Heath McKnight: Obsessive Iron Man fan
Before I start my little op-ed about Iron Man and The Dark Knight, I want you all to know that Iron Man is indeed my favorite character. I had him tattooed on my right forearm almost five years ago, and Entertainment Weekly even featured me as their “Obsessive Fan of the Week” last year! I write for Advanced Iron (the #1 Iron Man fan site on the planet), and my love for the character stretches back over 20 years.
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That said, Batman is my second favorite character (tied with Captain America), and Batman Begins was, for the longest time not only my favorite comic book movie, but one of my top 20 favorite films of all time. The Dark Knight somehow topped Batman Begins, and completely blew me away. It deserves all the money and (hopefully) awards it has (or will) earn.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I want to spend a little time talking about why, ultimately, I love Iron Man more than The Dark Knight. Understand that while I think TDK is a magnificent movie, and the musical score is infinitely better than the pedestrian soundtrack of Iron Man – ol’ Shell Head’s film wins the race (but only by a little bit).
So why do I love Iron Man more? I recently sat down, and thought about the best movies I’ve seen this past summer, and I was hard-pressed in deciding whether Iron Man or TDK was better – or if they were a tie for me. Due to a busy work schedule this summer, I could only see each movie once, but you know I’ll wear the DVDs out when they’re released. I could also watch only a handful of films, but I hear that Indiana Jones 4 stunk anyway.
So after thinking about both, even going so far as comparing stories (both are aces) and direction (two veteran indie filmmakers doing their best work).
- Acting: Tie – you can’t get better than Robert Downey, Jr. and Heath Ledger.
- Visual FX: Iron Man.
- Music: The Dark Knight.
- Villains: Sorry, Iron Monger, but Heath’s Joker scared the crap out of me, and he deserves an Oscar.
- Cinematography: Matthew Libatique (Iron Man) and Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight) are both tops in their field, but I give the slight edge to Libatique.
- Overall fun factor for me: Iron Man wins by the narrowest of margins.
After all that, I came to the conclusion that Iron Man was the best film.
What ultimately got me to that conclusion was my good friend, comic book creator Rich Koslowski. He is the creator of The 3 Geeks, and he recently commented on his blog:
“I did love it [The Dark Knight, but] I still liked Iron Man better. And the one main reason I think is that Iron Man was more well-rounded. Iron Man had the one thing the The Dark Knight did not… joy.”
That’s exactly what I was mulling over: joy. Don’t get Rich or I wrong, we both love the dark aspects of Batman (don’t EVER lose that and don’t EVER hire Joel Shumacher EVER again!), but we went for the “light” with Iron Man.
So there you have it. Even though I am a big-time Iron Maniac, had the movie stunk, or had it been just decent-to-good, TDK would’ve won, hands down. Trust me, I love Iron Man the character, but I don’t love being let down. I learned that years ago, when I’d get excited for upcoming movies, much like sports fans would get pumped up for the big game, only to be disappointed when the film opened (Jurassic Park being the exception). And believe me, I was obsessing about both of these films.
For me, ultimately, I just loved watching Iron Man fly around, dispatching bad guys. But don’t forget that I absolutely loved The Dark Knight. It and Iron Man are the top two best comic book movies I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait to watch both films at least two dozen times on DVD before the year ends.
And one more thing: I think it’s great that TDK made over $520 million, and Iron Man, a minor, not-as-well-known Marvel superhero made more money than Indy 4. No one expected Iron Man to do as well as it did, but it certainly did.
I can’t wait for the next Iron Man and Batman films.
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201 Comments
I’ve never brushed off any of those ideas. I have brushed off ideas, but not those. You might want to go back and read.
My only theory about the bat pod is that shortly after batman begins he had some work done on the tumbler to have it include that. Still ridiculous and looks very retarded. I just want them to come up with at least one decent looking mode of transportation for Batman. Seriously everything they have gotten so far his ugly as all hell. I realize the point isn’t about looks, but still would it kill them to have something look good.
I didn’t have a prob with the Batpod,as that followed Comic Book, common sense,,,
The probs I had were more extreme, (IMO),,, as I noted.
Huh,,,
I felt the Batpod chase was one of the best parts of the film,,,?
Um Daniel, those were some of the MAIN things I’ve pointed out aboutt his film in another thread where you started arguing with me. I said I didn’t like the pacing, it felt like it ended 3 times at the end.
