metaridley

I could kiss you.

This is what so many people apparently failed to realize about the Harvey Dent arc. It's not like the film made it hard to decipher the point of Two-Face appearing in the last act. He's a disillusioned, vigilante (who murders) "dark knight"; the logical conclusion of Harvey Dent's fall from being the "white knight".

"You think I want to escape from this? There is no escape from this!"

Like you said, he has nothing left to live for except to punish those responsible (which he nearly finishes doing until Batman's intervention).

I could go on and on about how retarded people are for thinking Two-Face is still alive or that he should've been robbing the 2nd bank of Gotham on the 2nd anniversary of his accident or just generally wanting Batman Forever Redux (Two-Face/Riddler vs. Batman), but I've noticed that people either get it or they don't.

Oh, and The Return of the King had a ridiculous number of endings. The Dark Knight has ONE climax (vs. Joker) and ONE conclusion (vs. Two-Face). Then there's about 2 minutes of epilogue and the credits roll.

Goat3001

I know we can all agree that Maggie Gylenhaal was a better choice for Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes but I read this tidbit over at IMDB trivia and I find it hilarious:

"Even though Christopher Nolan offered her the part, Katie Holmes decided not to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes. Instead, she opted to co-star with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah in Mad Money (2008) that same year."

Bad career move.

My Other Self

Yeah I knew that. I remember when Mad Money came out I pointed it out to friends as the movie Katie Holmes made but passed on TDK.

Then it bombed. I don't think she was that concerned.

Rival11

What a fantastic fucking movie man. Seriously, I was so "pleased" after the credits started to roll.

I expected to only "really like" this film but after it was over, I re-watched the beginning 3 times.

Yeah I have some minor gripes but I really don't give a shit about them because of how deep and cool this film was.

Long? God yes, boring? No way.

Was Ledger's performance overrated? Hell no, he was fucking incredible in this movie.

The one thing I thought would detract me was, believe it or not...Bale but I actually liked him a lot more in this one.

The ending tied the knot perfectly for the next film.

So glad I bought this one and can't wait to see what Nolan does next - I am very suprised at how well made this film is.

PopcornTreeCt

Eh, I'm in the minority but I would've preferred Katie Holmes. After watching the movie a few times, she is easily the weakest link. In fact, there isn't even really one moment in the movie where I feel empathic towards her character. Never. I know that's the way the part was written, but I don't think Katie Holmes would've came off like a stuck up bitch like Maggie does in every single scene.

She was just very poorly cast. Seriously, a billionaire, yes a billionaire, wants this chick? I mean, I know he's nostalgic and everything but damn. The Joker calling her beautiful is almost unintentionally funny -- especially in high definition.

So, my point is that her part was written in such a way that anyone could've played that part. Maggie didn't add anything, however, she did knock the realism factor down a few notches with the supposed love triangle going on.

Supermallet

I think she was more believable as an assistant DA than Katie Holmes. Also, Bruce Wayne can have any girl he wants. It's not about looks. She's smart, has clear ties to a time when his parents were alive, and is one of two people he can trust with his secret. She's also fighting the same fight he is, but from the courtroom. With all that going for her, I think it's very clear why Bruce Wayne pines for her, and why her death was such a blow to him.

Matthew Ackerly

I think Katie Holmes and Maggie were pretty interchangeable. They both were pretty 'blah' and nothing special. That could be due to how the character was written though. I think the acting was fine from both of them.


I would have preferred Katie just to keep the continuity.

Travis McClain

It's right up there with whether or not Tony Soprano was whacked at the very end of The Sopranos. The non-ending to that series was the perfect ending. Life goes on, whether we're there to see it or not.

Seriously, I think some part of me is still sitting through the end of The Return of the King. It's like the Nexus from Star Trek Generations, and I was able to leave the theater while part of me stayed to finish watching it end. And end. And end....

GatorDeb

The reason I thought Gordon had gone to the dark side was because of the conversation with Maroni at the hospital.

lamphorn

Am I the only one who finds these superhero movies incredibly sexist? Who are these vapid chicks who get batted around between millionaires? Maybe I'm not rich enough to have met them..

She loves Bruce Wayne, but he was too unavailable or whatever, being Batman so now she's with another super famous dude she doesn't love as much.. her only choice is whether to take Bruce back if he quits Batman or marry Two-Face because he's rich and famous. No thought whatsoever about just being being her own person and maybe finding love some other time.

