I couldn't dig up an official topic for this flick so I figured why not here...

Batman Begins is appreciated by a lot of people and generally considered a good movie. I did enjoy it quite a bit but I'm much more looking forward to the sequel because now we have the established Bruce Wayne/Batman instead of one fitting into the role.

I saw the theatrical trailer yesterday for the first time at Harold and Kumar 2 ( Which was good outside of the stereotypical love interest nonsense... Definitely weaker than the first but still good. ) and I must say it looks like it's going to be badass. Heath Ledger in like the minute he's in the movie just looks ##### awesome and sounds perfect as The Joker in my opinion.

If he nails it like I think he is it's a shame he's not going to be around in any sequels... We could have had more Joker. A favorite villain of mine due to watching the old cartoon series ( Never got into the comics ). I never considered him a decent actor but the bit he was in the trailer totally sold me on Heath as The Joker.

If you haven't seen it the trailers and images and crap are at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/.

Thoughts? I think it's going to best the first Nolan effort by far.

Absolutely can't wait for the film, I'll only be seeing this and the next Bond movie in the cinema this year (although I do want to see more especially The Incredible Hulk). Funny thing is I was never particularly keen on the older Batman movies because I always thought they were a bit daft, but I definitely feel Batman Begins was the film I always wanted the character to have and this looks like it'll top the first one by a long way.

I also agree about Heath Ledger except I didn't mind him as an actor and definitely thought he was talented but from what I've seen his portrayal of the Joker seems his best by far and plays it completely maniacal which is what I was hoping for.

Just a shame that after probably a real stand out role that another up and coming young actor dies just when people start to take notice - different circumstances but it reminds me of what happened to Brandon Lee I truly believe after The Crow he would have gone on to do bigger and better things, much like I think Heath would have after this - they were both the same age too.

its christian bale, its going to be a good movie.

plus i like heath ledger and i hear he is very good in this flick.. cant wait

I grew up with a father who's a huge comic fan, so I've seen all of the Batman movies (the Burton/Schumacher ones, that is) since the Michael Keaton one, and a little more than those as well. Looking back, I can't say I'd consider any of the older ones much good, but Batman Begins was actually surprisingly appealing to me. I was pretty interested when I noticed that, rather than the typical "origin of Batman" story, this movie seemed to actually be following Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (at least judging by some details my dad has revealed to me; I never read it, myself) more. That said, I found it kind of funny that the sequel was given the title The Dark Knight, heh. From what I saw in Batman Begins, and from what I've heard about the Frank Miller stuff, as well as what I've been seeing and hearing about this sequel... Overall, while I may not be the most excited person waiting for this movie, I'm definitely interested to see how it turns out. Looks pretty good so far.

Admittedly I wasn’t as keen with Bale being Batman in the first (he did it very well, don’t get me wrong, there was just something about the way he went about things that bothered me. Can’t quite figure out exactly what though, so it’s going to remain “one of life’s mysteries”), but I imagine this one shall most definitely be good. I saw a trailer of it a while back, and from what I saw it’s going to be *very* dark. Major plus, in my eyes. Really looking forward to seeing this one in theaters. =).

Yeah, I think Ledger will take the cake here. It's nice to have an 'established' Batman actor, but the villians always tend to be a helluva lot more interesting than BW.

Ledger's Joker is susposed to be more like the comic book psycho-nut Joker. He's not the ##### second-string night-club comic laugh that Jack Nicholson was in the Tim Burton flick. When you see how ##### demented he is, it really makes me wonder just how much Heath was really suffering in his personal life, and how much of that suffering he brought with him to the set of DN.

This is MY NEXT OBSESSION.

Sadly I wasn't even going to go see the movie until I saw a trailer of it when I went to see I Am Legend(which is an awesome movie but has a few loop holes) and I have been hooked on seeing it ever since! Call me a theatre kid or geek or whatever you want but the make up crew for the Joker is fabulous and I must say Nolan has a lot to go for since a whole bunch of people will be going to see the movie and I think people are harsher judges than the critics themselves. So I will go see it but mainly because I love Joker in the movie that is the main reason I want to see it for the Joker~ (R.I.P Ledger)

Amen to that. Ledger was a great, promising actor. It hardens me to know that I will not be seeing any more of his work in the future. Why couldn't the gods have taken ... say ... Uwe Boll instead of him?!