I thought Two-Face was short changed, big time, for one of Batman’s main villains in the comics.
And the whole narrative at the end, Alfred and Gordon’s speech and all of that, was too dramatic and all of the “feel sorry for Batman” stuff was not needed.
Don’t tell me I didn’t say those things…
Anyway, about the Tumbler, I think Wayne cares more for function than looks… What good is a fancy looking car if it can’t do the things it needs to do or isn’t as durable as it needs to be? Why sacrifice utility for looks? Batman is not a woman… no offense ladies, lol.
One thing that annoyed me about Batman Begins were the occasional, lame one-liners, like Batman complimenting the homeless guy, “Nice coat.” Or when he busted into the jail cell at Arkham, and said, “Excuse me.” UGH! I’m glad they eliminated those from TDK.
Plus, the fight sequences are actually visible now in TDK vs. Batman Begins… we can actually see the fights, and they’re crazy!
I think mistakes made in Begins were corrected for TDK, and I know Favs and crew will do the same for Iron Man 2.
heath
Hey Daniel,
What didn’t you like about the batsuit? I thought it was the most realistic to date.
And yeah, the points you mentioned are some of the things that kept the movie from being a 5/5 for me (although I liked the Batpod).
Vic
Guys we have been arguing which is better TDK or Iron Man
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i was just having this convo with a few friends, and lets stack it up…
Batman Begins < Iron Man
The Dark Knight – 2ND IRON MAN
THIRD BATMAN – THIRD IRON MAN
the point is they both are ment to be Trilogy’s and that is why the comparison is pointless…
like LOTR i think these franchises will only get better with each sequal becasue the dedication and devotion that going into these films…
Speaking of the Tumbler…
In Batman; Lovers and madman, it talks about the Tumbler like this;
“i learned which tools are most usefull and which slow me down…” “…the blades serve better, as does a car built to evade the Traffic my tank had to blow through…”
notice the tumbler did blow up in TDK maybe they should have The Lamborghini Reventón and modify it as the bat mobile check this link:
http://www.leftlanenews.com/cars/image_popup/imagepopup2.php?model_name=2009%20Lamborghini%20Reventon&model_id=69&model_type=custom&defimage=http%3A%2F%2Fphotos.leftlanenews.com%2Fphotos%2Fcars%2Fimageresizeronfly%2FphpThumb.php%3Fsrc%3D%2Fphotos%2Fcars%2Flamborghini%2Flamborghini-reventon-update-13.jpg#
Hum… I just want to say for self satisfaction that this was my favorite Two-Face story I’ve ever seen/read. And, if you accept that Two-Face flips a coin and doesn’t kill Maroni, Ramirez or himself, it makes sense the Joker would fall into that as well. The man had a pathology BEFORE he was Two-Face, a little sickness with the coin. So your other criticisms, I don’t mind them in the film as much as you do but I can generally see whatcha mean. But Harvey wouldn’t kill the Joker if he got a heads up.
Also, Batman as portrayed by Frank Miller is pretty psychotic. Not psychopathic, not homicidal, psychotic. He enjoys hurting the criminals. It’s therapeutic for him. I’m not judging entirely, just interjecting a little alternative view point.
For that matter, soldiers aren’t always good people either. Some soldiers like hurting people. Some soldiers get into the muck and realize they shouldn’t of been there in the first place. All soldiers are the cannon fodder of history. The unappreciated cog in the complicated wheel. Batman is a soldier too, but I feel he’s the kind of soldier who gets a kick out of crushing in someone’s teeth.
Robert, just wanted to point out that there is no group anywhere in the world where EVERYONE without exception is good. The military included. But just be careful to what extent you are talking about the troops and our military and how “not good” they are. Some people *eh hem* in this forum might be in the armed forces. Just letting you know…
When they say that soldiers are good people, I’m sure what they mean is that in general and as a whole they are. The bad ones are the exceptions. Not the other way around. Some organizations, or groups, are in general bad and have a few good exceptions.
Hey Ken J,,,
Have you seen the documentary, “Gunner Palace”?
Fasinating film,,, I wish SR would review some of these films that practically get 0 screentime.
I didn’t like the look of the new suit because it looked like 50 thousand pieces just glued on top of each other.
