comment #1

iamjoe says ...

Wow. Nolan hasn't had a misfire in my eyes, and its great to see him just ascending!

comment #2

Jesse Perry says ...

They hyperbole for this film is officially out of control. I'm actually starting to lower my expectations as a result.

comment #3

Richardson says ...

"And since everyone's been asking me whether Heath Ledger's performance is Oscar worthy...look, it's June. The big Oscar movies are still months away and who knows what other performances will hit movie screens? But Heath's performance is as good as the hype, and I was sad when the film ended, as I knew this was the last performance from a gifted actor. That said, I don't need to see him posthumously win a trophy to tell me how great his portrayal of the Joker was."

That, to my eyes, is a completely reasonable statement.

comment #4

BurmaShave says ...

Buzzkill! haha

comment #5

York "Budd" Durden says ...

I was so satisfied and relieved that Nolan, Ledger, et al had delivered the goods that I left with about an hour to go, afraid that they'd screw up the end somehow.

comment #6

scooterzz says ...

"Finally, do yourself a favor and try to avoid spoilers. I walked into the theater not knowing anything and I'm so grateful I did."

and then he follows by posting TWELVE clips from the film.....
wow.....just, wow.......

comment #7

Richardson says ...

Budd - awesome.

comment #8

breadlymoore says ...

FROM THE SITE: "When you read the next sentence you might get very mad at me. Last night, I saw The Dark Knight in IMAX."

Collider better be careful here. Nobody wants another AICN.

comment #9

George Prager says ...

"You like porno movies? You know...give you a bonah?"

comment #10

MilkMan says ...

oh my god, oh my god, oh my fucking god, yes, yes, that's it. that's it, right there, don't move, lower, get lower, right there, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, holy shit, wowwwwwwwwwwww..............

comment #11

Jay T. says ...

What's awesome about Nolan is that just because he took a big paycheck movie doesn't mean he had to sell out his creative side like Sam Raimi and many others have before him.

Oh, and if Ledger's performance is anywhere close to oscar worthy, he's an absolute slam dunk to win the oscar, especially since many wanted him to win a few years ago for Brokeback Mountain. He'll be like 2-1 odds for best supporting actor unless some performance comes out of nowhere that simply demands the award.

comment #12

Richardson says ...

"He'll be like 2-1 odds for best supporting actor"

The more specific the prediction, the funnier.

comment #13

MilkMan says ...

Heath Ledger is very overrated as an actor. Nothing he does seems organic. It all seems schticky to me, even his performance in Brokeback. I thought he was pretty good in I'm Not There, but people are starting to act like he's the second coming of James Dean. Hell, he's not even the second coming of River Phoenix. Now there's a kid who would have gone on to do some incredible work. Heath Ledger was a good actor and a great hedonist, but I refuse to accept him as one of the all-time greats, and judging from what I've seen of The Dark Knight so far, this movie isn't going to change my opinion.

comment #14

Edward says ...

*SPOILER re: The Prestiege*
I wasn't a big fan of Insomnia, probably because I loved the Norwegian original and thought Nolan's was well made, but tame in comparison. The Prestige is also a well made film, which I really liked except for the *SPOILER* sci-fi conclusion.

comment #15

le corbeau says ...

I saw The Dark Knight last night and all I can say is WOW. No, scratch that. All I can say is WOO. No, even that's inadequate. All I can say is WAUUUUGA, like a horn in a 30s cartoon. It's that good. Everything about this film delivers, signs for the delivery, fucks the delivery guy and then fills out the form to return it and reorder it in a medium so it can deliver it all over again. Michael Caine as Alfred the Butler-- completely wipes away every memory of every previous part he ever played so elevators will be playing What's It All About, Alfred from now on. Rutger Hauer as the former head of Wayne Industries-- he's not even in this one and he totally RULES. Gary Oldman's mustache-- completely redefines what a mustache is for, from now on, when the hairs on your upper lip grow, they'll spell "Commissioner Gordon." Ronan Summers as Guard #2-- if they don't come up with a special Oscar for people who play the #2 of something in a movie, then there is no justice for the black man in the white man's world. And I don't even remember if he was black, it's THAT intense.