Seen quite a few trailers and your thoughts about Heath's role are mutual, just by the trailers I can see he nails the role! I have a feeling this is going to be a Brandon Lee type movie, you know, the last movie (the crow for Brandon) is final piece of brilliance from that actor, kinda like it's meant to be in some way.
The movie itself looks like it still follows the same darker vibe batman begins had with a refreshing touch of realism the batman movies needed, I'm going to be optimistic about this one and early thoughts suggest that this will be just as good as the first if not better.
I'm going to be shattered if it's nothing short of brilliant though.

edit: TED, Harold and Kumar 2 wasn't as good? DAMNIT, I hope that I don't feel the same way after I watch it, the first one was just so damn awesome! The random guy peeing in the same bush is about the funniest thing I have ever seen, "This you're bush? IS THIS YOUR SPECIAL BUSH!?!? ...what?"

That's pretty much what I said a few posts back so yeah I totally agree. I find it quite mad that visually speaking The Crow and The Joker characters from the movies bare a resemblance and that both actors died aged 28 just seemingly as their careers were about take off, such a shame.

it is def. a shame, really a shame that anyone that young should die.

Yeah whatever I was never sold on him playing Joker but ##### it.

This movie is gonna be awesome, I cant wait for it.

You should be. I have good faith that he will be the most twisted, extravagant Batman movie villian ever.

I was already pretty hyped when Nolan announced that he was opting for an overall darker Bat, and that Heath was given The Killing Joke as a reference to prepare for the role. Reading that he underwent a month long isolation in a hotel room, practicing the mannerisms and getting a voice down was also enticing. Right now I have little doubt that this won't pull in an over-the-top reception, as both a landmark in comics brought to the silver screen, and as Heath's swan song performance.

It's a good year to be a comic fan.

when I saw " i am legend" in imax
there was a 10min preview thing of the dark knight
so I seen the whole bank scene, and it was full of win

TWO FACE:
If you want to wait til you see the movie to find out what he looks like, don't click: http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/438/twofaceah5.jpg

I hear that this isn't the final look, more of a test. Pretty sure it's not some fan photoshop job either.
Pretty brutal looking, if he looks anything close to this in the final movie than it will be pretty awesome.

I watched Batman begins today for the first time... there is one scene that entirely puzzles me. Bruce is told the kill the farmer who became a murderer and said no, then gave a speech about values and how he didn't want to take life... This was followed by him blowing up the whole building where we see numerous Ninja's being killed, his best friend almost being killed and let's face it, if the ninja's couldn't get out then the Farmer probably died anyway.

Well whatever, Making Batman a ninja was pretty damn cool and overall I enjoyed the movie, I think it's far too overhyped and the perfect daddy who everyone loved ####### made my teeth hurt but yeah, as a superhero movie it did VERY well.

So now I will go and see The Dark Knight, I've never been much into Batman (or any comic book hero to be honest) but from what I've seen it looks pretty good. I imagine this film is already on some people's number one film list (namely the goth girls who wear nightmare Before Christmas T-shirts... yeah it was a really good film but there was nothing deep or gothic about it! >.<) but I'll stop there before I go on another Johnny Depp Rant...

I agree that it's puzzling to some extent but by denying outright slaying the guy, knowing the consequences for not doing so, and saving the life of the person that saved his own kinda make it weigh out. Bruce probably didn't approve of outright murdering someone in cold blood as a form of justice ... A guy who could probably just be locked up, regardless of his crimes, for whatever reason.

He's probably able to easily deal with killing those involved because they themselves do what Bruce wasn't able to nor would do... Maybe making it easier in his own mind to actually dispatch of them because in a sense they were murderers themselves and not bringers of justice. Also they would have delt with Bruce if he didn't follow through.

I dunno. I probably didn't explain that very well, and I agree it's definitely still puzzling. Especially since you're right, the murderer probably did die in the fire anyway. We do have to keep in mind though this is a green Bruce Wayne/Batman though who may not entirely grasp the idea of being just or what have you and was probably doing what he thought was right in his own mind.

i think you explained it just fine TED. Bruce did not want to become an executioner, but had to fight back and try to get away or otherwise they would have killed him.

