It wasn't as good. But, I would say it is an above average movie. Granted, I don't think very highly of average. So, let me put it a different way. I thought it was a fun way to spend a few hours, and I could probably be talked into doing it again with a friend, but I don't feel a need to own the movie.
Before I go into some more details, let me lay a few things out on the table so you know where I'm coming from.
1) I actually didn't realize that The Dark Knight was a sequel when I saw it. I knew it didn't have anything to do with the 1990s Batman franchise, and I'd forgotten that Batman Begins existed. The Dark Knight actually works just fine as a stand alone in-media-res kinda thing. Might work better, as a matter of fact. I loved the Scarecrow cameo (especially the "I don't need help." "That's not my diagnosis" joke) when I thought it was just flavor, but it seems kind of lame when I know this was a major villain of the previous movie.
2) I'm not really a diehard fan of any particular Batman incarnation; more a casual fan of the mythos. I loved the early 1990s cartoon, thought the 1989 Batman and sequel Batman Returns were pretty good (then found Christian Slater in tights to be strangely disappointing and yet the only good thing about Batman Forever, and I'd rather just not talk about Batman and Robin). Oh, and I hate Frank Miller. But in general, I'm not terribly attached to any particular version.
3) I'm an engineer. So your movie either has to keep me interested enough to keep my disbelief suspended, or technically sound enough not to be going "yeah, right, here's the 97 ways that won't physically work" if that fails. (And yes, it is completely possible to keep me suspending my disbelief. 30 million sonar-emitting cell phones, sure I'll buy that in the theater even though in my normal life I'm pretty sure that a cell phone can't emit that high of a frequency, and I know the microphone simply isn't capable of picking it up.)
So, that's on the table now. Let's get the bad parts out of the way first.
1) Inconsistent ability levels. I find it really charming to see a hero's first awkward heroing moments, if it's done well. Mask of Zorro, when Antonio Banderas puts on the scarf and wrecks havok on the troop barracks with a constant look of "Oh crap, I'm gonna die!" on his face: pure gold. This movie, not so good. One moment Bruce is kicking the collective ass of several hundred ninjas, the next he's tumbling across the floor with no idea which way is up. Or, my favorite example of ability-level schizophrenia: amazing bad-ass League of the Shadows ninja is standing watch outside burning Wayne Mansion, and is knocked out by Alfred. Alfred. When Alfred Pennyworth hands your ass to you, it's time to turn in your ninja license. (Especially since you know he'd politely say in that wonderful accent: "Pardon me, sir, but I believe this ass belongs to you.")
2) Women as props. Did anyone else notice that Bruce's mom didn't even get a speaking line? (I did notice in The Dark Knight that Gordon's daughter got neither a name, a line, nor a face shot [but she did get a confirmation that her father loves her brother more], and that Barbara Gordon was demoted from Batgirl to stay-at-home Mom.) And the movie makers seem to spend Rachel's portion of Batman Begins trying to show they're not sexist and she's not Mary Jane Watson. "Look, no, I'm a DA and I carry a taser! I'll even use it on the secondary villain! I'm not a load! I'm not Mary Jane! Really!" And what was the deal with her being near unconscious immediately after being drugged by the Scarecrow, so she has to be carried by men, and then awake and alert and jittery as hell in the Batmobile? Prop. Rachel was really a wasted character between the two movies. She had a lot more potential than was ever used.
3) What a waste of a good villain. I like the Scarecrow, or more accurately the idea of the Scarecrow. He's got a lot of potential for really good cerebral stories. Now, I will admit there's a major problem with bringing the character to movies. That costume. In comics, usually (but not always) in the cartoon you could pull it off, but in live action, no. It's just a simple fact: if someone were to come up to you dressed in a scarecrow costume, would you think "terror", or would you think "doof"? Doofy, all the way. No exception here. On top of that, he's just not competent as a villain. He never quite decides how
4) I don't kill. Directly. You know, in line of sight. This is where my suspension of disbelief started to precipitate, I think. Our hero doesn't want to kill bad guys, but he will drives over the passanger compartment of an occupied vehicle with his personal tank and flip pursuing vehicles at speeds over 60 mph. People don't usually survive those things; it's certainly not a sure deal. The Dark Knight addressed some of this head on, the 'you won't kill me even to stop me, and in the meantime how many people have died because of me' thing with the Joker, but in Batman Begins we just don't talk about it.
5) The final great villainous plan, vs. physics. I'll admit, I wasn't on the edge of my seat during the edge-of-your-seat battle. Instead, I'm thinking OK, we've got a weapon that vaporizes contained water. What makes up 60% of the human body? Ew, squishy. No, no squishy. Instead we're blowing up pipes and sending a huge pressure spike into the "main water hub". And the whole time, I'm thinking "Dayum, don't you people have any pressure relief valves in that system?" I can't say for certain that this wouldn't work, but at the same time I'm also thinking that every single pipe segment that explodes is a huge pressure relief. It's really hard to build up large amounts of pressure in an open system. Oh, and someone needs to tell Batman that momentum exists. So, if you don't want a train to reach the main station under Wayne Tower, it's probably wise to NOT put it irrevocably at full throttle and then blow the bridge immediately in front of the building so that the train arrives in the basement instead of 10 stories above ground. But I will admit, that set-up and collision had some awesome effects.
