+1

i just dugg out my copy of Killing Joke!

Really? I thought it was a mistake...

You don't try to explain how "the force" works, and you don't explain the origins of the Joker... just makes them both less grand than before.

Damn, this movie was really good. As opposed to being just the 'monster of the week' bad guy he was in the Burton movie, the Dark Knight goes into the duality of Batman and the Joker and how they're interconnected. The movie was carefully thought out and in my opinion, didn't succumb to the crass taste of Hollywood. As far as I can recall, purelle hand sanitizer is the only logo that i can remember through the movie.

The only thing that I didn't like was the tacked on cellphone sonar thing with Freeman's character talking up a big game of 'this is wrong' It feels like it wasn't necessary to the plot at all.

I thought that part with Freeman fit in well...especially when Bruce Wayne said.."i now know what I need to become to catch people like him" which in effect was crossing the line; spying on people etc. I kind of liked how Freeman and Caine kind of guided him and it fit in well with the ideology of heroism and what it takes to become a hero. What line should or shouldn't be crossed.

I loved the film. Can't believe it was pg-13. Great stuff

I see what you mean, but i think it just adds unnecessary complexity to the plot. Batman's line, as illustrated at the end of the movie by the joker is that he won't kill, or become the avenger. The technology that the sonar thing which is crucial to the final batman/joker confrontation could have been framed in a different way as opposed to just open up this can of worms of spying on everyone. I just feel it was tacked on (or maybe a theme that was underdeveloped due to editing) to try to make this somehow speak to people's concerns about privacy and the violation of it for the good of the people. This topic is too large to broach in the context of a subplot.

It was a complex movie, but I think the sonar spy set up was just one facet of the "going too far" dilemma. And it was the one that got the least attention. Most of the focus was on Batman's violence.

To me, the critical scene was when he was beating the hell out of the Joker in jail, and the Joker (being a sadomasochist) seemed to enjoy it. Then he told Batman that his main weapon - the ability to inspire fear and act violently - was useless against him. And that's what pushed Batman to the brink- knowing that killing this guy was the only way to stop him and then wrestling with the question of how far he was prepared to go.

So he spares the Joker's life in the motorcycle scene and even saves it at the end, even after the Joker kills his girlfriend. Despite all the speeches (and there are too many) in the movie, his actions are what defines him in the end.

To me, the real alter-ego of Batman isn't the Joker, but Two Face, who does go mental (and starts killing people) after the same woman is killed.

The Joker is homicidal from the start. He's basically a vehicle to allow Batman to explore his bounds. And he's sufficiently demented to prevent audience association with him.

Yikes that's a lot of typing! I'd better stop. Complex movie..

Wow. I went in expecting a lot, and it was even better than I could have hoped. FAR superior to Begins (which I thought dragged) and better than 99.9% of films coming out today. For all the morality issues invoked, it never really seemed heavy-handed or preachy, and the take on the Joker being a force of "chaos", rather than just another villain-type, was inspired. Ledger was, as expected, amazing, but I really hope to see more of Two-Face in the next one, as Eckhart was equally believable and nearly as creepy.

On a side note, I also couldn't believe the PG-13 rating, considering the incredible amount of insane, brutal violence throughout the whole film. I love it, but if I had young kids, I don't know if I'd want them watching this. You can't say "fuck", but you can drive a pen into someone's head? The MPAA rating system is absurd.

yeah..the more I think about it and can digest it the more I love it.

It's incredibly dark and more of crime film and I loved that Batman did some detective work.

Totally. I don't like how the gadget side of batman has been overplayed onscreen.

I saw this movie last night and my mind was blown. I expected it to be dark, but it took it even further than I could have hoped. After all the viral marketing and how they got some many people involved before hand, the hype was just crazy. I think it easily lived up and took it ten steps higher! I have to see it again. Heath did such an amazing job as the Joker. I know so many people were afraid he was going to over do it, or whatever, but he was so fucking creepy when he needed to be and funny when it called for it. The first time he tortures that guy, his laughing and his face gave me chills. It was fucked up and demented. This movie raised the bar for any super hero movie in the future. Truly worth the wait, worth every bit of hype.

just got back from seeing it and it was worth every second i waited for this! fuckin amazing movie! goin back to see it in the imax theatre next week.