Yes it will be amazing. Just like the comic series. Oh man it was one of the best runs in comic history in my opinion. So far info about the movie has me intrigued and wanting. Definatly on the top of my list for must see movies.

review on IGN gave it 5 of 5 stars and said it was purely a work of art.

http://movies.ign.com/articles/884/884876p1.html

and also very glad katie holmes is off the movie, she just buggs me

Well IGN's reviews are written by retarded experimental blue monkeys so I dont think you should read that.

Of course the movie kicks the bitch's tits, its gonna be THE movie of the summer, its so badass it makes little kids explode and pregnant women give birth to superpowered babies with lasers for eyes.

The movie is so badass, it instantly gives you a boner and makes flat chested women grown perfect C cup breasts, after July 17, all women in the world who had A cups, after seeing The Dark Knight will have the same tits Amy Reid has.

This is a FACT, a scientific FACT, and if there is one thing about scientific FACTS is that they are real.

And yes, Katie Holmes was the only unsavory thing about Batman Begins.

BUMP YOU #######

This movie rocked the ##### of my world, my life, my heart and everything.

I am in love with this movie, I wanna marry it, and have its children.

Where to ****ign start, the whole thing rules. At first hand, #####, somebody figure out how to bring people from the death because Heath Ledger owns so hard its not funny. He basically steals every single frame he is in. The movie shines when he is on screen, from the first time he is seen walking, he is magical. He portrays a fantastic Joker, basically the Joker you want to see, and hell, he makes you laugh and scared the hell out of me. There is some talk about him getting a posthumous academy award and he should definetely get it. He might just be the best goddamn villain in the history of movies. There is one particular scene near the end that sealed it perfectly, it was like a little bow on 2+ hours of goodness. I didnt had faith in the guy, but dammit, he was golden.

Now Bale, he is my guy, you all know this and he actually, well damn he gets outshines by Ledger and his gruff voice is a bit too much, there goes dreams of watching him play Solid Snake, or he should perfect his gruff. However, as Bruce Wayne, there is no contest. Bale is, and forever will be, the perfect Bruce Wayne. He is awesome at playing this role.

Now Eckhart. I was pretty much a fan of Eckhart since I saw Thank you for Smoking but in this movie he is also awesome.

I am tired of saying how awesome this movie is, if you havent seen it and its out already at your theaters, for all that is holly, go watch it.

Its also pretty long, but it doesnt drag on like Superman Returns, which sucked ass. No, its like, you think this thing should end, and it doesnt, it keeps going, and dammit you are enjoying it. imdb says its 150 minutes long, and these are gonna be the best 150 minutes of your life, and it continues from a left hook i sure as hell didnt expect it to be developed as it did. So A plus to that you Nolan brothers. If i were to compare the feeling of it all, I think this is sort of like Empire Strikes Back, for those who have seen it, you may (or may not) know what I am talking about.

Finally, I truly regret not having Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes because of a particular scene that I would have greatly enjoyed if Katie Holmes would have been there instead of Gyllenhall.

GO WATCH THIS ##### NOW!

Heath Ledger Joker > Jack Nicholson Joker

Never thought I'd say that, but it's happen. Possibly the best Super Hero Movie ever. See it Now!

Wow.

I'm amazed at how good this movie ended up being.

Like, I had expectations, but they got totally blown out of the water. Heath Ledger needs to get something for his awesome Joker portrayal. Like a medal.

Batman was meant to be dark, depressing, and gritty when it was first laid out in the comics. Dark Knight absolutely is dark, depressing, and gritty. And I had a damn fine time watching it.

I'm not a particularly huge Batman or otherwise comic fan... Hell, I'm not even a big movie person. But, despite that, I was looking forward to this, after how surprisingly good Batman Begins was, and I was not disappointed one bit. Through and through, the movie was awesome. Ledger practically made the movie, as an excellent Joker, and he damn well better win some sort of award for it, dead or not. I agree that the gruff voice for Batman was a bit too much at times, but I also agree that Bale fits the role of Bruce Wayne very well. The movie was full of action, but not too much, and the action scenes were conducted very well... and, well, they were just awesome. (Flipping a semi like a pancake, among other things, was just great.)

