sbrannan-27975 Reviews

The Dark Knight (2008)

10/10 so far above and beyond what it needed to be (light spoilers)

[10/10 · 2 June 2020]

The pre-MCU movie landscape could have gone on just fine with the genre of superhero movies being just another one full of enjoyable, and sometimes really good movies, which would please the crowd and dazzle the mind, and occasionally proving itself as something quite moving and even approaching greatness, as this film's predecessor, Batman Begins, and Spiderman 2 both did, likely among others which don't come to mind so easily. But I am eternally glad that Christopher and Jonathan Nolan (not to mention the countless others who helped make this movie what it was) went so far above and beyond what this movie could have been. I'd be wasting my time trying to go through every detail, scene, and story decision that was put in here and why it works so well both alone and in context of the rest of the movie, and how it does so better than any other movie I've seen. This movie has been picked apart for 12 years and counting, and it can't help but hold up in close to every minute and large aspect. My second favorite movie of all time, the near perfection of this narrative can not be overstated, except to call it truly perfect. To be fair, putting thought into how the Joker could possibly set up his plan with prophetic accuracy in cause and effect, it hurts your head. There is also a scene where Joker and his goons are at the top of a building full of civilians, and the scene cuts away without explaining how they escaped, and the audience is left to assume that they did escape and are still missing. These were the only problems with the plot I know of. And there are other movies which have a comparable amount or less plot holes (I mean the term not in the way its come to be used but in the way it looks without connotation), however none of those movies to my knowledge have a plot which juggles so much at once. The Dark Knight moves along at a very brisk pace, but its put together so smoothly that you don't even notice how much information you're comprehending so quickly. At the same time, when it wants to slow down and maximize on a feeling of dread, sadness, tragedy, or anything else, it does so, and does so well. It is true that the quick delivery of information is imperfect, and alot of lines will go over your head on first watch, and you'll have to watch the movie a few times to fully grasp all the moving pieces falling into place close to simultaneously. I don't think this hurts the first watch too badly though, but some may disagree, and that may have to do with the sentiment that this movie is overrated. And it could have easily been three hours long or more and not feel slow. But Nolan maximizes every second where information is being given, only occasionally to the film's detriment. Heath Ledger is almost scarily good, everyone knows it, including TDK's detractors. But he's not the only S tier performance here. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent is probably my favorite character in the trilogy, and his transformation into Two-Face, a villain who could have been simple fan service a la the Shocker in Spiderman Homecoming, was actually kind of the focal point of the story, and easily the most emotional part. A truly tragic character. The opening scene is the best in any movie I can think of, and still isn't this movie's best one. The ending speech leading to the credits gives me shivers down my spine like few other things do, and the movie as a whole is astonishingly cohesive for how incredibly messy it could and should have been.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

8.5/10 A movie that gets by from the purest form of being so bad it's good

[8/10 · 17 March 2020]

In order to view this movie I had to abandon all previously held notions of what good humor, and storytelling, were. Much like with Sharkboy and Lavagirl, commenting to my co-viewers on how bad the current scene was became itself tedious and old, forcing me to instead ride along with the "plot" and humor several bars lower than the lowest common denominator. When this is done your enjoyment of this film will reach great heights (almost as great as the previously mentioned Sharkboy and Lavagirl). Put your mind on the same plane as Bill and Ted themselves, and this movie is a true masterpiece which one can loop thrice around to actually liking unironically.