@robert
dent used the coin to manipulate other peoples thoughts on his decisions because he has his mind made up before he flips the coin fully well knowing its always heads and being as it’s a realistic film with the anger troubles he had he should have killed the joker he clearly couldn’t control his emotions and would not have in his darkest hour, the worst moment of his life without any one to talk him out of it the same way batman had to a while before.
About the complexities of the dark knight it did try to take that route but I think it wasn’t that deep I got all the points they where trying to make but the fact that it was going for a more intelligent film than iron man which wasn’t a great stretch but that also gives it more of an expectation which wasn’t met in my opinion.
I’m sorry but TDk was far more complex than Ironman even if you didn’t think TDK was very complex at all it’s still more complex than Ironman. Ironman didn’t have very little complexity or depth it had none.
also i get the point allot of people made about the joy in the film there was never going to be any joy in the dark knight story but there could have been joy like when you see the character you watch it for do something amazing, like jack bauer 24 or even hulk manning up and hulk smashing at the of hulk although it’s a great film but i preferred iron man but both films are good and makes good for the future of comic book films.
@ daniel batman fanboy
i said that iron man was not complex but felt that TDK did try to be and for me fell short of that.
watching batman for the second time was boring and even longer than the 1st, usually the best thing about a complex film is watching it back and checking out what you didn’t see coming the 1st time around.
also amol lists are not always right. even when written by respected people in the industry what ever industry that is from sports to music to films its just a collective opinion
Yah, one of the things I’ve always said about TDK was that it felt like it was trying way too hard to be complex and high brow. It seemed like a “stuck up” movie, even though in this case it had the right to it, but I usually prefer when filmmakers don’t admire themselves that much. I love the humble approach. That’s another thing I loved about Iron Man. It looked like it was made for the audience, that it wasn’t trying to be too complex for its own good, but that its intention was for you, the viewer, to have a great time. But at the same time, it turned out to be a great comic book movie despite the filmmakers not “trying” so hard to be.
I’m not saying that was the filmmakers’ intents while filming TDK, but that’s the feeling I get from it while watching it.
@EVERYBODY reading this.
No such thing in this world such as a PERFECT MOVIE exists. (My Favourite Top 25 movies of All Time are not free of faults.)
And Professional Critics (PCs) rate a movie out of 5 like this:
Movie-Name(Rating-1, Rating-2)
where Rating-1: is the rating which a critic expects a particular movie to achieve.
Rating-2: is the rating that determines the success achieved by that movie IN TERMS OF FULFILLING RATING-1.
And the EASIEST job in the world is: to Criticize.
So any critic (myself included, though I’m a not a professional one, just enjoying it) usually goes harsh on only two types of movies: 1. very bad “trash” types 2 very good different-than-usual movies.
TDK is of course, of the second type because it tries to venture in to something different that critics will thrash.
IM is critic-proof (in that way) because it goes the tried-and-tested usual superhero way and critics EXPECTED that.
If I were a PC, My Ratings for both would be: IM(***,*****) and TDK(***,**) if I have had a Bad Day (because then I would find a lot of faults in TDK that DO exist and none with IM.)
But the Ratings would change: IM(***,*****) and TDK(****,*****) if I have had a Good Day (because then I would appreciate TDK for its daring, innovativeness and some believabilty not present in IM)
Notice the difference in the number of stars for TDK as compared to IM for whom nothing changes ? That’s why IM was good but TDK is special …not great but something special.
But If a PC starts finding fault with IM, well…hmmm…. you know where IM will stand. (Reference: EMPIRE’s Latest List)
IM was GOOD because it went where usually other Superheros (Spiderman, X-Men) go: Trust, follow and implement PHYSICS in whatever EXAGGERATED way you can (“Missiles flying from a suit”, “Peter Parker gets a hot body in one single night”, X-men …well you know) and the critics will not blame them. They EXPECTED that. Those movies are packed with them. Because Physics is the world’s Greatest Science after all (No Sarcasm here for Physics because I myself am a Post-Graduate in ‘Artificial Intelligence’. And I KNOW how much Physics can be stretched). But just show a Batpod coming out of a decent looking sturdy Tumbler and the critics will pounce on the blasphemy because they did NOT expect THAT from a movie which uses no miracles for stunts.
And yes… army Humvees are not as ‘B E A utiful’ as Porsches but still the army uses the former, a little ugly …yes… but totally reliable.