My only "complaint" with this movie is the brief involvement of villain #2, whom I wasn't even expecting to be in this movie to begin with. But that's only a minor complaint, as it didn't really lower the quality of the movie at all. Was just expecting more from him, that's all.

Actually I kinda liked that part a lot. That has always been one of my favourite villains and liked to see it in the movie since I totally wasnt expecting it to be further developed. I thought it was gonna end with the birth of the villain but I wasnt counting of having him go through scenes or anything. I thought it was well played for the beginning and up until now we dont know if thats the last we'll see of him.

i loved it i loved it

great movie

It was freakin' amazing. Just like everyone else has said, Ledger did a great job as the joker. I didn't know what to expect walking in, but I was impressed when I walked out.

I love all the little things Ledger did as the Joker that just added to the character. For example, every time he licked/smacked his lips, it freaked me out. It was just this creepy feeling I got from him that made the character seem that much more real.

I like what they did with Two Face though. I won't give any plot stuff away, but I loved that he did a complete 180. For some reason, I love when they can pull that off in movies and make it seem real.

its funny cause during the movie my woman leaned over and was like "im bored, i may go sit in the car".. i was just like ok, here are the keys, enjoy the car.

I mean was she freakin nuts???? THE MOVIE WAS AMAZING!!!!! Lets just say we didnt talk much on the ride home because i was utterly disgusted with her.

Everyone going wow over how great the movie is makes me unsure what I'll think of it, since I didn't care much for the first movie. And I'm not obsessed with Bale, like most people seem to be. In fact I thought he sucked as Batman due to his weird looking uptight facial expression and the gruffy voice that sounds over the top and forced. But as for Bruce Wayne I think he certainly fits the part spot on, but that he only ever had two facial expressions all throughout the movie (the second one being when he smiled in the hotel dinner scene) makes him for the most part a more boring Bruce Wayne. Although the scene where he kicked out his phony friends, and the one in the end where he took over his company and stuck it to that arrogant guy showed a less uptight Bruce Wayne, and something I wanted to see a little bit more of.
He's still the best Bruce Wayne so far (not sure about Batman) but look at the competition. That doesn't say much.
And Katie Holmes just annoyed me whenever I saw her face. I'm glad she's not in this one.

I hear great things about Heath Ledger as Joker (I saw Michael Cain praising him a few days ago on tv), and the movie looks pretty awesome in the trailers, so I'm going to see it on Friday, and hope it's as good as it seems, even though I thought the first one was pretty boring.

The movie is great on its own right Hikusaak, not as a sequel.

You are really gonna hate Bale as Batman here though, hell I didnt like him that much either. Pretty much feel the same way that you do, he is great as Bruce Wayne but not so good as Batman. You know, I dont know why he is forcing his voice so much, I know its maybe because as Bruce Wayne is a public figure he does need to hide his voice even if he only talks with Gordon. They should fix this for the third movie, its kinda making me lose Bale love.

I agree with Raz and Hik'chu. D: Why does he force his voice so goddamn much?! It just sounds so cheeze and bad. I think a little more toned down in the badass-ness would've been sufficient.

Heath Ledger was.....beyond amazing. I got chills of excitement for everytime he was on screen. The way he pronounced his words, the way he chuckles at nothing, the way he laughs and omg his mannerisms and gestures....I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. He was so excellent it hurts. And the best part about his character in the movie was that he actually develops. In the beginning he seemed to come off as unconfident and unsure of himself, but then he just became more and more maniacal.

Maggie Gyllenhal (???) was surprisingly better than I thought she'd be....but still kind of lukewarm in acting skills. She actually had emotion! What a surprise. :p

Harvey Dent was very cool as two-face. But umm...the way he flipped the coin and decided on their fate was...not to my expectations. I expected a little more thought and emotion, rather than "OH? /boom" It was a minor thing, but he was still quite excellent.