6) The Batman Voice: ur doin it rong. Remember I said about The Dark Knight that The Voice made me want to giggle every time? I'd imagine Batman ordering a pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese and a side of crazy bread, and I'd just want to lose it? He didn't have the voice down yet in Batman Begins. This time I just wanted to offer him a Sucrets.
7) Economic warfare as a weapon to reform a society that is overwhelmed with crime. ... Do you guys really need me to unpack the problem with this one? I just don't see where making people more desperate is going to help things. And yet if the intent was to destroy the society as a whole, history shows that economic hardship is a fertilizer for crime. I don't see any way this would ever do anything except make things worse.
8) 'Secret Identity', Bruce. What, ya need a dictionary? You know, most heros agonize for two or three movies minimum before hesitantly telling their absolute dearest love their true identity. Bruce just kinda drops it to the girl he has a crush on. Oh, and Bruce? That bit from Rachel at the end, about how the man she loves never came back but maybe when Gotham no longer needs Batman he will? That's a blow off. That's a "you better shape up fast, or I'm finding someone else." Which is exactly what she did in The Dark Knight. Don't say she didn't warn ya. I never knew what she saw in you to begin with, except nostalgia.
9) And finally, did anyone else find Thomas Wayne's great contributions to society a little... creepy? I think it's the Wayne Tower as the central hub of everything. Train, water works, center of the city... "I did all these nice things for you, Gotham, and I don't want you to forget that now I own the city's heart and soul." Combined with the completely saintlike portrayal and near hero-worship, and waah. *shudders*
OK, that's kind of a long list, but most of it's fairly minor stuff. Oh, I should also mention that I really don't care for the new Batmobile. Oh, it's certainly practical (except for the constant drastic shifting of the driver's position. Is there a reason we can't aim the guns while sitting up?), but it has no style. I prefer the sleek lines of the older versions.
All rightie, the good stuff:
Lucius Fox. OMG, Lucius Fox! I want to be Lucius Fox when I grow up. Lucius Fox is the new Q. Older engineers tell me that when they were kids, you could tell who was going to grow up to be an engineer. Most boys wanted to be James Bond; engineer boys wanted to be Q. Same thing. Lucius is the one to be. He gets to design all the cool toys and play with them all he wants, but no one is trying to kill him. I love Lucius. (And Morgan Freeman is totally sexy. Got that foxy grandpa thing going. Which is good; I needed a new one after learning of Sean Connery's violent attitude against women. [BTW, the comment at the end of the interview about no complaints from his wife? Not true anymore now that she's his ex.])
Dude, I totally want some of that memory cloth. I don't know what I'd even do with it, but it is AWESOME.
And I loved watching Bruce putting together his Batman gear. I actually squealed when he was making his Bat-shuriken on the grinder. Because dude, he was making bat-shaped shuriken on a grinder!
Oh yes, and the explosions. The effects in general, really. This is the first action movie I've watched since getting a home theater system, even a little one. Oooh. Let me just melt into that for a while. I'm watching ninjas go flying and hearing stuff from behind me. Nice.
Finally, the guy who plays Dr. Crane is kinda sexy. Sort of a poor man's Johnny Depp.
So yeah, basically, I'm into the movie for the toys. :)
Okay, you don't like it that Rachel was a "prop". She needed to be rescued by her Dark-Knight-in-Shining-Armor. But...you didn't like it when she took out the Scarecrow.
ReplyDeleteForgive me for seeing a contradiction here.
The problem is that it wasn't a heroic action. She takes him out in self defense (the kid there doesn't change that), which is a survival instinct. On top of that, he wasn't really doing anything, just riding around being ominous. Not even being a real threat or about to commit any violence, just "Hi, I'm the Scarecrow. I'm scary. Aren't you scared?" It's just tacked on tokenism. 'Look, she took out a villain.' She took out a terribly wimpy guy who wasn't really doing all that much. It's like having a pit bull puppy run up to you barking, and kicking it and sending it running away yipping, and realizing it just wanted to play.
ReplyDeleteSo how could it be done well? Well, for one, have the Scarecrow doing something important to the plot. Setting up/operating some additional important piece of equipment, or delivering concentrated doses of the drug to those who weren't getting enough effect. Hell, give him a scythe and have him running down a big thugly guy or a policeman. (Or a big thugly policeman.) Oooh, I would have liked to see that. I'm going with that one. He should have been running down big thugly policeman with a scythe, and Rachel comes up and takes him out while he's doing that, saving the big thugly policeman's hinder.
Summary: Risking your own life to save an unknown other = heroism, self-agency, and empowerment.
Acting in self defense against an attacker = survival instinct. Basic fight or flight reaction. No heroism, no self-agency, no empowerment. Even a prop can do that.