still essentially a comic book movie stops these issues from being too much of a problem. They certainly didn't drag me out of the moment the first time around.
And Bale over does the gruffness a little, but then as Gotham's most recognisable man, I suppose he'd have to do everything he can to disguise himself (especially from police detectives and some of the smarter criminals).
Minor gripes aside, this film is a perfect example of violence (both the physical now and the mental histories) and tragedy handled with real care and attention, TDK stands as testament not only as a marker for other comic book adaptations, but as an expert example of how to do darkness without dealing in the absolutes that shallow the usual attempts.
A chaotic and brilliant masterpiece.
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30 Days of Night - five/10
Some satisfying scenes for gore fiends and some beautiful shots don't make up for a shallow script and some horrid miscasting.
Now, I know this is the bane of adaptations, but I'm going to have to whine about comic book toe film depredation:
One of the major ideas contained in the source material was completely ignored: that the vampires - having at one time in the past been hunted by man and driven to the point of extinction - had spent centuries fading into myth to preserve their species and now that security is found threatened by the actions of the vampires in Barrow.
This was a really interesting theme and one that added a lot of depth to the characters and situation. Also a side effect of emitting the above content meant losing the conflict between the vampire Elder Vicente and the hot-headed and ambitious Marlow which would have given great insight into the motives and structures of the vampire community. It added some depth to the vampires history, gave them some shape, instead of them being portrayed as almost senseless unstoppable killing machines.
It's not as if the original graphic novels were actually brilliant, but why take something average and knock it down a peg?
What we're left with is a beautifully shot yet ultimately shallow hide and seek film with plenty of gore but not enough to care about. I'd call it a missed opportunity, but I honestly don't think many people care either way.