The movie was really great though. :D If anything I would only watch it again and again just to be mesmerized by Heath Ledger. *o*

i really dont mind his voice, i dont see where all the issues are, plus its not like he talks all that much as batman anyway and if he does, its in very short spurts. I think his voice comes off angry and i think you tell he has a lot going through his mind when he talks, but thats me.


Hicks, dare to talk bad about bale and you will face my wrath. It does not matter who his competition was, he has nailed this part.


@Raz, *SMACK*... how dare you say you have lost some bale love...

Oh, it was plenty nice to see him, and the actor did a pretty much fine job, as far as I'm concerned. I was just saying I was expecting to see more of him. (Really, when I first started to realize who he'd become, I wasn't even expecting him to emerge as a villain until the next movie, so I was surprised he already showed up in this one.)

I'm still convinced we won't see him again, but those last few words said about him are pretty controversial at this point, so who knows.

Yeah he's a really good Bruce Wayne. And it doesn't matter who his competition is. But some times I see him being compared to them as the "best Batman" and I think that's giving the others too much credit. Who wouldn't be a better than Michael Keaton or George Clooney? When making such a comparison, I think it's more appropriate for someone such as Daniel Craig for example, because it's not an easy task filling the shoes of James Bond after Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. Not to mention when it's a slightly 'different' James Bond.

So when someone says that Bale is the best Batman so far, that doesn't say much to me. But since I've seen the movie I could ascertain for myself that he is a very good Bruce Wayne.
The only problems I had with his Bruce Wayne is not his acting, but more of how the character was written. He was pretty uptight and didn't show many facial expressions. I know he's supposed to be this depressed and troubled person, but seeing it for almost two hours straight became a bit boring. There were some moments I enjoyed though.

As for how he portrays Batman, I think his voice sounds really forced and awkward, and I'd prefer if they got rid of it in the next movie. I don't really remember how the other Batman's did it, (I assume they either had the same voice or spoke in a deeper/lower voice) but I don't remember it sounding this bad. I would guess it's because as Raz said, that he needs to keep his identity hidden for story purposes. I understand the idea behind it, but I think that if it doesn't work for him, then they should just drop it. If Clark Kent can get away with hiding behind a pair of glasses, I think just lowering his voice a bit would work well enough for him rather than sounding like he has throat cancer.

if i remember correctly, all the batman characters changed their voice alittle bit when they were in costume, they may not have been as extreme as bale, but i do believe they all did it.

Mabye he forces it alittle bit more because of his accent, mabye the director told him to make it sound like that, to portray all the different emotions and feelings that are going on in Batman's head.

Dark Knight was good for the most part.

I liked the mad action right from the start. This movie pulls a lot of punches in the stunt-department. It really moves fast and keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Just when you think the plot is resolving, it steps up two notches. Hell, it never really is resolved, is it?

I could say million words on all the side-operas in here, but I'll just say that I thought Ledger's Joker was a lot more ##### loyal to the DC comic than Nicholson's. I like the ruthlessness. Harvey Two-Face is much more twisted as well. I didn't like the direction of the character, but he looked spooky as hell.

My problem was the excessive side drama with Gordon and Dent. I felt like I was watching three movies put into one, and that was hard to swallow. I'm gonna have to see it again.

And yeah, Bale was ##### stale. I screamed for more scenes with The Joker. The way Joke puts Batman through the cleaners all the way to the end is the worst ass-kicking mind-##### I've ever seen or recently read in The Batman annuls.

Saw it yesterday. Loved Ledger's Joker. Props for his mastery with the role.

As for the rest, I wasn't paying attention. =P

To be all honest, I thought that at some point, Bale as Batman doing his extremely forced voice almost ruined some scenes. The part about Clark Kent is really what I thought as well. We are watching a comic book movie, we are already on some level of suspended belief, why do they have to harden his voice so much. I am really looking for an answer. I cant believe no one thought for one second that Batman sounded ridiculous while doing those takes and I seriously want them to fix that for the next movie.

In my heart there is no better Bruce Wayne than Christian Bale, but as a Batman, I must say that Keaton/Kilmer cut to the chase serious take on the character were slightly better.

And finally, I think that as much as Ledger owned as Joker, we should also give props to the Nolans and Goyer for writing such a downright perfect villain. I was just in love with the Joker whenever he was on, he was brilliant.

