Why You Can't Admit You Hated The Dark Knight

I went into The Dark Knight expecting to watch it the way I would any other movie: You know, admire the actors and get caught up in the story, with a few mental detours to check out the clothes and wonder where all my Sno-Caps went.

But watching the new Batman movie, I had a very different experience. It went something like this:

Wow, Heath Ledger really does look weird. Scary. And yet strangely...comical. Those wrinkles under that makeup. That lizard tongue. And that voice, that accent, he sounds like someone, I can't quite place it....

I wonder how Christian Bale gets so hunky and then so skinny over and over again. What kind of diet does he go on? What's his training regime? Would it work for me?

And speaking of thin, Maggie Gyllenhaal looks pretty good. But is she suposed to be the same exact character that Katie Holmes was in the last movie? If Batman's so powerful, how come he doesn't notice she's a different person?

Why is that Chinese guy taking all the money to China? And why is Batman going to China to get it back? Why does he care about the bad guys' money? I'm a little confused though I'm sure it will all come clear.

Heath Ledger's voice. It sounds kind of Midwestern, kind of effeminate. Maybe someone who used to be on TV....

So is Morgan Freeman supposed to be God? He's always God. Why does Batman need both him and Michael Caine, who seem to be two versions of the same character, i.e. old people who know their place as wise but deferential lackeys?

Oh no, I'm really not following this. Maybe if I start paying attention to the plot, I'll pick up the thread.

Cars racing. Buildings exploding. Lots of people teetering on the edges of very high places, making my hands sweat.

Is Maggie Gyllenhaal dead or alive? Is Gary Oldman honest or corrupt? Is Aaron Eckhart tall or short? Is Gotham City supposed to be New York or Chicago? And why, whenever I hear Heath Ledger's voice, do I think of Carol Burnett?

I've got it! He sounds just like this campy gay actor who was on Carol Burnett and then on Hollywood Squares, Paul somebody, Paul Paul Paul: Paul Lynde!

I was relieved, when we came out of the movie, to discover my husband hated The Dark Knight as much as I did. But when we told our 18-year-old son about it, he looked at us like he wanted to take us out behind the garage and put us down now, before we crumbled into dust all on our own.

The Dark Knight is a highly revered film, he told us, with "an 82 metascore." The most esteemed critics on the planet were calling it a masterpiece and Heath Ledger's performance legendary. Heath Ledger's troubled life and death have made his performance above criticism, and way above ridicule. So obviously we were wrong, due to being hopelessly out of it.

The lesson: Don't admit to anyone, especially anyone under 30, that you are baffled by or hate The Dark Knight. But just between us, on the Paul Lynde thing: Am I right or what?

Pamela Redmond Satran writes How Not To Act Old.

Comments

[Esther Drew - Huffpost Blogger]

You are the first I know to just come out and say it!

I've been less direct in my discussion about the movie. But then, it did take me until two weeks ago to admit I don't like Coldplay.

[thefinancedude]

Non libertarians are the ones who can't seem to get it...

[TheBlackCat]

Well, obviously not everyone will like every movie, and I understand why people might not have liked this. If you liked the earlier, campier batmans, then this VERY dark tale may not be for you.

The difference in this movie is it is a more acurate portrayal of the comic itself, which is very very dark. This follows in the spirit of Alan Moore's demented joker, or Frank Miller's seminal Batman runs. Frank Miller is the author of the uber-gritty "SIn CIty," and his "The Dark Night Returns" and "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" are oft cited by the comic industry as the best Batman graphic novels ever written. The dark nature of this movie was really much truer to the comic than earlier films have been.

The Jack Nicholson Joker is funny and entertaining and remniscent of the Adam West Batman's nemesis; but the comic book's joker is a twisted sadist, and Heath Ledger I thought could have stepped right out of the comic's pages.

I LOVED this movie. If you have the opportunity, I thought it was TOTALLY worth the 3 extra bucks to see it in IMAX. Definately NOT for everyone though!

[quixoto]

Could you not list "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" in the same context as "The Dark Knight Returns?" Yes, it's a sequel, but a sequel 20 years after the original broke all the new ground it did and showed what comic books accomplish. "Strikes Again" was mediocre by any accounts and obviously just yet another cash-in attempt by former genius Frank Miller.

