Almost four years have passed and a new entry in the current Batman series is due soon, and it seems that the immense praise for The Dark Knight has waned off, at least in most circles. Ever since its release, I noticed that almost right after the phenomenon of how surprised everyone was of how great it seemed to be, backlash against the fanboys of the series and even Christopher Nolan began to surface. I also noticed that most of the more intellectual side of the cinephile audience (including some of us at DDD) didn't even think much of it at first.

As you guys may have known from my embarrassingly immature Heath Ledger campaign on the old forum ( ), I was all wrapped up in how great I thought the movie was, because hey, I was young and was big into comic books at the time. Even when I was getting into older and more intelligent films at that time, I still thought it was one of the best things I ever saw. But over time, as my viewings became more rare, I eventually disbanded it and moved onto bigger and better things cinematically. But just recently, I saw this and Batman Begins back-to-back and I have to say, it still holds up pretty well, depsite some glaring editing mistakes and plot holes. With that said, ignoring the rabid Nolan-ite fanboyism on the sites I go to, I still greatly admire the film on the basis of it putting more into the tired genre of the superhero film and actually being a good film on its own, and I can safely say that I'm excited for The Dark Knight Rises.

So, after all this time, would you guys still consider it a great film, an okay film, or just a plain bad film? Do you think the hype made it worse for you over time?


Sorry if this brings a little of the old me back, but I thought the question was valid enough for a good cinephile discussion.

Still pretty hot. That and BB are still the standard to which all other comic book films are measured.

Still good. Especially when comparing it to other super hero films.

Hot, but I know shit about film.

garbage du jour

Calling it "bad" is a bit too much. It's technically well-made and has some strong features to it, but overall it didn't add up to anything that remarkable, so a simple "meh" it is. Christopher Nolan did a terrific effort, but a serious tone in comic book movies just doesn't work.

Shut your Portuguese ass up. Go rape a guinea pig or something, this movie is incredible.

*shut

yes it does

i won't go as far as lostio and say that a serious tone never works in comic book territory, but I think that it does provide a problem with The Dark Knight, especially with today's way of shooting films at a rapid pace. It wants to do too many things at one time, so there's no believeable development to seem tr00 cuz it keeps driving forward to get more action sequences in. It wants to be serious and adult and dark, but it can't sustain or buildup that tone with it trying to fulfill action spectacle that some people overpraise and directors think they want based on its comic book material. That and dialog which I think derives from the comics (Idk, i never read comics, not a nerd), comes off pretty cheesy when it is trying to be serious

"The night is darkest before the dawn."

Good they had awesome enough actors to pull it off. Well, at least the three, can't say much for Mags.

I'll go with meh (although it is somewhere between meh and hot). It isn't just really the plot holes that annoy me (although they are frequent and obnoxious) but the ham handed way in which it attempts to address serious themes. In particular the way in which characters seem to be giving speeches as much as they are actually delivering lines. Now this can be OK when not overdone but in a series with pretenses to "realism" it takes you right out of the experience. In the end the films are more cartoonish than the Burton Batman's in a way. I also think the third act is a major drag and the only interesting parts are rushed (the parts involving Two Face).

That said it is still pretty good for a comic book movie (damning with faint praise I know) and is pretty entertaining in its first 2/3rds. Like I said probably not a meh but wouldn't give it hot largely because its reputation far exceeds its quality.