The movie was a slight too optimistic. The part with the two ferries is what I mean.

Also, I'm hoping to see more Two Face in the other movie, the way they ended the subplot wasn't exactly conclusive, and it can go either way whether they put him in or not.

Other than that, good. I didn't even mind Batman's silly forced voice, because, like Raz, I think, said, Bruce Wayne is a public figure. The fanboys of Gotham would one day be like "Oh #####, check this out, I recorded the frequency of Batman's voice, and the frequency of Wayne, and holy #####, same thing!" I mean, if they're willing to dress up as Batmen to fight crime, they're certainly not above that. >_> Though that's just me.

I thought there was too much Joker, mostly because his lip licking pissed me off so much. God, such an annoying habit.

Anyways. See it.

ITS NOT A HABIT HE IS INSANE!!!!!!

How about a magic trick?

I'm going to make this pencil disappear.

And just so I don't spam, I didn't like the conclusion with two-face either. I'm hoping they'd bring him back, just because that's a lame way for a villain like him to go away. :\

And I can only guess who the next villain would be. Catwoman? (Did anyone else get that reference to cats in the beginning of the movie? *o*)

You know I heard from a few of my friends that this movie was amazing but differed from the original Batman with the Joker. I think the new series is great action and brings out more of the dark side of the character which was totally intended throughout the whole comic series. Not ever superhero can be the *BAM* *POW* person from the tv series. Batman really has been given justice through the last two movies since the Bat and Boy wonder gave them a bad name.

My friend actually turns and goes "FORESHADOWING TO CAT WOMAN!" when Morgan Freeman goes "Chihuahas or Rotweillers? It's good against cat scratches though."

It's kind of like the Joker card from the first movie, except less obvious.

Which made me, in turn, say "Oh my god, what if the Penguin is played by Denny DeVito again?"
I believe the reply was "That would ruin everything."

I'd still love to see it.

I would like to watch the Penguin as a villain for the next flick, his "gentleman of crime" persona from the comics though, not his deformed psychopath take from Burton. Second pick would be the Riddler, also not his campy Shumacher/Carey take, but his reserved serious yet obsessive personality.

It would be a nice change of pace to have an viciously creative villain after the chaos obsessed Joker we had.

Or hell, even if thinking about it, it would be overkill, they just throw all top billed villains and do a Rogue's Gallery against Batman to finish the trilogy with a bang. Sadly that is not very practical. I am just not a big fan of Catwoman even though Pfeiffer looked incredible on Batman Returns.

We'll just have to wait.

i really hope not cause well A ) i never did like catwoman and B ) they might do something stupid like ask Hallie Berrie to play catwoman again and we all know how well that work out before!

I read on Wiki that Christopher Nolan said that he didn't definitely did not want to use The Penguin or Catwoman. :\ Mostly because they've already been used on the big screen. (This was said on the Catwoman wiki page on the bottom. Too lazy to link.)

...that takes out a lot of villains, I think. No Poison Ivy, no Riddler...the only other villain I can think of that hasn't been used yet would be Bane. Lols, and Ventriloquist + Scarface.....but.....they were kind of godawful.

saw Dark Knight, holy carp it was freekin awesome. Chris Nolan is gonna be outta villians if he doesn't use those that have already been used....which is wierd cus Two face and joker have both been used. And Bane has been used, He was Ivy's sidekick remember, robin and batgirl beat him but pulling out his hoses while George clooney faced off with Arnold Schwarzenegger =P

The best picks are naturally Riddler, though that said I don't think i'd want to see Riddler. Nor Penguin. or Catwoman for that matter lol. that leaves Ivy....can't see that being good....and mr freeze...I just keeping seeing Arnie and a mega tacky movie....next installment is certainly gonna be a challenge.

Well Spoiler highlight below!

It was said Harvey dent is dead, gothoms hero. Never once did they say Two face was officially dead. He could have been knocked out you know, and taken in to prison, like the joker was.

Again, funeral for harvey dent, if two face is alive, he is harvey dent no more, cause he's evil and all.

See my point?

THen again, he could be dead, but i'm just putting it out there that he could be alive.

Yeah