And What’s wrong with a movie (TDK) that could have ended 3 times at a particular point. Who does not want multiple climaxes in a movie ? It would rather be a compliment for that movie.
(By the Way, the only movie that both 1. made use of Physics and 2. yet is the most Practical, Realistic, Honest and NON-EXAGGERATED movie till-date is Spielberg’s ‘Artificial Intelligence(2001)’ which implements real practical Physics and is the truly best believable brilliant Sci-Fi Movie of All Time.But that discussion is out of scope here.)
@No Name Face
I’m sorry, I go back on my words: no, no, no not on the words that I’m a fan of yours for you being a Soldier, I am still that (Science and Defense goes hand-in-hand). But on the word that Batman is not Psychotic. I now again believe Batman IS psychotic (As Robert mentioned above: Frank Miller’s Dark (and True) Batman is).
Psychosis: severe mental disorder with loss of contact with reality.
Source: The OXFORD dictionary)
‘Psychotic’ as in: Psychotic enough to were a Batsuit and wander about in the night looking for criminals all over the whole damn crime-infested city just by himself (and just one honest cop) when one knows the reality that one cannot terminate total crime from it but still cannot apprehend that reality (Loss of contact with reality). And to do that FREQUENTLY, points out to the word ‘severe’.
What Batman is NOT is ‘Psychopathic’ i.e. to be deranged enough to be a danger and FATAL to the society and …to the criminals. Batman is in total-self control (anybody … just like the Soldiers who protect us) and never kills. Hannibal Lecter was a Psychopathic. See the difference being a Psychotic ?
@Ken, @790
And I will be the FIRST to agree with you both, with HALF of the faults that you found with TDK (other half can be explained and are in-the-face facts) because I want TDK’s sequel to improve further (somebody else mentioned this). But I would like to explain a major one: Two-Face not killing Joker.
Reason: Initially though Dent uses the coin, it is Heads on both sides, that only means he has pre-determined his choice like any other successful career person but uses the coin just for the sake of fun. But after he goes through the trauma, he loses touch with reality. Also his Coin too NOW gets scarred on one of the sides. So its NO longer the coin with both sides as Heads. So coupled with the tendency of his using the coin and NOW Border-line (double) personality, he is NOW unable to take his own decisions and NOW totally dependent on the coin (Comics prove that). So the Joker, Det. Ramirez and himself are saved just because the coin flips in their favour. That’s why he is what he is… the Two-Face (NOT Dent now). He leaves free even his worst enemy on the command of a Coin. But he wants to start somewhere so obviously Gordon is the target.
BUT as compared to Rogues Gallery, he is not much of a bad villain as he was the one whom everyone could sympathize with for the consequences he was facing because of a trauma. So may be his role was terminated so quickly in the Bat franchise because he wouldn’t have been a great villain. A good, yes but not great like a Blask Mask (War Games, No man’s Land, Knightfall are awesome) can be. Two-Face was fighting for a very personal reason and that limits his role. And he was a previous friend/ally of Batman so that weakens his … you know.
@Vic
(“of course a film needs a strong antagonist, but classic story mythology is about the journey of the HERO, not the VILLAIN.”)
You said it yourselves, a FILM needs a strong antagonist, CLASSIC STORY MYTHOLOGY needs a Hero.
If it’s just the comics where we can afford the time and resources to enjoy them (comics keep going on and on) we know that the protagonist should be a pretty strong one or else the comics won’t sell. But in a Two and a Half hour movie where an impact needs to urgently induced in a short time, the antagonist rules. Because the protagonist is strong and established anyway (Otherwise they won’t be making a movie for him. Batman and Iron Man are BOTH very strong). But does anybody remember the villain against IM? A superhero is just that. He can defeat anybody. So why not a very strong villain in a limited period of a movie? Maybe if had IM had a stronger justified villain, the movie may have been more successful than it is now. Anyway I would really appreciate if Physics can do THAT MUCH for someone.
@Daniel,
What’s wrong with the Bat-suit? If missiles can fly out of IM’s Suit, why is an army-style Kevlar suit Bat-suit so non-believable? At Least it is better than those Pre-Nolan Nipples-n-six-pack suits that made Batman look ridiculous and pretentious. Like the comics those six packs should have been Batman’s own physique and not his suit’s. Nolan improves on that.