Be that as it may, the rest of your points I am in complete agreement with.

[reefboy]

it's an ugly movie. the plot is a series of almost unrelated scenes. the characters are just blandly nasty, with the exception of the joker, who is genuinely nasty (a great performance). random technology shows up with no serious development (hey look - we can scan every phone in Gotham!). the "ideas" are basic ("you are evil, just like me", "it's bad to tap everybody's phone"), and rammed home in dialog that has to have been first draft. ugly. yuck.

[PlanetKansas]

Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, blah blah, blah.

These people are just meat puppets and their "performances" are nothing without the script, design, cinemetography, editing and direction.

A movie is a group effort but the one person who gets the credit or the blame for the project is the director. The best directors pick talented crews, demand tight scripting, coach thier actors into better performances, and most importantly, edit down the film into a package that works with their concept.

Think about any movie you love and realize it is consistantly the director's vision, not the actors that make them great. My tastes are broad but I know any film by Christopher Nolan, Rob Reiner, Ridley Scott or Alan Ball, to name a few, I'm going to like.

Anyone familiar with Mr. Nolan's past work will be smart send the kids and ladies to see Momma Mia which was premiered the same day to give them an alternative flick.

[NoSillyName]

I disagree. A fantastic actor can make a mediocre movie worth watching, if only for their performance.

I also take issue with you on another point:

What if the "ladies" don't WANT to see "Momma Mia"? Send 'em anyway?

[quixoto]

His point is apt but poorly phrased. There was obviously some evident strategy in releasing Mama Mia the same day as Dark Knight, knowing that is was bound to be a success that no one could truly compete with (even though the record-breaking extent of that was still unexpected). Thus, the studios thought that they could capture an audience that had interest in Batman no matter how good his movie could be... and hopefully they'd also be into musicals.

So, in actuality, gender has nothing to do with whether you want to see Mama Mia. Timing and affinity to comics does.

[cyranorox]

Haven't seen it. I liked Jack Nicholson very much as the Joker, and he brought a depth of weirdness to the role without tipping the balance away from the hero.
I dont think anything in this genre [or most others] has reached the standard of V for Vendetta in terms of character and depth of meaning. I'd be interested to see some comparisons: the Joker gives a speech, how does it compare to the broadcast speech in V? The contrast of a voice like cut crystal to one like Paul Lynde [if accurate] suggests a steep differential.

[StephenJK]

Well, The Joker is the antithesis of V. I also really enjoyed V for Vendetta. I thought, for the time (and now) was very appropriate. Many people who saw this movie most likely wrote it off as over the top fantasy. However, movies have been known to be far ahead of their time. I think history might well look at V as one of those movies.

However, if you want to experience the depths of depravity, madness and pure psychosis (The Joker in THIS Batman WILL go down as the best villainous psychopath in the history of motion picture) that only THIS Joker can bring I recommend you go see it. It's a performance for the ages.

[fictioneer]

Whatever. It was awesome. And I understood it entirely.

[sophieozz]

May you be born in repetitive times.

[Jasel]

I suppose there are people out there who probably gave the movie more credit than they secretly felt it deserved out of some feeling of guilt regarding Ledger's death. At the same time however I find myself reading the issues the author took with the film and find myself asking "Uhhh did we see the same movie?" I don't go to the movies a lot. In the past 10 years I can count the movies I've seen in the theater with both my hands (the numbers like 6 or 7 though: P ) and I thought this movie was great. It's the only one I've considered seeing twice. I thought Ledger's acting was phenomenal. Especially if you've seen his performances in other movies. I went in that movie expecting to see Heath Ledger acting and found myself watching the Joker instead. His performance was that convincing for me. It didn't hit me until 20 minutes after the movie that there wouldn't be another Joker since Ledger had passed.

I agreed with what she said about Maggie, and my dad also asked why does Morgan Freemen get those types of roles, but if you have to ask what question Alfred's role in a Batman story I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you aren't too familiar with Batman. Not that that in itself is bad. I talked to plenty of people who didn't know a thing about Batman but still loved the movie.