But all of that would mean NOTHING, literally, the universe would be a formless void and all precepts of morality would merely be social constructs, if Christopher Nolan had not brought his A game. I don't believe I ever saw a motion picture before last night. No, in fact I'm not sure I ever had eyes before last night. I went to the Grand Canyon once but I think I just smelled it until Christopher Nolan opened my eyes and shoved hot needles in them, it's THAT good. He has redefined cinema and made Kubrick look like the toothless backalley whore he was. Every frame reminds you of Dog Day Afternoon and Heat and Firehouse Dog and City Heat and Boogie Nights and Car 54, Where Are You but with Philip Seymour Hoffman totally owning the Nipsey Russell role in a red dago-T. It's THAT good.

I see it, at MINIMUM, winning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Musical, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing, Best Fucking Movie of All Time, Best Movie That Made You Its Bitch, and Best Explosions. And that's if it gets assraped in prison by the Academy. The odds, respectively, for the above are 7-1, 21-5, 9-1, 3-2, 300-1, 11-2, and FUCK!

comment #16

Richardson says ...

Plant!

comment #17

Jeremy Smith says ...

Take a bow, Mgmax.

comment #18

le corbeau says ...

Well, and Richardson, for the perfect cherry on the sundae.

comment #19

Dan Revill says ...

I think I'll have to lower my expectations. No way could a movie that isn't from Pixar be universally loved.

comment #20

Richardson says ...

The sundae was brilliant with or without the cherry. But thanks.

comment #21

huntermdaniels says ...

I love Steve and write for www.collider.com, but this review seems a bit over the top for me. But I believe 100% that Steve means every word of it. I can hear him saying alloud as I read the words. Hope it's that good, doubt it will be.

comment #22

Ray says ...

The sad thing is, half of the categories Mgmax mentions in his comment are actual movie award categories on MTV.

comment #23

K. Bowen says ...

Why is it that I trust Max more than the early reviewers?

comment #24

Daniel Tayag says ...

I'd call it a masterpiece but it certainly wasn't "flawless". The last 30 minutes should have been cut and placed in the inevitable third film. At the two hour mark, the film could have ended and it would have been PERFECT. If it was 120 minutes, I'd call it the best comic book film ever made but as it is at 150+ minutes it's just ONE of the best comic book films ever made.

comment #25

Balthazar says ...

Mgmax, THAT was transcendent. Bravo.

comment #26

Mjs says ...

That was lame. It's so much damn fun to make fun of things. Much easier than to admit you're excited. fuck excitment. I'm gonna sit over here being all cool and shit. It's too bad you losers that pretend to love movies are too stuff shirted and pussy assed to get really excited for one.

I need to stop reading the comments here. Aside from Milk Man, they rarely contain anything of interest.

comment #27

jjgittes says ...

Not really related to the hype or anything . Just that I love Nolan. I like every film he's ever made - The Prestige being the weakest for me by far, but still worth a watch - like a glossy Twilight Zone episode.

Nolan's version of Insomnia is great by the way - not a watered down version of the original at all - but a sort of reworking of it within American genre conventions. It goes for a different thing, and succeeds just as well.

Insomnia is one of the best mainstream Hollywood films of this decade (and yes, the original is terrific too).

comment #28

Richardson says ...

"It's too bad you losers that pretend to love movies are too stuff shirted and pussy assed to get really excited for one."

I am excited for several movies this year. I admit, the one I was most excited for passed, and sucked, but there are still quite a few left on the list. It's just that, none of them is 'Dark Knight'. I'm sorry that we made you cry by making fun of how ridiculous the hype for this movie is. Perhaps you are too tender to be on the Internet, since you can't even handle the slightest bit of mockery without throwing a tantrum.

"Much easier than to admit you're excited."

I like the sly use of the word "admit", because your attempt to imply that we must actually be excited proves that you are so closed-minded that you can't even conceive of a person not being interested in the movie. You are like a baby who has not yet reached the point where they realize that, yes, those other "people" are not just extensions of yourself. WAAAAAAAH.