Just saw it & thought it was very well done. Heath Ledger's Joker was definitely the best thing about the movie. He made the character truly menacing in a believable way. (Psychopaths are believable. Bad guys made out of sand or that shoot ice out their asses, etc are not.) I am surprised Two Face won't have more longevity - great special effects/ look. I was also surprised at the number of little kids in the theatre. Their parents must have had no idea how dark this film is. (Or maybe they are just idiots?)

So the Imax has extra footage?

I think the whole IMAX deal is that this is the first time that they shot footage specifically using imax cameras for certain scenes along with the standard footage. Viewing it on an imax theater will make the scenes seen more richer and fuller. I don't think you see extra footage but for example when he jumps off the roof in hong kong it expands the experience. You get to see more of the depth of certain scenes.

I saw the dark knight Friday and yeah...it was all i hoped it would be and more. Christopher Nolan and co. know how to do batman.

Heath...wow. No disrespect, but when Heath's joker hit the scene, Jack's Joker was the furthest thing from my mind. Heath took it to a whole new level. no one could've done a better job IMO.

did anyone else pop a big one when the bat bike took stage? totally unexpected.

This movie has broken almost every grossing record that exists in film.

Biggest midnight showing.
Biggest first day showing.
Biggest IMAX debut.
Biggest first weekend ever.

The only other record it can break is the biggest grossing film in theaters, which I'm pretty sure is Titanic. 600 million.

I'm so cheap that I am trying to watch the full version of Batman Begins on tv.
I keep finding it on tv midway through the film.

Maybe I should go bit torrents....

Would like to see Dark Knight on the big screen after the crowds disappear.
I hate cellphones and people talking...

Saw it today. Far exceeded my expectations. I take back every assumption I made about Ledger's Joker. He provided so much more insight into the Joker's psyche, or at least this interpretation of it. He is, in every sense of the word, an anarchist. Quotes like this from the movie bolster that 100% - "I'm a dog chasing cars. I don't have plans. I just do things. I'm not a schemer."

So much to absorb though. I'm going to have to see this at least once more.

"Why...so...serious?"

Awesome movie. Ledger rocked. Going back in a couple of days to watch again.

Clever marketing. So much wasn't given up in the teasers and trailers.
Great character development and plot twists, cool location changes, and the perfect build-up of action. Music was incredible!

Never liked the older Batman movies, man i copped some flack over that from my girlfriend and friends.
So glad my feelings were right on this one! This is how the Batman story should be told.

Killing Joke was awesome. I love the Jeph Loeb Tim Sale books that are supposed to come after year one. The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. I know some people think Loeb is a hack, but I think he's one of the best writers in mainstream comics.

Awesome move! Best movie of the year (so far)...I see some Oscar nods in it's future!

I waited for a long time for this movie!

Thanks Nolan!

This is getting 'rave' reviews across the globe, opened the Belgian sunday newspaper last night and it gets excited thumbs up there too... Stoked to see Ledger's 'performance'.

I saw it last night and Ledger's performance as the Joker lives up to the hype. I was suspicious at first figuring the critics and public were patronizing the guy because, um, he's dead. But it's legitimately a great and creepy portrayal of the J-dude. Ledger owns that character.

And Christian Bale's Batman is the best anti-hero since Mel Gibson's Mad Max.

There are a lot of layers to this movie and it definitely warrants repeated viewings.

I'm also glad they put more emphasis on the story this time around rather than the action sequences (or at least the action sequences contributed to the story rather than being merely gratuitous). With the first movie, I thought the first half was excellent before it devolved into typical over-the-top action movie fare.

Just my opinion . . . I could be wrong.

SPOILERS...
Ledger's performance was INCREDIBLE. The Joker's interplay with Batman was the most interesting part of the film. He should have had a lot more screen time; maybe they were "saving" it for the third film.

Beyond that, I think it was a solid & respectable action movie, but not much new. A lot of it seemed to be busy "Mission: Impossible" style stuntwork and car chases. Personally I don't like the "Bourne" style editing that is so popular nowadays; it runs contrary to the noir-revival potential of this Batman series. Eckhart was good as Dent, but the transformation to Two-Face was unconvincing. The death of a major character was handled in kind of a clunky way; I didn't get the sense that Wayne was at all affected by it. Oldman and Freeman had a lot of screen time but didn't add much to the film.

Still, it's completely worth watching for Ledger/Joker and one of the best new Hollywood films I've seen in some time.

Saw this again today, it was just as good the second time around. Love the symmetry of it. In the beginning, the bad guys sic the dogs on Batman, and in the end the good guys do. Poor guy loses everything.