[Marcus64]

You know it took me awhile to come up with a good comment for this post. Because of what she says, I believe this movie isn't for everyone (ex. Kids under 10, adults over a certain age and some woman who aren't into movies such as this) The reason I say that because of the genre, I think that's the main reason Mamma Mia! came out the same day, because I think they believed mostly guys and comic book fans would see this movie.
Over the months when people were getting into the hype of the film, they had a lot of speculation on how the film would go. Would it be just like Tim Burton's or something more? would the Joker's performance be more violent or more comedic? I knew it wasn't for everyone when I saw kids under 8 watching it at midnight with their parents.
The plot makes sense if you pay attention to it instead of watching things such as Christian Bale's Body mass. Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance was good, I can't really say anything about Katie Holme's performance other then her bad taste for movies such as Mad Money.
And of course your 18 year old son would like this, it pisses me off when people forget about the age difference for certain movies, It's like a 50 yr old criticizing a kids movie on how stupid the plot was or dialogue was mediocre, It's not for them!!!.

Oh and it was filmed in Chicago.

[StephenJK]

Way back in early 2007 I saw the complete intro (the bank robbery scene) when my girlfriend and I went to see another forgettable movie. I leaned over to her and said we HAVE to see this movie when it comes out. You didn't even get a glimpse of The Joker, yet the backstory to that little act was AMAZING. I knew then it would be a special movie. Very smart people at the helm of this ship.

[LeBelAge]

Doesn't the author know one isn't allowed to poke fun of films geared toward men? Only "chick-flicks" deserve to be scrutinized to death and dismissed as fluff.

Male characters in tight-fitting customs and weird should be taken seriously as a profound piece of art. Held in reverence like Da Vinci"s The Last Supper or Michelangelo"s David.

[PeaceCzar]

*yawn* to such generically snide criticism.

I missed the part where any of the cutesy valley girl commentary has anything to do with its actual merits of the film? And for real, WTF does Carol Burnett have to do with anything?

If you can't appreciate brooding cinema that is both escapist and soulful, don't let us stop you. As for me, I'll be looking to watch it a third time on IMAX next week.

A film that can equally get under your skin and make your blood boil; it's a truly definitive film.

[btornblom]

Thank you thank you!! I walked out of the theater saying to my boyfriend "am I the only person on the planet who thinks that movie sucked?" He thought I probably was. It was a bang bang shoot em up/ hey-torture-really-works/ apology for the Bush administration. I went to see Ledger's performance which I'd read was BRILLIANT .... really? brilliant? not so much.

[BoVandy]

uhhhh, what? How did this movie have anything to do with the Bush administration. Sounds like someone is attempting to sound intelligent, and seeing hidden meanings where there aren't any

[erathwomen]

I'm 43 and went expecting not to like it. I've already seen in twice and I never see a movie twice at the theatre. It's a very psychological movie---some of the fight scenes could have been left out, it may be a tad long, but I think the psychological interplay is fantastic. It's not the best film I've ever seen, but it does rank highly in my book.

[StephenJK]

Come on. It appears that you went into the movie with a bunch of ideas already running around in your head.

I'll be honest. I'm not a Batman fanboy. I went there to see The Joker. With a few minor glitches (Batman's voice) the movie was, overall, very good and well made. The movie didn't follow normal protocol as "superhero" movies go. This WAS darker. It did not end with the superhero stealing a kiss from the dame. The storyline was more like a pane of shattering glass. Fractured characters, conflicting plotlines and random tangents. However, it DOES work. And it works well.

Heath Ledger's Joker OWNED this movie. No matter what. You complain about the accent? It's what makes him "regular". It's totally midwestern which is the definition of boring. I think Heath did that accent on purpose so that he could really hit you where it hurts: your head. He was so into that role you couldn't even recognize it was him under the makeup. His monologues were TOP NOTCH. He will get and deserve the oscar for this "clown in psychosis" role. Very sad that he cut ties with the earth.

[NoSillyName]

I can't wait to see Ledger's performance. He always totally immersed himself in his roles. Can't say that about too many actors. Glad to hear some viewers appreciated his work.

"The Dark Knight" is based on the original concept of "The Batman" in '39, a dark time, indeed.So naturally, it is darker then, say, the '60s TV series. (LOL). I have the '86 book of all the Frank Miller "Dark Knight" stories and they are very bleak also. I also have the '66 comic movie as counterpoint. What a yuck!

[Jeffin90019]

I can admit it. It was the most over-hyped and under-whelming movie I had the misfortune to endure.