@ Heath
You know who uses One-Liners in real life ? Only those supreme ones who are totally confident of themselves, especially when confronted with pressure-cooker-situations. That’s as saying to the pressures as ‘I don’t care about you.’ Arnie uses them. And so does Batman.
Did Iron Man blurted any ?
So for now: “You’re Fired”(As Arnie in True Lies(1994))
@To all.
Finally, I shout it loud: MY FAVOURITE MOVIE ‘TDK’ IS IMPERFECT (we all know all the reasons) but let’s say, in order to make ‘something’ Bigger and Better we have to RISK breaking that already well-functioning but very mediocre ‘something’ (read ‘IM’) to a trash of ‘nothing’ when it stops working altogether and we have to start back from square one to create that perfect ‘everything’. (I can vouch for that as a software programmer.)
Just like a Cocoon is an UGLY larva before it becomes a Butterfly.
Batman has started metamorphosing from ‘something’ [‘Batman(1989)’] to ugly ‘nothing’ [‘Forever(1995) ‘ n ‘B&R(1997)’]’ to a better ‘Everything’(2010 ?) . And Let’s appreciate that process. Maybe Iron Man too will follow that path. Only just that he has started a little latter than the Batman. At least Iron Man himself (if not the movie) is more believable than most of the superheroes out there. He will improve with a bit of toning down and with a better story and with a better ‘n’ believable …Applied Physics. And I really hope IM does improve.
Amol that was way to long so the only part I read was what was directed at me. I never said that the Bat suit was unrealistic I just didn’t like the look of it.
Amol thinks himself as high brow as TDK tried to be! Lol, just kidding friend.
did anyone read the dissertation by amol? lol
Amol,
shall come come to frutition.
Frank miller is not the only person who worte Batrman and saying batman is Phycotic is fine you are entitled to your opinion…
(the view of frank miller, is a respectable one, and taking his side is a vallid move, btw please note the time frame of TDR was a “little” later then when TDK is ment to take place..)
i on the otherhand still think when Bob Kane wrote Batman he did not think he was Phycotic Darker then Superman becasue while superman was fighting the commies (which is why he was red and blue to represent us)
batman was in Dark Gotham the Crime capitol of the world and he delt with crime (which is most of the time durring the night)…
Many more writters (great ones) who worte many classic Batman stories clearly state they think otherwise, then frank miller… (but that is kind of what happens when you have many writers involved in creating this charecter, which like science and history many things are just Theorys and are up for debate)
Again the idea of superheros is that they wore costumes if batman is crazy for wearing a batsuit then all of the DC and Marval universe are (according to those who say wearing a costume makes someone nutz) Phycotic (which btw i am sure some of you out there thing so.
and if that is the case i believe they are missing the point of Super Hero’s
Superheros whay do we love them???
i believe we love them because they provide us with possibilities, to outgrow the human limitations, something that humanity has been aspiring from the dawn of civilisation. Who are the gods, if not superheroes? Who are the epic heroes, Achilles, Bar Coziba, Hercules, KRATOS,;-) if not superheroes?
When superheros wore costumes it was showing how they are differnt from us to thst simple thing like the way they dress…
In the End of the day whatever the thing may be we all have our opinions and expressing them and debating them is great as long as we respect each other…
i rarly do blug (not enough time) however this disscusion is facinating and i thank all of you for expressing your opinions…
You Guys “Shanh Tovah” May you all have a Happy and blessed Year and i bless you all that all your wishes (only the moral and good ones
No Name Face.
@ No Name Face
Nothing against you or your argument, but can you PLEASE stop typing “phycotic?” It’s actually getting kind of annoying, lol.
It’s “psychotic.”
Again, I’m not making fun of you or anything, just letting you know.
Ken your such a spelling nazi.
I never expect anyone to read EVERYTHING written by me. I write with specific targets in mind. So may be those articles were long. I’m sorry for that. But ignore it all the way, stop complaining (that my point was long) and just read only your concerned parts. That’s all.
@Ken
Ha ha ha. Friend, it’s not just me but RottenTomatoes (95% fresh) and EMPIRE (Rank: 15) too think that way for TDK.
I usually defend all of my Top 25 Movies of All time (including TDK) that way. That’s my hobby in spare time.