Look at the Spider Man films. The Dunst character is just there to be fucked by the highest bidder. First she's gonna marry a supperich and famous astronaut, then she becomes a model and dates Franco because I guess he's really rich too. She's in love with Spiderman, but he avoids her because he's dumb so she settles for loveless relationships.

The way these women are presented is simply trophies for the powerful dudes to knock back and forth between each other like cats with rubber-band balls. They're constantly being called "beautiful and smart", but you can practically hear the sarcasm on "smart".

PJsig08

After loving the movie in the theatre, I had my second viewing on DVD this week and this film absolutely blew me away again. For someone who despises most comic book movies (The Spiderman movies are painful to watch) this has restored my faith in the genre and easily places this movie as the best comic book movie and probably in my top 15-20 favorite movies of all time. Ledger's performance is one of my favorites ever.

fumanstan

I think you're over thinking and over analyzing it. You seem to believe some of the ladies only motivations are because the men are rich, rather then believing that they may actually care. In the case of Dark Knight, I don't think Dent was ever believed to be a rich man (hence Bruce's fund raiser) and it would appear that Rachel became involved with Harvey before he became super DA guy and Gotham's "white knight." What makes you think she's not being her own person?

RayChuang

I just finished watching this movie on my home computer with a widescreen LCD monitor and a new set of Klipsch Groove PM20 speakers. The picture quality was good but the sound quality was OUTSTANDING.

This movie will definitely garner a number of Academy Award nominations--and Heath Ledger is almost a lock to win Best Supporting Actor. Ledger's performance in the movie was just amazing, showing a range of emotions that was very impressive indeed.

Sanjuro37

She doesn't agree to marry Harvey because he's rich and famous (and I doubt he's rich- consider the scene in the restaurant where he says he had to pull strings to get a table, instead of just getting one because he's on the tube). She loves Harvey very much as well as Bruce. But she knows that she could never have a happy life with Bruce because she understands that he's just too fucked-up over the death of his parents to ever stop fighting crime. The Batman of Nolan's world is still young enough that he can delude himself into thinking that one day he'll defeat the bad guys and have a normal life, and since Rachel is the only woman he's ever really known, he assumes it'll be with her.


I agree here (about Mary Jane, not Peter, who was desperately in love with her). In the comics, Mary Jane is a fiery lass and someone who is genuinely independent, even if her husband has to save her. But the movie Mary Jane is vapid, talentless and shallow.

There is a natural predilection towards sexism towards the girlfriends/wives of superheroes because naturally a villain would take it out on her to get to his foe. But Rachel Dawes, apart from being picked solely for eye candy in the first film then haphazardly aged to an remotely appropriate age for the assistant D.A. of the biggest city in America, is smart. She sees Bruce for what he really is and steers clear because of it. I'm still glad they killed her; Batman doesn't need a romantic interest because he could never really act upon it.

Brack

lamphorn seems to have watched a different cut of the film.

Mr. Salty

Boy, you couldn't have missed the point any more if you tried.

PopcornTreeCt

I always thought in Spider-Man 3, Mary Jane only wanted to be with Peter because he was Spider-Man. There didn't seem to be a lot going on with them.

Moonstone

You know, I'd forgotten how strong this movie is whilst watching the Blu-Ray.

When I saw it in theatres, I went "Unbelievable" and clapped like crazy when it finished, I simply could not believe what I'd seen, not only was Ledger great, everyone was, even though the Nolan Bros deserve the highest praise.

Simply put, The Dark Knight is not just another sequel or superhero movie, it is a terrific piece of film making on its own terms, I wish I could say more but you simply have to see this film for yourselves.

SuperBatMan

I saw it once in the theaters and on opening day, and the sound system was pretty awful so I had a hard time following along at times. Plus, I think I was in shock that I was actually finally wathcing the movie, and had my own idea of what I wanted to happen, so I kinda was in and out of the movie, but still thought it was good.

Fast forward to watching it again in my own house on Blu-Ray, and damn is this movie great. The whole thing made a hell of a lot more sense to me, and Dent's death was the right move.

Just a fantastic movie, from start to finish. I don't know if Nolan and company can top it, but if they do, the universe might implode.

NoirFan

PopcornTreeCt

Are those real?

I think the Joker's response to WB regarding all the Oscar ads would be: "why so serious?"

NoirFan

No, those are fan art.

benh911

I really like the first one. Very clever.

Thrush

Answered finally.......................................... sort of...............................................not really.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39510

The Infidel

My guess would be some hospital staff getting shot by Harvey as he escaped from the hospital. After all, Joker did put a gun in his hand.

Nolan has to know. Why else would they put that line in the movie?