Try arguing with me against any of these: Kid,The(1931), M*A*S*H*(1969), Serpico(1973), ‘GodFather’ Series(1972-74), Dressed To Kill(1980), ‘Terminator’ Series(1984-91), Cry Freedom(1987), Good Morning Vietnam(1987), Hannibal Lecter -Trilogy(1991-03), Schindler’s List(1993), Se7en(1995), Crimson Tide(1995), Life Is Beautiful(1997), Sixth Sense, The(1999), ‘Matrix’ Series(1999-2003), Cast Away(2000), Erin Brockovich(2000), Unbreakable(2000), Artificial Intelligence(2001), Beautiful Mind, A(2001), Lord Of the Rings – Trilogy(2001-03), Minority Report(2002), Munich(2005) and of course Batman Begins(2005).
I would not have cared even to respond if this were about any movie other than the above list.
And btw, this site is connected to a bigger site like IMDB and says aloud – Iron Man (the movie, not the character) is better than TDK without any justification (in favor of or against, still that was only provided by the commentators and not the writer himself.) I can still justify a few more (not all but some) so-called faults from TDK, but I have run out of patience and time now.
For Example: @No Name Face
I applied the word ‘Psychotic’ NOT because of Batsuit but applied to the exact place NEXT TO which I have PUT its meaning (‘loss of contact with reality’) in brackets (“the reality that one cannot terminate total crime from the whole damn crime-infested city but still cannot apprehend that reality. ”)
Any way…You are correct ‘No Name Face’, when you said all Gods were a type of Superheroes with suits for themselves and we should accept movie/comics Superheroes just like we accepted Gods. Because we all need a suspension of belief somewhere in life to make life enjoyable. But then I found out the location of the exact problem: I AM AN ATHEIST and so I never liked the Bob Kane’s unreal pussy Batman and pretty much all superheroes (Superman stops missiles or something with his …eye.) except Frank Miller’s Batman.
(“All Superheroes dream of becoming The Batman when they grow up.”)
Any way…Remember, … I did not just dismiss off the character Iron Man like most others did. I would still like Iron Man-the character, to be justified in a better way in the hands of a better story-writer. In fact, I never said one single thing against Iron Man except that the movie could have been better when I could have pointed a THOUSAND faults. Because I EXPECTED and accepted it that way. Anyway an Iron Man cannot get much deeper/more complex than a Frank Miller’s Batman. I did not attack Iron Man Because I have respect for opponents’ views for their own favorite passions and sometimes they are more correct than me.
Meet you all at the Oscars.
No, this is being a spelling Nazi. It’s “you’re” as in “you are.” “Your” is possessive.
OK, that is probably more grammar than spelling, but it was a joke anyhow, lol.
The spelling and grammar is turning into Michael Crichton’s web forum!
Anyway, everyone’s made valid points, and I’ll throw in something else:
No movies are perfect, but I’ve actually grown more (or less) fond of a film over time with multiple DVD viewings. Batman Begins went from an 8/10 to a 10/10 for me that way. Superman Returns and Transformers got worse the more I watched them (after, strangely, getting better at first).
I am going to watch Iron Man as many times as possible over the next few weeks, then I will devour Hulk and TDK. I think my love will only go up.
Heath
Gotta agree on the multiple viewings thing. Returns and Transformers both got worse for me as well, but far more drastic with transformers. That was just a terrible movie.
I have already viewed TDK about 8 times and Iron man about 7 or 8 not sure. TDK pretty much stayed the same with maybe a minor dip. Ironman simply got worse for me. My first viewing I came out saying it was awesome, but since then while I still enjoy it I don’t think it’s great anymore. First viewing of Iron Man I was still surfing on the high and it was about a 9/10 now it’s dropped to about a 7.5 or 8.
Hell, this is for the Last Time I will post here and the last time to try to appear scholastic, over-smart and as much short as possible.
EXPLANATIONS:
(”Can I just have my phone call?”)
(”realize the man power and the logistics involved in all of those barrels that he put everywhere”)
Reason: TDK takes place SIX MONTHS after BB. and at the end of BB, Batman and Gordon or any legal authorities never consider that a man who goes by the name ‘The Joker’ and uses face-paint will be that much of a trouble.
However, The Joker is a highly intelligent psychopath, he is able to plan everything out meticulously. So it may have worked out exactly how he had planned. The obvious answer is that he had been spending the last six months carefully planning out everything so that he would be ready. This is a trait very typical of the comic book Joker — he’s able to prepare a crime for a long
time and yet carry it out before anyone realizes what he’s up to. He then “predicts” a crime that has already been committed.
The Joker knows: The ONLY illegal act he can perform from inside a police station is to pretend and make use of the LEGAL call he can make from there.
If he can plan to kill all his OWN accomplices who help him rob the Bank then he can KILL ALL, (I mean ALL those who even got a sniff of it.) those who helped him place those barrels. Remember, he had got all the cops tied and stripped of their uniforms in a room right next to the place where non other than the VVIP Mayor himself is holding a meeting or something. He is that daring.
(”I’m gonna shoot your driver, at 55 mph.”)
(”My face has been blown off, but screw the pain medication, my girlfriends dead!”)
Reason: Two-Face is fighting for a very personal reason and once that reason (Rachael) ceases to exist, there is no meaning for Two-face or Dent to exist in this world anymore (according to him) so he is on a one-way suicidal mission and ready enough to follow command of the Coin even if it means his own probable death in a moving car. Remember, at the climax, when he says: “There is no escape from here” when he has Gordon’s family as hostage ?
(”Hey there’s a burning fire truck,,, aw just drive around it…”)
Reason: So what were the cops supposed to do ? Stop there and try to extinguish the fire which was a specialist Fire-Brigade’s job anyway ? And why to stop when the first cop (to notice the fire) had most probably notified the suitable authorities through his phone ? And their most vital task at hand was to see to it that Dent, the official Lawyer, and their White Knight reaches safely to
his desired destination, the court for the hearing, where he was going to help prosecute the whole anti-social gangs of Gotham and help put them behind the jail. Some of them could possibly be the ones who put the truck on fire, in the first place.
(”City streets are totally deserted during car chases?”)
I never saw the streets empty and saw a lot of ducking and dodging going on by all those involved in the chase. Anybody can see it clearly. And it was night, so the streets may be (empty) afterall… especially in a city like Gotham.
(”Hey Captain there’s a crapload of barrels containing explosives all over the ship, is that gonna be a problem?”)
Reason: The Junior was loyal to his Captain and did only what he was supposed to do: To notify the events to the Captain as this situation was new for him. (And the words of the Junior here are a little exaggerated by the writer, anyway).
(”I’m just gonna suck on this grenade til it blows up in my mouth.”)
Reason: How many times in your life have you been a Bank Manager of the city’s most prominent bank, got robbed by a team of clowns, seen them all murdered in front of your eyes, faced pain all inside your *** because of the bullets, saw a whole damn BUS crash through a wall and THEN …seen a crazy Joker push a colorful something(you don’t know it’s a grenade) in your mouth and go away muttering some one-liners ? I think not MANY times probably. Because if you had, then you would remove that colorful something from your mouth quickly. BUT NOT in that awestruck and wounded condition where The Joker and the pain in the *** are more distracting than anything else.
(”And I’m sure a whole street full of school buses full of school children and bus drivers would have thought nothing of a bus pulling out from halfway inside of a bank…”)
Reason: So what were they supposed to do ? Stop there itself in the street and jam that whole long lane with a fully packed traffic coming from behind, and also ahead and on the side (opposite lane) ? And if The Joker can sabotage one single bus then it is most probable that all the school buses were driven by his own men to camouflage him. And stopping there means getting caught.
Everything else is a suspension of belief.
I hate TDK for only THREE reasons: ONE… Batman runs his Batpod suddenly straight on the wall and unbelievably turns it in quickly to put it in desired direction without facing any recoil action. TWO… Batman in the first fight, bends the barrel of the machine gun without inducing a fracture in the hands of the holder. THREE… (Though she was necessary) … the damn Rachael
Dawes.
(But it is still better than Iron Man’s (inexplicable) adventures.)
PERIOD.
This is my last Post here. Now I have some work to do OR ELSE my boss will say to me : “You are Fired” (you know — As Arnie in ‘True Lies’).
Oh, My Boss is coming…
“Everything else is a suspension of belief.”
I think all of your “explanations” are suspension of belief… lol. You’re giving the movie excuses that it didn’t even try to make itself…
But anyway, you have the right to come up with anything you want if you want to defend something…